By Kyle Hobstetter on December 2, 2021

When looking for the right master’s program, Susana Hernández Martín wanted a place where she could develop her skills and learn more about ideas that galvanize her.

Growing up in Villa Clara, Cuba, Hernández Martín has always advocated for gender equality and human rights, particularly those of the LGBTQ+ community in her home country.

As a first-year student in Towson University’s women’s and gender studies master’s program, Hernandez Martin, who identifies as pansexual, is excited to start an education that will let her help her community.

“There are concrete steps we can make right now, fighting for family code [a Cuban law concept] and marriage equality,” Hernández Martín says. “The big picture goals are to advance human rights for my community, wherever I am. I will be happy if I could say that I helped my country with marriage equality and my friends [with] access to reproductive rights.”

Hernandez Martin earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Universidad Central "Marta Abreu" de Las Villas in 2012. Since then, she has supported the LGBTQ+ community in a variety of ways.

Before coming to TU, she served as a communication coordinator for Abriendo Brechas de Colores, a nonprofit in Cuba that fights for the rights and well-being of LGBTQ+ Christians in the country. She is also the founder and co-director of Q de Cuir, the only magazine in Cuba dedicated to and produced by members of the LGBTQ+ community.

She spent a short time teaching at her alma mater, just like her mom Marili Martin Garcia.  Hernández Martín left the front of the classroom and now enjoys discussion with fellow students.

“I love the debates we have in class,” she says. “I love hearing about new perspectives on topics that I’ve been working with, and I have three amazing professors. Kate Wilkinson, Sharon Jones-Eversley and Esther Wangari have been so welcoming, and they have been able to stretch how I think about women and gender studies.”

This entire term has been a new experience for Hernández Martín. It is her first time in the United States, but she likes to joke that she’s been to the U.S. plenty of times by watching movies.

What the movies didn’t prepare her for was the process of getting approved to study in the U.S. To get her visa, she had to travel to Guyana, a small country on the South American coast. And while that was the path she chose, TU was there in case she needed a backup plan.

Working with the Towson University International Initiatives Office, Hernández Martín asked if they could write a letter of recommendation to get her visa in Spain. TU not only wrote the letter, but, once the staff realized she didn’t need it, they kept in contact to make the process in Guyana go smoothly.

“They were connected with me at all times and would help me navigate things I needed to do to get here,” Hernández Martín says. “The [International Initiatives] staff has been so warm and welcoming. As soon as I got to campus, I found Gail Gibbs [director of the International Student and Scholar Office] and gave her a big hug.”

Hernández Martín also is quick to thank her sponsors—the American Association of University Women and the Maryland Latinos Unidos—who made it financially possible for her to study in the United States.

She’s been making the most of it, trying new food, meeting new people and enjoying what Towson University has to offer. While she misses her mom and her friends in Cuba, she’s hoping after graduation, she can have two places she can call home.

“Towson University has such an amazing campus, and there is so much to do,” Hernández Martín says. “I tell my friends it amazes me that the U.S. has the capacity of turning everything to entertainment. You have these beautiful outside spaces where you can enjoy yourself. You have all these different television shows, and you have all this different food.

“It’s been an amazing experience so far.” 

International Initiatives

International Student & Scholars

The International Students and Scholars Office is here to assist international students and scholars with questions about studying, living and working at Towson University and the Baltimore metropolitan area.

Towson University is home to over 400 international students from over 80 countries and to 30 foreign faculty, exchange scholars, and visiting faculty each year. The International Student and Scholar Office (ISSO) provides documents, services, and programs essential to a culturally diverse academic environment that enhances international learning opportunities for students, faculty, and staff. 

Learn more about ISSO, including information for international students, faculty, and the forms needed to study at TU, visit the ISSO website. Also, stay up to date by following the ISSO Instagram page.