Jacqueline Rioja Verlande was our first guest speaker. She gave facts, stats and stories regarding the Latinas growth and influence in the United States, in general, and more particularly in Ohio. What stood out was the challenges that these women face and many have overcome. She helped us understand the complex cultural identity that Latinas construct and which changes as life changes. I especially liked the stages of acculturation, as it provided structure to the stages that many immigrants that stay in United States go through. The class discussions gave a more personal account of her experiences that took her from academia in Peru to Miami University in Oxford, OH - surrounded by corn and soybean fields. Finally, she shed light on the racism and privilege skin colors of Peru and Latin America, where "white" is equated with education, power, and higher social class and those of color often are equated with lower social classes. This is ironic as she recently won an award in the United States as a "Women of Color....."