Marina Prado-Steimen

Alma Urbano: Ok so it is recording now. My name is Alma Urbano, I'm at Kenyon college in Gambier Ohio it is around 8:32 p.m. Eastern time. This is a phone interview. The project is called in search of the Latinx presence on the Hill. Which is Kenyon College. I just wanted to thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me.

Marina Prado-Steiman: Sure it's no problem.

Alma Urbano: And if you could just introduce yourself and state that you consent to the interview and understand that is being recorded and that it will be transcribed. Mostly, Mainly the transcripts will be available to the Kenyon community and any records related to it.

Marina Prado-Steiman: Sure my name is Marina Prado-Steimen I am a graduate of Kenyon college and I understand I am being recorded.

Alma Urbano: Ok so just to begin if you could tell me a little bit about your background and a little bit about your family.

Marina Prado-Steiman: I grew up in South Florida in Fort Lauderdale. My mothers side of the family is all Argentinians and Spaniards and my fathers side of the family is Jewish and they're from Poland and Russia. All of my grandparents are immigrants and my parents are the first born in the US. I've lived in Florida from second grade all the way until I decided to go to college. I have a younger brother. His name is Wolf and he is a year and a half younger than I am and he suffers from Autism. I went to a Catholic highschool but I am not 00:02:00Catholic and my family is not religious in the slightest. I grew up with all of my cousins and mostly my Latino family enjoying. The normal childhood. I was very involved in student activities and got good grades in the school and I knew since I was in sixth grade that I wanted to major in English. So when it came time to apply to colleges it was my highschool guidance counselor who told me first about Kenyon and recommended that I apply there because she had told me such great things about the English department.

Alma Urbano: When you first got to campus what was your first impression of Kenyon?

Marina Prado-Steiman: My first time going to Kenyon I was very nervous. Kenyon 00:03:00wasn't actually my first choice as far as a college I wanted to go to. I didn't know anything about it but the school was very welcoming towards me. They paid for me to fly up and stay overnight. The visit actually didn't go as well as I wanted it to because I felt very homesick and I was very far away from my big family in Miami. The thing that really reassured me about the whole experience and what made me decide to go to Kenyon was that I met professor Evon Garcia. The school actually had me have a lunch with her and when I met her and spoke with her she just was very kind and I could tell that I was going to get a lot of attention. It was going to be a much more personalized experience at Kenyon.

Alma Urbano: Were there any activities that you became involved in during your first few years at Kenyon?

Marina Prado-Steiman: Yes all nerdy endeavors. My first year at Kenyon we had MSTPK club every Friday night. The older kids had started it where we would watch episodes of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 every Friday. I became part of the Kenyon Japanese and Anime society. I was vice president of that for two years along with my roommate Jen Baker. I feel like we made that club very popular. We actually organized lots of events and traveled to different cities to read up on Japanese culture. I was also part of the writers and thinkers 00:05:00group at Kenyon. I went to college early, a couple of weeks early, they had one of those kinds of writers and thinkers classes it's very similar to teach. I was a member of Adelante. What else? Oh I interned at the Kenyon review for four years.

Alma Urbano: How would you describe your experience at the Kenyon review as an intern?

Marina Prado-Steiman: It was pretty exciting. I actually wound up helping, I helped find some really great stories that were published so that was nice. I 00:06:00think ultimately publishing was not for me. But I really appreciated the opportunity to be involved.

Alma Urbano: What about classes? What were your favorite classes at Kenyon?

Marina Prado-Steiman: My favorite classes were the ones where I really liked the professors. So I started out as an English major, I kept that but I also for a while was a double major for psychology. English and Psych. I had all of my classes from Professor Garcia. I was also really interested in philosophy. I took existential philosophy with professor duque-squala. She was great. I took 00:07:00the eating disorder seminar. I took a lot of Psych and English courses. Mostly I took a lot of writing classes, mostly, English writing classes mostly.

Alma Urbano: Yeah You mentioned professor Garcia were there any other professors on campus or mentors from the community that really had an impact on you or your experience at Kenyon?

Marina Prado-Steiman: The other professor that really had a major impact on me was professor Irene Lopez. She's a cross cultural feminist Clinical Psychologist. I did a lot of work with her in cross-cultural psychology. She let me author two different publications with her. We did qualitative studies on 00:08:00immigrant women living in the United States and the salient issues that affect them so I got to travel around with her to different conferences to present that research.

Alma Urbano: Sorry were there any other, how do you describe your relationships with other members of the community? Other students, your friends?

Marina Prado-Steiman: I had a lot of friends at Kenyon. I feel like they came from different groups. I definitely felt. Most of my other friends are definitely, I don't know, I had grown up in, growing up in South Florida you're 00:09:00surrounded by the big city and so much culture and we have a probably disproportionately large Latino Community. So Kenyon was very different from that. But I did make a lot of friends and I'm still on very good terms with all of those friends and I keep in contact with them pretty regularly but there is definitely a cultural gap.

Alma Urbano: Do you ever feel a little, how would you describe your relationship with your Jewish background and your Argentinian/Spanish background?

Marina Prado-Steiman: I just think of it like they can be kind of competing 00:10:00identities because they're not, they don't mesh great together. I think my dad has mostly embraced the Latina side of my family. He loves to party and dance and he loves how much, how we always are together and that family always comes first and I think that for him you know he found like the big family that he always wanted.

Alma Urbano: Do you ever, how do you, do you ever feel detached from any of your cultural backgrounds as well at Kenyon college?

Marina Prado-Steiman: Not really at Kenyon. I think I felt that way more at 00:11:00South Florida honestly because like at Kenyon at least when I went there weren't as many Latinos so we all kind of grouped together a little bit more. But when you're in South Florida it's not like that because then it's like, you don't have to mingle as much because you have a bigger group to hang out in. You know Argentinians could become quote unquote Spanish as Cubans or have the same kind of street cred. It didn't feel that way at Kenyon except that you realize that people have such different experiences than you did growing up.

Alma Urbano: You mentioned going back to when you mentioned Adelante how would you describe your experience as a member?

Marina Prado-Steiman: It was pretty passive. I don't think I did all that much. I think I spoke once or twice at a few different groups. Like at group meetings. I didn't participate all that much.

Alma Urbano: But you still consider yourself a group member?

Marina Prado-Steiman: Yes.

Alma Urbano: Do you have any thoughts about it in general? What are your thoughts about it? Did you feel welcome? I'm guessing you felt welcome since you still consider yourself a member.

Marina Prado-Steiman: I guess I was so busy, honestly I felt like I was so busy trying to figure out college I wasn't sure how to, I don't know. It's hard. It's 00:13:00like you're trying to be a part of the school, you're trying to figure out the school so you don't necessarily think about how the school should actually factor you in?

Alma Urbano: Is there something you would change about Kenyon as an institution looking back on your experiences?

Marina Prado-Steiman: I'm sorry could you ask it again?

Alma Urbano: Is there anything you would change about Kenyon as a college looking back on your experiences?

Marina Prado-Steiman: No I mean I was really happy there. I actually really liked Kenyon a lot and I feel a lot of loyalty towards it now. I think my first year was hard being so far away from my family and a different state now I just 00:14:00look back on all of those memories very fondly.

Alma Urbano: If you could go back in time to your first year self what would you tell yourself?

Marina Prado-Steiman: Probably that it gets better and that you don't even know what's going to be important to you yet.

Alma Urbano: So you did major in English right?

Marina Prado-Steiman: I did yes.

Alma Urbano: Ok just making sure. Is there anything else you would change about your Kenyon experience from all four years that you were here?

Marina Prado-Steiman: No I don't think so. I think I did a lot of the things I 00:15:00wanted to do. I tried out a lot of different classes and I joined a bunch of different groups. I made friends in different circles you know. I think that I got what I wanted out of college and also had a really good time.

Alma Urbano: Do you have any particular favor activity outside of or in your favorite group on campus?

Marina Prado-Steiman: I'm sorry?

Alma Urbano: Do you have a favorite group on campus that you joined?

Marina Prado-Steiman: Oh the Japanese anime society. K-Ja.

Alma Urbano: Were you ever? You were, you were on the exec board as a leader?

Marina Prado-Steiman: Ah yeah I was the vice president for two years.

Alma Urbano: How was that experience?

Marina Prado-Steiman: Good, I'm just a nerd. I like comics and superheroes and Scifi and fantasy and it felt like it was just nice to be in a group that enjoys all of those things too.

Alma Urbano: Were there ever any ever, do you think there were any challenges while at Kenyon, as a group, as a leader of an organization that you said became more active while you were here the Japanese anime club?

Marina Prado-Steiman: Just the typical experiences of trying to organize people and get them to contribute and raising money for your club, nothing that's out of the ordinary.

Alma Urbano: Is there anything else that you would like to share about your 00:17:00general experience?

Marina Prado-Steiman: I do remember you know there was this one day where, and I felt like this is so, it's like an odd experience because you're at Kenyon a liberal environment for the most part and everyone is trying to be progressive. I did remember that one time I was doing my laundry and People were talking and I didn't know these people they weren't my friends for anything and they were talking about getting into Kenyon on academic scholarships and I mentioned that you know I was on academic scholarships to get into Kenyon and they had said some things to me about the fact that I had gotten that academic scholarship 00:18:00pretty much because I was a minority ya know. I remember telling them "well what was your SAT score?" and I was like well I scored twenty points higher than that. I don't think that's the reason. But I do remember there was that kind of. I felt like it was an under current like because you're in a more progressive place it can be harder to have those kinds of discussions because people don't own up to those feelings.

Alma Urbano: What year was that at during your Kenyon career?

Marina Prado-Steiman: I think my sophomore year.

Alma Urbano: Do you feel that it changed your view of the Kenyon progressive or 00:19:00the Kenyon.

Marina Prado-Steiman: No it definitely I didn't think it was something that was an institutional thing just an individual.

Alma Urbano: What do you think about that now? Obviously you reflected on it.

Marina Prado-Steiman: I guess I did think that, I don't know. It's something that I definitely remember and it's something that can make me be resentful of others in terms of the fact that I worked very hard to get where I am. But I don't think it's anything that I take with me. I don't, I don't put that onto 00:20:00people and I definitely don't think of like a place or my college experience or just meeting random people and just thinking that's what it's like.

Alma Urbano: Ok is there anything else?

Marina Prado-Steiman: No, I'm a lawyer now, I'm a public defender. I represent indigent people charged with crimes. I feel like I'm very social justice. I feel like Kenyon really helped me figure that out.

Alma Urbano: Do you think you said Kenyon. I mean how do you think Kenyon helped you with that?

Marina Prado-Steiman: I didn't really know what I wanted to do even when I was double majoring and I double majored all of the way to senior year. And then I 00:21:00dropped my Psych major and what made me decide to do that was again professor Garcia who was my advisor and I asked her one day what she thought I should do and she said she always saw me as a lawyer so I decided to take the LSAT and trying for law school and then once I got in that was a sign I didn't need to always be working like a double load so I got rid of my psych degree. Additionally all of my work with professor Lopez on immigrants in the US that really affected what I decided to do. Because I thought i was going to become a 00:22:00psychologist like she is and what I learned while studying psychology is how much the law really affects and victimizes people and I decided what I really wanted to do was help people. It would be a lot more effective for me to go into law.

Alma Urbano: I just interviewed someone who went to medical school and she was saying how she took an indigenous literature class at Kenyon and the passage from one of those classes showed up on her MCAT exam and she was like "wow" its always fun to see what alumnus end up doing and going back to and connecting it 00:23:00to their liberal arts education that Kenyon is so proud of.

Marina Prado-Steiman: Definitely. I started out doing almost only immigration law and found my way into Criminal defense.

Alma Urbano: What would you tell a current student if you could tell or maybe especially a Latino student or someone who comes from a mix or a variety of cultural backgrounds what would you tell them if you could tell them anything?

Marina Prado-Steiman: I think having a mixed cultural background makes you more interesting it makes you a sociologist. I don't remember who wrote it but I remember one of the first sociologist classes I took at Kenyon there was a 00:24:00famous sociologist who took the class he was mixed race and he wrote about how that allowed him to see sort of both sides of the coin without ever really belonging to either and I feel like it gives you rich understanding of people around you but it still can make you more objective.

Alma Urbano: Ok, well thank you so much.

Marina Prado-Steiman: No problem.

Alma Urbano: For taking the time is there anything else you'd like to share or any questions you have?

Marina Prado-Steiman: Uh, what will happen with the statements and stuff that you are collecting?

Alma Urbano: Oh uh well I have a presentation in three weeks for the thirtieth 00:25:00anniversary of Adelante which you are obviously invited to and you're welcome to come and uh. I will present it. I have around sixteen, seventeen interviews, and I will present it then to some of the alumni who come. We're trying to invite people even if you weren't that active or if you weren't in the group at all it's a good time to come back and just be so some of people are going to celebrate some of the Latino culture here at Kenyon that is already here and the contributions that the Latino members have contributed to Kenyon. If it's ok I'll send you some of the links to that. And yeah so I'll present some of my work then. I interviewed a few professors and a few administrators and try to 00:26:00weave this story about a presence which is very difficult because obviously we come from so many backgrounds but uhm. It's nice to celebrate maybe our heritage in some way. Then it will be once in October I will invite the entire campus to do a presentation of my whole wider project and try to weave it into the national conversation. That's that's the main thing that is happening.

Marina Prado-Steiman: Very cool

Alma Urbano: Yeah so any other questions or comments?

Marina Prado-Steiman: No, I probably won't be able to go to Ohio. If you want to 00:27:00send a copy of your presentation I would like to see it.

Alma Urbano: Oh yeah for sure i will probably send everyone something. If you could just please sign the consent form that I sent. I don't know if you sent that or not.

Marina Prado-Steiman: Oh right I'm sorry about that.

Alma Urbano: No its fine I have you recorded already.

Marina Prado-Steiman: I just sent it. But I understand.

Alma Urbano: I have that and then I have another release form. The Consent form is supposed to be before the interview. I mean I'm guessing you understood those recordings and the transcribe that you agreed to in the interview and then the release form is for me to actually use the information and to use the transcript and present it to the public so it's copyrighted stuff. I'll send a copy of the 00:28:00consent and a copy of the release form in one email. If you could just please fill that out and send it back. Thank you for your time.

Marina Prado-Steiman: No problem.

Alma Urbano: And have a good evening.

Marina Prado-Steiman: Bye.

Alma Urbano: Bye.