Legendary Radford Alumni Author Visits Campus to Tell Her Story
By: Brandon Whitaker
“Radford changed my life”
she says to a room full of students and faculty in McConnell library.
She says this while holding her acceptance letter from over 60 years ago, with tears nearly falling down her cheek. Her name is Dr. Emma Violand-Sánchez.
Dr. Sánchez came back to campus during homecoming and held an event on Friday for her new book titled Dreams and Shadows: An Immigrant’s Journey. Dr. Sánchez was born in Cochabamba Bolivia, after her parents unfortunately split it was just her, her mother and her five sisters. She had an aunt living in Washington D.C. that proposed to her mother the idea that the three oldest children could come live in the United States.
“My oldest sister went to Detroit with an uncle, and I came to Fairfax Virginia with my sister Susie…Imagine the time when my mother made the decision in our living room. We were having dinner, and she said to us “three of you will go to the United States.” It wasn’t like we were consulted (beforehand)”
Dr. Sánchez was overwhelmed by the beauty of the U.S. when she arrived in 1961, and entering high school she was overwhelmed by the size of the school but a feeling of loneliness soon crept in.
“My experience as a new immigrant facing high school with limited English proficiency and no friends and being far away from home opened painful wounds that did not heal. The wound of being different. The wound of feeling silenced, of being unable to make myself understood. Of not being able to show others how smart I was. The wound of knowing that all I’d learned and absorbed at home about my culture and the ways of my country didn’t matter.”
To make matters worse Virginia high schools at that time didn’t have any classes for English as a second language. Dr. Sanchez struggled with self-doubt; the language barrier was one she didn’t think she could overcome at the time. She thought “why do I have to take French if I don’t speak English? How about I take a Spanish class?” This was the move that changed everything for Dr. Sánchez,
“Suddenly I felt smart…I could talk to the students, I was myself, and it gave me a boost, I have always said and I tell many of you that are bilingual. Your native language is your superpower…”
She used this superpower to show people that she was truly intelligent and gifted. She was able to take her college board achievement test in Spanish and scored an 800, a score that she believed had impressed Radford and surely surprised her guidance- counselors,
“My SAT’s, they didn’t show my potential, and even my guidance counselor changed her face when she saw my score in Spanish because she realized that I was smart. Because before, all those tests they gave me, they didn’t indicate my intelligence.”
The same counselor that enrolled Sánchez in Spanish class told her that she needed to go to college and that she would. Her counselor took her to college night where she got to meet a representative from Radford. In May of 1962 she received her acceptance letter which indicated that all her expenses, out of state tuition, room and board etc. would be fully covered by the university.
Dr. Sánchez would eventually go on to graduate from Radford with a B.S. in 1966 and M.S. in 1968. She was more than happy to be back at McConnell library where she held her first job as a student. When asked to give a message to students who are still navigating their own journey’s whether they are immigrants, first generation or just don’t feel they belong she said, “We are all searching for belonging and the important thing is its incumbent for all of us to form relationships and get to know each other. More than anything, for me and all the students in Radford, education is transformational not only as you grow more knowledgeable but also for your friendships, your family, it really transforms your life.”
To read more about the life of Dr. Sánchez and find more information about her book Dreams and Shadows,
