In honor of the women who have gotten our society to where it is today, we annually observe the month of March as Women’s History Month (WHM). This year, The Channels sat down to talk with four women working on City College’s campus and asked them to share a bit of their stories.

Raíces director Melissa Menendez, Marine Diving Technology director Emma Horanic, Assistant Superintendent and Vice President of Academic Affairs María Villagómez and cafeteria cook Miriam Martinez took some time to share details about their lives, careers and hardships in hopes of inspiring other women to be their best selves.

Maria Villagomez

Q: What kind of work do you do here on campus?

A: I oversee the entirety of the credit and academic side, and I ensure we’re in compliance with state curriculum standards.

Q: Could you share a challenge you’ve faced in your life or an accomplishment you’ve worked hard to achieve?

A: I wasn’t always a straight-A student, my main challenge was academics. I wasn’t a great student in college either, I was barely passing. I was able to transfer to a four-year and get a degree, eventually a doctorate. I had never thought I’d be able to get one. I’m very proud, it’s my biggest accomplishment. I also faced a language barrier growing up that I had to work hard to overcome.

Q: What’s the most important piece of advice you’ve been given?

A: Well, a piece of advice I’d give to everyone as well as something I wish someone had said to me was that it’s okay to dream big. Dream big with a plan. They’re not going to be accomplished by miracles, you have to put in the work.

Q: Anything else you’d like to add?

A: In honor of Women’s History Month, I think it’s important to acknowledge female trailblazers that have come before us. We wouldn’t have the opportunities we have today if it weren’t for those who came before us, with the courage to break those barriers and defy the odds.

Melissa Menendez

Q: What kind of work do you do here on campus?

A: I’m an English faculty member, I direct two Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) grants, and with the help from them I’m developing the ¡Raíces: First Year and Beyond! program as well as co-facilitating Raíces Faculty Institute.

Q: Could you share a challenge you’ve faced in your life or an accomplishment you’ve worked hard to achieve?

A: I’d say both a challenge and an accomplishment is being the first in my family to graduate college and pursue a doctorate degree. I chose to major in English and to pursue a doctorate in English. My focus is U.S. literature which is a white-dominant discipline, so I had to navigate that a lot.

Q: What’s the most important piece of advice you’ve been given?

A: I guess I want to stray from the question and just say that the most important person to me is my mother because of all of the advice, wisdom, love and support she’s always given me. And her laugh, I have her laugh.

Emma Horanic

Q: What kind of work do you do here on campus?

A: This is actually my first year, I run the Marine Diving Technology program. I’m an Association of Diving Contractors International (ADCI) Air Supervisor, so I’m qualified to train students to do surface supply diving; it’s a lot of teaching. I have to make sure that the students are meeting City College’s program standards as well as ADCI’s standards.

Q: Could you share a challenge you’ve faced in your life or an accomplishment you’ve worked hard to achieve?

A: This industry is very male-dominated. It’s difficult work and my instructors were honest, “The offshore diving industry can not be friendly sometimes.” I remember when I first started out I was miserable and really wanted to quit. But I wanted to prove to everybody, mostly myself, that women can make it here. I remember getting the letter that said, “Congratulations, you’ve broken out, you’re officially an offshore commercial diver.” I thought, “I did this.”

Q: What’s the most important piece of advice you’ve been given?

A: I used to keep quotes on my phone. One I’d like to focus more on would be this, “The most important person you need to impress is yourself.” I get caught up trying to impress everyone, but being proud of my own accomplishments should be more than enough.

Miriam Martinez

Q: What kind of work do you do here on campus?

A: I do a lot of cooking, preparing food for both students and staff members.

Q: Could you share a challenge you’ve faced in your life or an accomplishment you’ve worked hard to achieve?

A: Well, I’m still learning every day. I started at City College for English speaking in 2016, then switched to culinary arts and I’ve been working here for four years.

Q: What’s the most important piece of advice you’ve been given?

A: You’re never too old to learn.

Q: Anything else you’d like to add?

A: I love to learn. I have a friend in the ESL program who was interested in the culinary program as well. “Just do it,” I told her. I want to keep motivating people to learn more and to help people in my situation. I want to teach my kids, I can do it, so you can do it too.