Marianna Gay

Marianna Gay is a senior at Miami University. She is studying Speech Pathology and Audiology. Throughout her time at Miami, she served as the President of UNIDOS, Multicultural Greek Council, and Pi Gamma chapter of the Sigma Lambda Gamma Sorority.  She has also worked as a tour guide and tour guide manager on campus. Gay received the 2022 President’s Distinguished Service Award.

 

Growing Up

Gay is from Dayton, Ohio–Beavercreek to be more specific. She has Puerto Rican heritage as that’s where her family is from. Although she wasn’t born there she has two younger sisters and one was. Growing up, she recalls moving around a lot but that everyone before her is from the island [Puerto Rico]. She is a bilingual heritage speaker and grew up with Spanish in the home and that’s something that she claims that she is very thankful for.

 

Representation on Campus

For Gay, she doesn't feel represented enough on campus. 

 

“So, with these titles, with these organizations, I have the opportunity to put our [multicultural] voice in the room”, she says. 

 

She claims that Miami University, as a community and as a growing campus, needs more diversity, but it’s definitely a start by having someone in the classroom. She feels people look at her like she’s the only Hispanic student on campus and that’s not what it is. She feels very fortunate that the person is her and that she is largely the voice for the Hispanic community on campus.  She claims that “It’s almost like a double-edged sword.”

 

She originally came to Miami because of the scholarship and financial aid package that she received but had thought little about diversity, or the need or effect that it would have in her life. Upon arrival to campus, she wanted to be part of a close-knit community, like the ones found in  the growing Hispanic populations in California and Florida. She recalls the time when she stumbled upon UNIDOS and says: 

 

“I thought it was cool because there were other students in the organization that were from Puerto Rico and I remember saying to myself, ‘It feels right. This makes sense.’”

 

Since freshman year, Marianna has been involved with UNIDOS. Through the years, she says that she has seen an increase in, not only Hispanic or Latino students, but people of color as well. On the first day of campus, she remembers asking herself where were the people who looked like her or those who looked different or who weren't white and “I came up zero”.

 

“I know through my work, though, there has been an increase in people of color and that makes my heart happy,” she exclaims.

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Family Ties

Her parents met in college at Colegio de Mayagüez on the island. Frequently, she visits the island and the school and “it was really cool.” After graduating, her parents got married and decided to come to the States. Following in her uncle’s footsteps, they came to Oregon for a little bit, then moved to New York, where Gay was born. From there, they moved back to the island. Once there, one of her little sisters was born. Not a lot of time passed when they decided to come back to the States and landed in Virginia, where her other little sister was born. After about 11 or so years, she and her family moved to Ohio and have been here ever since. 

 

Gay’s family’s transmigrations reflect a growing pattern: “Today, more people than ever live in a country other than the one in which they were born,” says the United Nations.

 

After both her uncle and her family were in the United States, that’s when her grandparents moved as well. Today, Marianna only has her godmother and her godmother’s family still on the island. 

 

“It wasn’t political, per se, but there were no sustainable opportunities on the Island.”

 

While her godmother has her own business, life for Gay’s family began when they came to the United States. Her dad, a mechanical engineer, came to the States and began working for IBM. From there, he went to work for HP and then MARS, manufacturing dog food. Currently, he is working for a robotics company.

 

“These were opportunities that we wouldn’t have had were we still on the Island”.

 

As for Gay’s mother, she has her Bachelor’s degree in Biology. Since moving and taking care of the children were her main priority, her mother didn’t have a job until recently. She works as a tech in the local library, even though she and her sisters like to say she’s a librarian.

 

“It was really hard because she hadn’t been in the workforce for so long, but she is loving it.”

 

She is very close with her paternal grandmother and attempts to take a vacation to Puerto Rico with her every J-term or whenever possible.

 

Moving and Identity

When her family moved back to Puerto Rico before coming to Virginia, she was between the ages of 3 to 5, so she didn’t remember much, if any at all. She says that it doesn't help either that the places she’s lived have been largely white communities. In a sense, it has been difficult to find Latin American representation. In the different school systems, she was placed where the majority of students were white. When her family moved to Ohio, she said that she was one of three Latinos in her graduating class, if not the entire school. She claims there wasn’t a lot of diversity and that’s why when she came to college, she wanted to find her place and that sense of community. So far, she feels like she has done a great job doing so.

 

Even though she was born on the Mainland, Gay claims that she doesn’t feel American.

 

“I am Hispanic. I am Latina. I am Puerto Rican. I am not American. Technically, they’re the same thing, but I identify a lot more with this Puerto Rican side of my culture.”

 

Gay is very proud of her Puerto Rican heritage, her family, and where she comes from. While she mentioned the pressure of doing better and being better because she was part of a minority, she also mentioned that she takes great pride in the fact that she is considered to be of color and not white.

 

“If I succeed, I am making my ancestors, my heritage, and my culture look good.”

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