First-Generation WNMU Student Wins Academic Writing Contest
Going to college was not a priority for Margarita Telles until her young niece starting asking her about it. Telles, a resident of Las Cruces, has been working with her mother to raise her niece, who is now nine years old. Inspired by her niece’s questions and encouragement, Telles enrolled as a Psychology major at Western New Mexico University, where she has been completing her coursework online. Her academic career at WNMU was capped this spring when she learned she was the first-prize winner in this year’s Academic Writing Contest. Telles’ award-winning paper, “The Adverse Effects of Parent-Child Loss or Separation: A Literature Review,” was written for her senior seminar class and nominated for the award by Associate Professor Jennifer Johnston. In it, she reviews recent studies that have considered the psychological and physiological effects when a child loses contact with a caregiver. Her project was inspired by her interest in psychological parenting, a form of...