Year One

Written by Claudia González
Oregon State University

I arrived at Oregon State University (OSU) the summer of 2011. I had just graduated from the University of Central Missouri (UCM) with a Master of Science in College Student Personnel Administration and was eager to begin another chapter in this career journey. This was my biggest move since moving to Warrensburg, Missouri from my beloved hometown, El Paso, Texas in 2009. The feeling of moving from the Midwest to the Northwest can be best described as overwhelming and filled with hope. During my time at UCM, I learned what being a Latina/Chicana meant for me. Being a Latina/Chicana for me meant having the struggle of my parents in my mind and the music of Mexico in my heart. My time at UCM changed me. I learned to be an activist and a creator. I endured struggles at UCM that challenged me as a professional and as a Latina but at the end of those struggles were valuable lessons about hope and the need to change and create.

After such a rewarding experience at UCM, it was easy to agree to move and start all over again. A year and two months after my move to the Northwest, I reflect on my experience as a Resident Director (RD) at Oregon State. My first year as an RD was spent finding my place and voice in a unit where I am the only Latina. My first year as an RD was spent reading over and over again “Job One.” My first year as an RD was spent reaching out to the other Latinos/as at OSU that are here to support and educate our Latinos/as students that are quickly realizing that higher education for Latinos/as in this country is a privilege and that being successful can sometimes be a luxury. My first year as an RD revealed to me that my mentor, Sonny Castro, adjunct faculty at UCM, was right. Latinos/as in the field of student affairs are needed to be role models and mentors for others. We are the ones that break barriers and become mentors.

Being the only Latina in the Resident Director team came with certain and specific unwritten expectations from the Latino students that interact with me. One of my staff members that identifies as Latina shared with me that she felt comfort in knowing that I was her supervisor. She explained to me that there are certain things that I understood about her that other RDs did not. I was no stranger to the comfort of knowing other Latinos in a predominately white institution since at UCM I loved when I interacted with other Latinos and I did not have to explain the pronunciation of my name or anything having to do with my culture or ethnicity. Still, the expectation of having to know everything of what it means to be a Latino/a that grew up in the Northwest was still unknown to me. I quickly realized that being a Latina from the Southwest was different that being a Latino/a from the Northwest. This one revelation forced into a space of learning. I had to learn about the area around me and the needs of the students at OSU. I began to learn by hearing the stories of the Latino students at OSU.

I began by being a capstone project mentor for a CAMP (College Assistance Migrant Program) Scholar Intern. I had the great privilege of mentoring Braulio. His story was remarkable. It was a story filled with courage and hope. He knows what being a Latino means to him and knows that his success is not only his but the success and celebration of his family’s hard work and of Latinos around him. The mentorship relationship I had with Braulio reminded me of why I love student affairs and of why I decided to pursue a career in this field. As I heard the stories filled with dreams and hopes of other Latino students at OSU, I developed my own dream. A dream in which I saw myself as an educator with a revolutionary soul sitting a coffee shop surrounded by other Latino colleagues/friends sharing our stories and aspirations for our work and lives. Soon I knew that my first year at OSU was about transition and about learning. I needed to learn before I could make an impact. I needed to remember the lessons that were learned at UCM.

My first year as an RD at OSU has left me with a hunger for better opportunities for our Latino student population and with a hope that their dreams and my dream become reality.

About the Author:
Claudia González is a Resident Director at Oregon State University. She earned her Master’s degree in College Student Personnel Administration from the University of Central Missouri and her Bachelor’s in Sociology from the University of Texas at El Paso. Follow her on twitter: @17stargirl

History of Latinos and Higher Education