There was no indication in Dr. Anna Dina L. Joaquin’s high school report card that she would one day become a university professor, but the Filipino American’s family’s strong immigrant values — hard work and education — along with encouragement from a key mentor, eventually propelled her to go from nearly the bottom of her graduating class to earning a doctorate in linguistics.
It also helped that both of Joaquin’s parents, who brought her family to the United States when she was eight years old, earned advanced degrees. “Th ey have an incredible work ethic and know the value of an education,” says Joaquin. “Th ey always instilled that in me.”
After attending community college, Joaquin moved on to the University of California, Berkeley to study social welfare. “Social welfare is helping others help themselves,” she says, pointing to a mission that has driven her career.
It was at UC Berkeley that Joaquin got the chance to teach English outside the U.S., giving her insight into language acquisition, now one of her main areas of research interest as a professor at California State University, Northridge.
