By Alejandro Cortes
Alondra Cardenas wasted no time making an impact. In the second semester of school, Cardenas started a social media page on Facebook. The page is modeled after the Humans of New York photoblog by Brandon Stanton, which pairs photos of humans in their natural environment with thought-provoking quotes.
Q: Who is Alondra Cardenas
A: I’m the youngest of four. First one to go to college. That’s breaking a lot of ground rules. I love art, drawing, pictures, poetry and photography. I like expressing my thoughts. I’m a freshman and a Spanish major thinking of also majoring in photography, art or international relations. With photography and art, there is no right answer. Also, I want to better myself through these subjects and I do want to do it because I can either learn from it or better myself from it. I’m also majoring in Spanish because of Ana Castillo, she inspired me. It’s really important for me that I gain some kind of connection with my mother and my aunts by acknowledging them and growing accustomed to the culture and tradition of my ancestors. The Latino community is growing in number and Spanish is becoming one of the number one primary languages in America and I believe that there is more to Spanish. Spanish opens a lot of doors and opportunities.
Q: What inspired you to create this page?
A: The student body because in the first semester, I went through a difficult time. I missed out on that first week of introductory for my freshman year and afterwards and now coming back from this semester it is a benefit for incoming students and current students. I don’t like how the student body is represented and some of us are not involved in clubs, student government and athletic teams. It’s really important for the student body to really feel that they belong and are honored to be in the Dominican community. The students should feel free that they have somebody to talk to and through this page the student body can see and read about the staff and faculty and know that there is someone they can talk to and connect to.
Q: How do you feel about this page becoming popular?
A: I honestly don’t know how I feel. I’m not a person to brag about. I’m not a person that shows off or anything like that. My goal isn’t popularity but what this page can do for the Dominican community. It’s exciting. For example, one night I get over 100 likes and the second day I get over 300 likes.
Q: In the long run, where do you see this page going?
A: I’m hoping for it to be something that people still continue to after I graduate. I hope it remains and something engaging towards students.
Q: Did this page open any doors for you here at DU?
A: I could say yeah, it opened a lot of doors for me. At the moment I don’t see any doors right now but for sure, yes. I hope to add this page to my resume. Personally, I was shy my first semester but with this page, I want to come out of my shy shell from high school to transitioning to DU. I’m hoping to meet new people and connect with others.