Region 6 LKC Drive-in; A Graduate Student Reflection

Written by Carlos Lopez Garcia
California State University, Fullerton

I recently attended the Region 6 LKC Drive-in at the Claremont University Consortium. The drive-in, which was mostly facilitated by Osvaldo del Valle, was structured around career mapping, navigating the field as Latinas/os, mentoring and networking and en-gaging in the field and concluded with a panel of more experienced Latino/a professionals.

The professional career mapping session was a definite highlight for me. As I enter my second year of graduate school, I need to be strategic about my fieldwork internship placements and how I plan to conduct my job search. This session allowed me to reflect on my immediate and long-term professional goals, obstacles and challenges. I had the chance to evaluate my strengths and the sources of support that can help me successfully navigate my professional journey. Beyond the personal reflection, we had small group discussions regarding our goals and concerns and were able to share some tips and strategies we‘ve used along the way. There was definitely a sense of support and encouragement both within my within my small group and the larger group of attendees.

While I am no stranger to micro-aggressions, I‘ve never experienced them in the workplace. Granted, I‘m only just begun my professional journey. However, I did find the navigating the field as people of color session helpful because it went beyond sharing personal stories of bias-incidents and racism and focused on how to appropriately respond to these incidents. Some of our colleagues shared their experiences and some talked about what they would do differently.

One of the best takeaways from the mentoring, networking and engagement session was about being intentional and finding the right fit when job searching. It‘s important to know what you are looking for, be open to challenges and find the right mentors and organizations to help get you where you want to go. Emily did a fantastic job discussing different types of networking and sharing personal examples with us. I think some of the themes from this ses-sion also came up during the panel as more seasoned professionals shared their journeys with us. I find great value and power in storytelling and sharing, so I always enjoy these type of panels.

This was my first LKC drive-in, and it was a great experience. Being an introvert, I sometimes feel overwhelmed when I go to national or regional conferences, but this setting felt more intimate and it was a lot easier to meet and connect with people. Thank you to the drive-in conference co-chairs Osvaldo and Naddia, the presenters and panelists, the LKC and Region VI!

This article has been featured in the current issue of the LKC Quarterly EZine. Check it out here.

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About the Author:

Carlos Lopez Garcia is a first-year graduate student in the California State University—Fullerton Masters of Science in Higher Education program. He also serves as a graduate assistant in the Dean of Students Office.