THE LO


Patricia Brito easily blends in amidst the sea of students flowing through Damen Student Center. The 23-year-old Loyola senior carries herself with a quiet demeanor, her wavy black hair neatly pulled back to reveal an unassuming smile. She calls little attention to herself as she casually chats with friends between classes, in many ways the picture of the prototypical college student. Across the room, Tamara Franco is hard to miss.


A broad, bright smile stretches between her rosy cheeks, framed by a wall of long, flowing blond curls. She speaks excitedly through a thick Cuban accent, her words accompanied by an infectious, joyful laugh. Her gregarious nature makes her fit


LONG &


WINDING ROAD


IN IN


Twenty years after leaving Cuba as political refugees, a mother and daughter take the next step as members of the Class of 2017 • BY SCOTT ALESSI


right in among her fellow undergraduate students even though, at 47, Franco would seemingly have less in common with her peers than she would with their parents. As Brito walks through Damen, she talks to a


friend who points out a student standing with Franco. “Hey, that’s my sister,” he tells Brito, gestur- ing toward the young woman. Brito looks over and responds, matter-of-factly, “That’s my mom standing next to her.” By now, it is a familiar conversation for Brito.


Since her sophomore year, she’s shared the Loyola campus with Franco, her mother, as both pursued their bachelor’s degrees. “I still have to explain to


SPRING 2017 13


Opposite page: Tamara Franco, left, and her daughter, Patricia Brito, sit together inside the Information Commons on the Lake Shore Campus. Above: Franco and Brito are shown in Cuba, where they lived until Brito was 3 years old.


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