Although urban Latinas/os have participated in mathematics workshops in urban universities for over three decades as part of the Emerging Scholars Program (ESP), few studies have explored Latina/o students' perspectives of how and why these learning environments support them in attaining mathematical success. This article presents an in-depth case study of how Vanessa, a Latina undergraduate student from an urban community, simultaneously constructed her mathematics and racial identities as she engaged in a culturally diverse, collaborative ESP Calculus I workshop situated within broader sociopolitical contexts. Vanessa's story was selected because she offered a unique perspective of how encountering identity-affirming workshop spaces aided her in constructing a strengthened self-perception as a Latina mathematics learner. Her counter-story challenges dominant ideologies that disregard the importance of viewing Latina/o students' mathematics participation and learning as racialized forms of experience.