Silvia Martinez

Dr. Silvia Martinez, assistant professor at Howard University, has focused her professional work on effective service delivery to bilinguals in the health and education arenas. Dr. Martinez has degrees from the University of Puerto Rico (B.A., M.S.), Harvard University (C.A.S., Certificate of Advanced Study) and Boston University (Ed. D., Doctor of Education). Silvia also has a Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech Pathology (CCC-SLP). She has worked as a bilingual speech-language pathologist, a special education teacher, consultant and an ESL teacher in Massachusetts, DC and Puerto Rico.

>> What do all these degrees mean, what did she have to do to obtain them, and what has Silvia learned from her studies?

Silvia was born in Nurnberg, Germany, her father was in the army, and she was an “army brat.” Her family traveled a lot between Germany, the US and Puerto Rico, where her family is from. Both of her parents came from a small and poor “barrio” called Campanillas in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. It was a sugarcane barrio, and her ancestors were peasants who worked for the sugar cane mills, most of them cutting cane.

Silvia’s mother, whose own mother died when she was 5, went to school until the third grade. Silvia’s dad went to school until the ninth grade, and later on got his GED. From there, his best bet for progress was for her dad to join the Army. In spite of a lack of formal education, her parents are extremely bright (Silvia’s dad has since passed), and before she was born (she is the eldest child) her father bought a house in the city 15 minutes away from the university because he had a dream that all his children were going to go to college. All her life Silvia heard her father mention that fact.

Also, while in the US and in Germany, Silvia’s father made it a point that Silvia and her siblings would all speak Spanish, because her father intended to eventually retire in Puerto Rico so his children could go to college in Spanish. That point was also made to Silvia and her siblings throughout their childhood. Silvia also had a third aim ingrained into Silvia and her sister by her mom –the girls were to study because they were never to depend on anyone, especially any man, to sustain them. The girls were to be independent women.

Her parents’ influence – to have a good handle of Spanish, to plan to go to college and to be independent women – influenced the three children. Eventually Silvia’s sister became a Chemical Engineer and her brother is an aeronautical engineer. Both have successful careers and healthy lives.

Silvia also learned the lessons very well! She went on to get multiple degrees and focuses on bilingual issues. Prior to Howard University, Silvia held positions at various universities and urban school settings.

>> I’ll be talking with Silvia about her early influences, and how her family shaped her career path.

At Northeastern University she served as coordinator/supervisor of Project: Communicate, a multicultural training grant training graduate speech and language pathology students and preschool teachers. At the University of Massachusetts she was adjunct professor in the bilingual special education program, and at Roxbury Community College (Boston) she was instructor/acting chair of the Early Childhood Education Program. She also was the Director of Multicultural Practices and Education at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association where she developed programs and materials for pre-professionals and professionals.

>> Join us as we discuss Silvia’s career path and how the different work she’s done has had a uniting theme…

Silvia is the author/editor of articles, books and the creator of products. For example, one of her areas of research is on dialectal diversity, developmental data and the development of assessment protocols for Hispanics in the United States. Presently, she is developing speech assessment clinical tool for Central Americans. Another area of interest for Silvia is health disparities in minority populations.

Silvia is also exploring how the use of technology can be used with low literacy Hispanics and African Americans to increase their health literacy. She recently launched her website www.myhealthstories.com which contains photonovelas being developed.

>> What kinds of other tools can be useful in the learning setting, and what has Silvia brought to the table in her educational offerings?

One final influence that Silvia feels is an important driver in her life is that her parents are highly ethical and strict. She and her siblings were taught likewise, and further, to treat all with respect. Their experiences contributed to our appreciation of multiculturalism in society and Silvia became enamored with the whole concept of celebrating people’s differences and uniqueness. She is passionate about studying these differences and experiencing them as well. Therefore, she loves to travel for work and play. One of her most interesting experiences, for example, was traveling to Saudi Arabia to teach a course.

As Silvia continues to pursue her job path and personal life, she always keeps in mind the sacrifices that her parents and ancestors made. She does not forget those who came to Puerto Rico either freely or in slave ships and endured hardships. She does not forget the poverty of her parents’ ancestors, and in the barrio, which she saw with her own eyes –peasants walking barefoot, large families living in small torn-down shacks.

>> How does Silvia use her past as a tool for motivation? What can we learn from her?

Silvia is married, but has no children. When Silvia was 18 she suffered from ovarian cancer, which necessitated having a hysterectomy performed. The experience at such a young age, helped to shape her view as a young person. Specifically, she learned the value of life and an appreciation of what nature and experiences have to offer. Therefore, Silvia thrives on having the opportunity to do new things: travel, learn skills, etc. But, this experience also left Silvia without the joy of being a mother. Silvia was alone for many years and between working and going to school, the opportunity to be a mother never came to fruition. And that probably is her biggest regret…because she knows she would have been a GREAT mother.

>> We’ll be talking about various family choices, and what these mean for Latinas.

Silvia also does a lot of volunteering. At present she is with Teatro de La Luna, a Spanish speaking theatre which has productions for children and adults, and also presents educational activities to cultivate the Spanish language in Hispanic children. Silvia loves to paint, and has always wanted to be a painter…maybe in the future. At present, Silvia and her husband are very much involved in doing renovations on their house, and she has become very adept at using power tools, doing construction work and redecorating.

>> What life lessons can Silvia impart to us? How does she balance her career with outside interests?