The Curriculum of Joy: We Are What Our Ancestors Dreamed

Over the last couple of years, my mother, Dr. Bernice Velez , earned her Doctorate in Ministry Leadership in Dallas; my tía, Lcda. Migdaliz Vélez-Reyes , graduated with her JD in Ponce, Puerto Rico; my little sister, Paula Rivera , secured her place with a Master's degree in Entertainment Business from Florida; and I will soon be stepping into the public policy landscape with a Master's degree in Policy Management from Washington, DC in hand.

Four Latinas. Four advanced degrees. One extraordinary thread of generational defiance.

I've been sitting with this reality lately, processing what it means for us, for the women who came before us, and the ones who will come after. My educational journey has become inseparable from these deeper generational threads, these invisible connections linking my abuela's quiet sacrifices to my baby sister's bold ambitions. I think about the dreams buried in fields and factories, the brilliance never given a stage, the potential taught to stay small and quiet.

My family is living, breathing proof of a landscape in transformation. We are the daughters and granddaughters of women who were told their worth lived in service to others (primarily men), not in service to their own minds. While we surely still have so much to unlearn, something shifted along the way. Somewhere between my grandmother's generation and mine, the whispered hopes in our cocinas grew loud enough to reach conferences and lecture halls.

I may be the first woman in my family raised without fear of her potential, told that my voice belonged in every room I entered, que mis ideas deserved the biggest stages. But I won't be the last. That's the promise we're making with every degree, every celebration, every moment we choose joy over fear. Es una reclamación.

For generations, Latinas faced exclusion from higher education through explicit policies and implicit cultural barriers. Our family story counters those old, tired limitations. It shows what happens when women gain access and the profound sense of belonging that results. This is how generational change happens: through families like ours who refuse to accept limitations as permanent truths.

Here’s what makes our moment even more extraordinary.

While Latinas like us are flooding into colleges—we’re one of the fastest-growing demographics in higher education—the numbers thin dramatically at the graduate level. We earn over 17% of associate and bachelor’s degrees among women of color, but by the time you reach doctoral programs? We’re down to just 4%. The pipeline doesn’t just narrow; it practically vanishes. And it’s not because we lack the brilliance or drive. It’s because the system still hasn’t figured out how to truly support us through those advanced levels, from funding to mentorship to simply believing we belong there.

Each of our degrees tells a story of persistence, identity, and intention.

My mother’s doctorate represents the power of perseverance. She paused her studies and ambitions to raise my sister and me, to build our home, but she never let go of that dream. Her return to academia speaks to a different kind of resilience, one that honors both sacrifice and self-reclamation.

My aunt’s law degree reflects an extraordinary pivot, from a successful career as a professional pastry chef to pursuing her lifelong dream of advocacy, refusing to be silenced in spaces where justice often overlooks nuestra gente.

My sister’s master’s in the entertainment business is about taking our family legacy to the next level. We come from a long line of musicians and professional artists, and she’s ensuring our voices aren’t just heard, but centred in industries that have commodified our stories without including us in their telling.

And my degree in public policy management? If you’re reading this, you probably know about my journey with politics. Para mí, this is about redesigning the very systems that were built to fail our people.

When I think about what we’ve accomplished together, what strikes me most isn’t just the degrees themselves. It’s how we celebrated every single milestone along the way. This post isn’t just about achievement. It’s about joy as resistance.

The hugs at graduations, the proud tears of our matriarch, the celebration of grades shared in the group chat, and late-night FaceTime calls to review each other’s assignments. These moments are sacred. They remind us that joy isn’t frivolous; it’s fuel. Our celebration isn’t separate from our struggle; it is the proof that healing is possible.

Too often, narratives of Latinas in academia focus solely on hardship. While our path hasn’t been easy, it has also been rich with purpose, comunidad, and love. We are what our ancestors dreamed, not just because we endured, but because we did so with grace and collective power.

This isn’t an isolated success story. This is a blueprint.

Let this moment be an affirmation: to educators who wonder if their impact matters; to young women of color who feel unseen in their classrooms; to policymakers who speak of equity through lived experience; to our communities, who have always known our worth long before institutions validated it.

We are not anomalies. We are evidence. And our joy? That’s the curriculum now.

JCPROVISUAL LLC / Angel Rivera

References

Excelencia in Education. (2022). Latino College Completion: United States 2022. Retrieved from https://www.edexcelencia.org/research/latino-college-completion-united-states

National Center for Education Statistics. (2023). Digest of Education Statistics, 2023. U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/

Muñoz, B. R. (2024, December 5). Breaking the doctorate barrier: The 1 percent and the future of Latina leadership. Hispanic Executive. Retrieved from https://hispanicexecutive.com/breaking-the-doctorate-barrier-the-1-percent-and-the-future-of-latina-leadership/

Associated Press. (2024, May 31). Degree attainment rates are increasing for US Latinos but pay disparities remain. AP News. Retrieved from https://apnews.com/article/latinos-education-degree-pay-gap-2024

Pew Research Center. (2024). U.S. Census Bureau data on Hispanic doctoral degree attainment. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2024/04/15/hispanic-americans-higher-education-attainment/

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Originally published on LinkedIn on 2025-06-25.