Photo Courtesy of Ryan Wash
TRANSFRONTERIZA TALENT—Stefany Pagnan (l) and Victoria Gutierrez endure hard traveling but are emerging forensics and debate stars who like to compete using Spanglish.
By Jacián Arreola
Victoria Gutierrez and Stefany Pagnan had no idea their grueling transfronteriza experiences crossing the border daily for school would someday give them an advantage.
Now the Southwestern College debate champions have turned limons into limonada.
Gutierrez and Pagnan reached the semifinals of the Big Tent Online Tournament hosted by Missouri State University and narrowly missed crashing into the finals against major university teams. Karina Sanchez and partner Ian Carlo Soto were also semi-finalists.
A trio of individual speakers also brought home awards, including First Place winner Pagnan. Gutierrez grabbed a Second Place award and Sanchez a Fifth Place.
The team’s success at a national tournament was built on the foundation of prior successes at the Hannie Schaft Memorial Tournament hosted by Southwestern College, according to head debate coach Ryan Wash, a professor of communications. Competing teams came from USC, Arizona State, CSU Northridge and CSU Fullerton. Sanchez and Rianne Nabo were semi-finalists and were recognized as the top speakers in their divisions.
“What a wonderful weekend for Jaguar Debate!” said Wash, who also singled out Corie Cheek, Ella Diaz-Medina, Ana Sanchez and Evelyn Maldonado for “great rounds.”
Gutierrez crosses the border daily to attend Southwestern. Her debate partner Pagnan transited la frontera daily for years while in high school. They both said the grueling commutes took a toll. Waking up at 4 a.m., skipping breakfast and enduring disrespectful Border Patrol agents are part of the routine, said Gutierrez.
“I hate doing it,” she said.
Gutierrez took a bus 32 miles every day from Tecate, Mexico to Southwestern. Her bus stopped at El Cajon, National City and other points before reaching the college. She has been singled out at Customs and Border Protection checkpoints which once caused the bus to leave her behind miles from nowhere. She eventually convinced a Border Patrol officer to drive her to Southwestern.
“I don’t think it’s fair the way we are treated sometimes,” she said. “I think the process should be a lot quicker. I don’t pass through Otay Mesa but I know the lines there get super long.”
Gutierrez and Pagnan both said they are at an academic disadvantage due to the long lines and incessant paperwork required to cross. They leave for school earlier and get home later than most other college students. Competing on the debate team is another layer of stress and exhaustion, they said, but worth it.
Gutierrez also lives under the threat of narcotraficante violence in Tecate where the sounds of gunshots echo throughout the city almost every day and night. Dead bodies on the way to the border are an all-too-common sight.
Assistant debate coach Eric Maag praised the transfronterizas for their resilience and for using their unique experiences to their advantage.
“They automatically think outside the box,” he said.
Gutierrez said she likes discussing feminism and has drawn wisdom by participating in feminist rallies in Mexico.
“I feel like I can relate to (others),” she said.
Pagnan and Gutierrez have taken the unusual tact of shifting into Spanish and Spanglish during debates. Their status as English learners is a disadvantage they are working creatively to overcome.
“We know we are not able to communicate the same way (as opponents),” Pagnan said.
Maag says their approach exposes the widely held American notion that everyone is expected to speak English when in reality there are hundreds of thousands of people who are not able to. People whose first language is not English struggle because of that language barrier. He says some may judge someone with a heavy accent to be less intelligent, when in reality it shows high intellectual capacity to be bilingual.
Gutierrez and Pagnan admit they are crossing a barrier with their bilingual strategy, but they are unconcerned. They have crossed worse borders and found success.
