Written by Neudy Carolina Nuñez
Nova Southeastern University
My name is Neudy Carolina Nuñez and I’m a proud Latina representing Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. My first passion in life is words and I have been able to emerge myself in them through my writing and in my everyday communication and interactions as a college administrator. I am currently an Area Coordinator with the Office of Residential Life and Housing at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, FL. My inspiration to these vignettes are endless days of reflection and realizing that you can’t know where you want to go without remembering who you are and embracing where you came from. Additionally, I am guided by one of my favorite quotes from an amazing woman, “Words are alive and I live them.” Dr. Maya Angelou.
Eternal Friendship: I remember when I met my cousin Barbara for the first time; she was taller than me back then. I had heard so much about her and was eager to meet her. On the way to my grandparent’s Palisade Avenue apartment I was full of energy, I knew that she was there waiting for me and I had brought some Barbie dolls to play with. When my parents knocked on the door, my uncle opened it and there she stood. I was so excited that I hugged her so tightly and unknowingly made her cry. To my surprise, she didn’t know who I was. She shied away and stood scared behind my uncle’s leg pant. With a messy pony tail, through thick glasses she stared at me but didn’t say anything. I smiled and wanted her to like me as much as I liked her. I told her I missed her and called her “mi prima”. Eventually she came around and we played. Then we talked. We got reacquainted and became best friends. We were inseparable and I’ve loved her ever since. I was 3 years old.
The Promise of a Dream: I remember my first plane trip. I sat next to my dad and he let me have the window seat. I was looking at the clouds and asked him if I could ever touch a cloud and if he had ever touched one. He explained that they weren’t solid things but just fluff made out of air and told me no one could ever touch a cloud or walk on a cloud. I was disappointed and he saw this in my eyes. He smiled and then told me that one day he would build me a tall ladder that could reach the sky. He said that, that way I could climb up and touch the clouds and even play in them whenever I wanted. I was 3 years old.
Courage: I remember getting on the NYC subway at 242nd street and Broadway with my mom and my sister. We did this every Sunday as we traveled to “manjatan” to buy groceries because it was cheaper than getting them in Yonkers. My mom always looked so scared every time we had to step inside the train. She feared that we would miss a step and slip through the small space between the train and the platform. Once on, she would be relieved and sat us closely next to her. I would always kneel on the seat to look out the window waiting for the darkness of the tunnel. At the site of the tunnel, Johanny would nervously climb on my mom’s lap. My mom was alone with 2 young daughters in a foreign country, lost in translation not knowing anyone. My dad was in Dominican Republic and couldn’t leave the country-legally. My mom knew that her stop was 181st and she looked forward to get off that train, attentively looking at each stop and street name on our way there. Once there, she would hold our hands so tightly that at times I could feel her nails puncturing my skin, but I felt protected. Before the supermarket, we would stop for lunch. She would buy Johanny a slice of pizza and made sure she didn’t choke on the cheese. She bought me a “papa rellena” and if she had enough money she would buy herself a “sandwich cubano” from the corner store on 187th. And as scared as she was on the ride there and as scared as she would be on the ride back-she knew that for my sister’s and I sake, on Sundays she had to have courage. I was 4 years old.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Locos Pero Pocos
Written By Cristobal Salinas Jr.
Iowa State University
Locos Pero Pocos is poem that represents and speaks the experiences of men with membership to a Multicultural fraternity. It also gives a small cultural context of the Latino culture. The poem was written in Spanish with the purpose of hazing awareness in the Latino culture, and to represent and validate the experiences and challenges that some fraternity men have faced. The poem is dedicated with love and respect to the men that shared their stories with me.
Bienvenidos al reto.
No entiendo, estoy perdido, y no me respetan,
Me gritan, me insultan, me mandan, y me ignoran.
La Pinta, la Niña, y la Santa María,
Venimos con estrés,
Vivimos entre locos pero pocos,
Es un hecho, que al caso no lo vez.
Vivimos con historia,
Paciencia requerida para soportar,
Vivimos confundidos y perdidos,
Y ellos siguen sin respetar.
Ya estoy cansado de llevar rocas en el bolsillo,
Ya no soporto los gritos y los insultos,
No les gusta mi trabajo que se sienten a mi lado,
Mi gente es siempre firme,
Acaso no lo has notado.
Son clases poderosas,
Niños que quieren educar,
Pero en vez de dar clase,
Nos ayudan a sofocar.
Echarle ganas, y mejor que sobresalgas,
Si te vas no regresaras,
Todos somos como las estrellas fugases.
Nos quieren sacar los ojos,
Somos causa de su enojo.
Cero drogas, Cero compasión,
Pero al final hay mucha tentación.
Hace un año éramos desconocidos,
Este año somos reconocidos,
Nos perdimos entre gritos e insultos,
Pero nos hayamos entre los morados.
El secreto es que es una obra,
Que tiembla y tiembla.
Vivimos entre locos pero pocos,
Es un hecho, que si nos equivocamos
El poso no perdona.
Tiene precio.
Aunque suene tan sencillo,
Llevo todos los ladrillos,
Hasta que se cansen los niños,
Y de gritar los grillos.
Todo es como un tornillo,
Hipócritas
Buscan como humillar,
Pero al final todo es un amar.
Nos pisaron como ratas,
Son pocos pero locos,
Pero todos nos amamos.
No es tan fácil,
Aunque suene tan sencillo,
Pintare cada ladrillo,
De nuestro Castillo.
Mis talentos con ellos no están de sobra,
Nos unimos los mejores porque solo estos sobreviven,
Nada tememos, nos unimos, y lo dudo cabrones que nos deriven.
Iowa State University
Locos Pero Pocos is poem that represents and speaks the experiences of men with membership to a Multicultural fraternity. It also gives a small cultural context of the Latino culture. The poem was written in Spanish with the purpose of hazing awareness in the Latino culture, and to represent and validate the experiences and challenges that some fraternity men have faced. The poem is dedicated with love and respect to the men that shared their stories with me.
Bienvenidos al reto.
No entiendo, estoy perdido, y no me respetan,
Me gritan, me insultan, me mandan, y me ignoran.
La Pinta, la Niña, y la Santa María,
Venimos con estrés,
Vivimos entre locos pero pocos,
Es un hecho, que al caso no lo vez.
Vivimos con historia,
Paciencia requerida para soportar,
Vivimos confundidos y perdidos,
Y ellos siguen sin respetar.
Ya estoy cansado de llevar rocas en el bolsillo,
Ya no soporto los gritos y los insultos,
No les gusta mi trabajo que se sienten a mi lado,
Mi gente es siempre firme,
Acaso no lo has notado.
Son clases poderosas,
Niños que quieren educar,
Pero en vez de dar clase,
Nos ayudan a sofocar.
Echarle ganas, y mejor que sobresalgas,
Si te vas no regresaras,
Todos somos como las estrellas fugases.
Nos quieren sacar los ojos,
Somos causa de su enojo.
Cero drogas, Cero compasión,
Pero al final hay mucha tentación.
Hace un año éramos desconocidos,
Este año somos reconocidos,
Nos perdimos entre gritos e insultos,
Pero nos hayamos entre los morados.
El secreto es que es una obra,
Que tiembla y tiembla.
Vivimos entre locos pero pocos,
Es un hecho, que si nos equivocamos
El poso no perdona.
Tiene precio.
Aunque suene tan sencillo,
Llevo todos los ladrillos,
Hasta que se cansen los niños,
Y de gritar los grillos.
Todo es como un tornillo,
Hipócritas
Buscan como humillar,
Pero al final todo es un amar.
Nos pisaron como ratas,
Son pocos pero locos,
Pero todos nos amamos.
No es tan fácil,
Aunque suene tan sencillo,
Pintare cada ladrillo,
De nuestro Castillo.
Mis talentos con ellos no están de sobra,
Nos unimos los mejores porque solo estos sobreviven,
Nada tememos, nos unimos, y lo dudo cabrones que nos deriven.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Journey to the PhD with Trace Camacho: Mentors
Written By: Trace Camacho
Michigan State University
At the end of my last post, I mentioned the importance of finding mentors. Having a mentor isn’t just a necessity when applying to PhD programs, but a necessity as a student affair professional. I am lucky that I have a number of mentors that both challenge and support me in different ways. I will share with you how I came to find two of my current mentors Monica Miranda Smalls and Dr. Susana Munoz.
When I started as a graduate student working in fraternity and sorority life I knew next to nothing beyond my own organization. I just jumped in head first learning as much as I could. Luckily I had an amazing supervisor who taught me much, but I wanted a professional mentor in the field from beyond Iowa State. When searching for a mentor I had no idea where to start. That all changed when I was given the opportunity to attend the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors annual meeting in Cincinnati. I had heard about Monica Miranda Smalls before the meeting but I was shy and therefore apprehensive to talk to her (truth be told I was a little intimidated). Luckily, I had found some time during the meeting to have some brief one on one conversation with Monica that allowed us to break the ice. After the meeting I knew I wanted to ask Monica to be my mentor. I bit the bullet and sent her an email. To this day I am still taken back from the overwhelming response I got from her and how eager she was to serve as my professional mentor. Our mentor/mentee relationship has been great, we make time to catch up at every professional conference we are at together as well as email throughout the year.
Sometimes though mentors come into your life and you don’t realize they are mentors until later on. When I first met Dr. Susana Munoz it was over dinner at a local Thai restaurant in Ames. I was a member of a fraternity who has a close historical relationship with her sorority and we had several mutual friends and acquaintances. At the time I did think “hey here is a great mentor” I just wanted to be friends with her. Once I started thinking more long term about my student affairs career after I started my first professional position I knew I wanted to get my PhD. When I was racking my brain, thinking about people I could talk to about PhD programs Dr. Munoz immediately came to mind. Now when we see each other we don’t have just purely social conversations we always make some time just to talk about my goals in student affairs and my PhD aspirations.
Both these women have been amazing mentors. What makes them amazing is that they tell me what I need to hear not what I want to here. That’s not saying they aren’t amazing sources of encouragement which they are; but they also ask me questions that cause me to critically reflect. They also push me to do things I would have never considered before; they are the perfect example of challenge and support. As you are considering whom you want as your mentor, makes sure to choose individuals who will both challenge and support you. If you are having trouble finding a mentor look at your colleagues and friends you have within the profession, I am sure there are some great mentors just waiting for you to ask.
Michigan State University
At the end of my last post, I mentioned the importance of finding mentors. Having a mentor isn’t just a necessity when applying to PhD programs, but a necessity as a student affair professional. I am lucky that I have a number of mentors that both challenge and support me in different ways. I will share with you how I came to find two of my current mentors Monica Miranda Smalls and Dr. Susana Munoz.
When I started as a graduate student working in fraternity and sorority life I knew next to nothing beyond my own organization. I just jumped in head first learning as much as I could. Luckily I had an amazing supervisor who taught me much, but I wanted a professional mentor in the field from beyond Iowa State. When searching for a mentor I had no idea where to start. That all changed when I was given the opportunity to attend the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors annual meeting in Cincinnati. I had heard about Monica Miranda Smalls before the meeting but I was shy and therefore apprehensive to talk to her (truth be told I was a little intimidated). Luckily, I had found some time during the meeting to have some brief one on one conversation with Monica that allowed us to break the ice. After the meeting I knew I wanted to ask Monica to be my mentor. I bit the bullet and sent her an email. To this day I am still taken back from the overwhelming response I got from her and how eager she was to serve as my professional mentor. Our mentor/mentee relationship has been great, we make time to catch up at every professional conference we are at together as well as email throughout the year.
Sometimes though mentors come into your life and you don’t realize they are mentors until later on. When I first met Dr. Susana Munoz it was over dinner at a local Thai restaurant in Ames. I was a member of a fraternity who has a close historical relationship with her sorority and we had several mutual friends and acquaintances. At the time I did think “hey here is a great mentor” I just wanted to be friends with her. Once I started thinking more long term about my student affairs career after I started my first professional position I knew I wanted to get my PhD. When I was racking my brain, thinking about people I could talk to about PhD programs Dr. Munoz immediately came to mind. Now when we see each other we don’t have just purely social conversations we always make some time just to talk about my goals in student affairs and my PhD aspirations.
Both these women have been amazing mentors. What makes them amazing is that they tell me what I need to hear not what I want to here. That’s not saying they aren’t amazing sources of encouragement which they are; but they also ask me questions that cause me to critically reflect. They also push me to do things I would have never considered before; they are the perfect example of challenge and support. As you are considering whom you want as your mentor, makes sure to choose individuals who will both challenge and support you. If you are having trouble finding a mentor look at your colleagues and friends you have within the profession, I am sure there are some great mentors just waiting for you to ask.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
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.
---
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.
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.
---
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.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Hashtags & How to Use Them
Written by Estee Hernández
Texas State University - San Marcos
It’s no secret: I love Twitter. It is an innovative tool that connects us both personally and professionally. (For a comprehensive Twitter how-to, please check out@BreakDrink’s Twitter guide for student affairs professionals.) But few of us know how to maximize our Twitter use. This blog post was designed to discuss hashtags (i.e., words or phrases that begin with #).
Brief history about hashtags: they were a by-product formulated not by the Twitter creators but its users, and it is a way to connect posts about the same or similar topics. Sometimes, people will create ironic hashtags like #smh (meaning shake my head) or #oomf (or one of my followers). When you first log onto Twitter, popular hashtags will appear on the right side of the page as trends or trending topics. This means that they are the 10 most frequently used search items or hashtags in the Twitterverse.
Some common hashtags are below:
• #ff or #followfriday: Used on Fridays, of course, and suggest a user worth following
• #sachat: Denotes tweets that discuss or relate to topics in student affairs
• #sagrad: Used in reference to higher education/student affairs graduate programs and their students
• #sajobs: Tweets about job postings and/or job searching advice and resources use this hashtag
• #wlsalt: Used by women in student affairs (learn more about this hashtag here)
• Discipline-related hashtags: #reslife for residence life/housing, #cuad = College Union & Activities Discussion, #acadv for academic advising, #greekchat for fraternity/sorority life
• #salatino: Developed by the NASPA LKC to share news and resources about Latina/os in higher education
When you use hashtags in your tweets, Twitter automatically creates links that will lead to a search page that generates the latest tweets that mention the hashtag. To view what this looks like in action, click on any of the above hashtags.
Now that you know what hashtags do, you may be thinking to yourself, “That’s great, but why use them?” Hashtags are a great way to share resources, news, and inquiries with other student affairs professionals via Twitter.
A good follow-up question might be, “How do we keep track of hashtags?” If you’ve clicked on any of the hashtags above, and you’re logged onto your Twitter account, you have the option of saving the search—just click the button on the top right corner. When you go back to your homepage, the hashtag will be saved under Searches for easy reference.
Applications like TweetDeck (a program for your desktop) and HootSuite (a web-based application) make it easy for you to keep track of hashtags. Both of these programs let you create columns for every hashtag you want to follow. I personally use HootSuite to manage the Twitter accounts that I monitor. This is what it looks like:
(I manage a few Twitter accounts…)
On the far right side of the picture above, you can see a column that was created to follow our NASPA LKC hashtag, #salatino. This is a close-up of what the column looks like:
Several of the aforementioned hashtags will host regular chats where a moderator will facilitate a conversation about relevant topics in our profession. The most popular hashtag that hosts a chat is #sachat, and you can learn more about it here. Think of it as a professional development round table that takes place online.
It could get difficult to follow all the tweets that get posted during chat time, as the backchannel may become saturated. I suggest using TweetChat during this time. TweetChat will refresh the page at regular intervals, and it also allows for you to post tweets (and will automatically add the hashtag to the end of your tweet).
Often, conferences will create a hashtag for attendees to use throughout sessions, receptions, and other programs. A month ago, I attended the NASPA Region 3 Summer Symposium where we used #naspa3 for the duration of the conference. This provided an opportunity for professionals who were unable to attend to also garner information and resources that were made available there.
Two final notes before I conclude:
1. If your account is private and you use hashtags, your tweets will not appear when users search a hashtag. This includes users that follow you. Deciding whether to make an account private or public is a whole other discussion, so this is just an FYI.
2. Refrain from “hashtag abuse.” Reserve the use of hashtags for times when tweets are beneficial to those who are following the hashtag. For a discussion about “hashtag abuse,” please reference @StacyLOliver’s blog post.
The discussion does not end here! The Twitterverse continues to grow as more people create innovative applications to maximize our social media use. Know that this post, although long, is not exhaustive, but it provides a good starting point for those who want to make the most use out of hashtags. Please remember to follow us at @tweetinglavoz, and use #salatino to engage about topics pertaining to Latina/os in higher education!
---
About the Author:
Estee Hernández is a Residence Director at Texas State University-San Marcos. She earned her Master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Baylor University, as well as her Bachelor’s degree in French. You may follow her on Twitter at @esteehernandez.
Texas State University - San Marcos
It’s no secret: I love Twitter. It is an innovative tool that connects us both personally and professionally. (For a comprehensive Twitter how-to, please check out@BreakDrink’s Twitter guide for student affairs professionals.) But few of us know how to maximize our Twitter use. This blog post was designed to discuss hashtags (i.e., words or phrases that begin with #).
Brief history about hashtags: they were a by-product formulated not by the Twitter creators but its users, and it is a way to connect posts about the same or similar topics. Sometimes, people will create ironic hashtags like #smh (meaning shake my head) or #oomf (or one of my followers). When you first log onto Twitter, popular hashtags will appear on the right side of the page as trends or trending topics. This means that they are the 10 most frequently used search items or hashtags in the Twitterverse.
Some common hashtags are below:
• #ff or #followfriday: Used on Fridays, of course, and suggest a user worth following
• #sachat: Denotes tweets that discuss or relate to topics in student affairs
• #sagrad: Used in reference to higher education/student affairs graduate programs and their students
• #sajobs: Tweets about job postings and/or job searching advice and resources use this hashtag
• #wlsalt: Used by women in student affairs (learn more about this hashtag here)
• Discipline-related hashtags: #reslife for residence life/housing, #cuad = College Union & Activities Discussion, #acadv for academic advising, #greekchat for fraternity/sorority life
• #salatino: Developed by the NASPA LKC to share news and resources about Latina/os in higher education
When you use hashtags in your tweets, Twitter automatically creates links that will lead to a search page that generates the latest tweets that mention the hashtag. To view what this looks like in action, click on any of the above hashtags.
Now that you know what hashtags do, you may be thinking to yourself, “That’s great, but why use them?” Hashtags are a great way to share resources, news, and inquiries with other student affairs professionals via Twitter.
A good follow-up question might be, “How do we keep track of hashtags?” If you’ve clicked on any of the hashtags above, and you’re logged onto your Twitter account, you have the option of saving the search—just click the button on the top right corner. When you go back to your homepage, the hashtag will be saved under Searches for easy reference.
Applications like TweetDeck (a program for your desktop) and HootSuite (a web-based application) make it easy for you to keep track of hashtags. Both of these programs let you create columns for every hashtag you want to follow. I personally use HootSuite to manage the Twitter accounts that I monitor. This is what it looks like:
(I manage a few Twitter accounts…)
On the far right side of the picture above, you can see a column that was created to follow our NASPA LKC hashtag, #salatino. This is a close-up of what the column looks like:
Several of the aforementioned hashtags will host regular chats where a moderator will facilitate a conversation about relevant topics in our profession. The most popular hashtag that hosts a chat is #sachat, and you can learn more about it here. Think of it as a professional development round table that takes place online.
It could get difficult to follow all the tweets that get posted during chat time, as the backchannel may become saturated. I suggest using TweetChat during this time. TweetChat will refresh the page at regular intervals, and it also allows for you to post tweets (and will automatically add the hashtag to the end of your tweet).
Often, conferences will create a hashtag for attendees to use throughout sessions, receptions, and other programs. A month ago, I attended the NASPA Region 3 Summer Symposium where we used #naspa3 for the duration of the conference. This provided an opportunity for professionals who were unable to attend to also garner information and resources that were made available there.
Two final notes before I conclude:
1. If your account is private and you use hashtags, your tweets will not appear when users search a hashtag. This includes users that follow you. Deciding whether to make an account private or public is a whole other discussion, so this is just an FYI.
2. Refrain from “hashtag abuse.” Reserve the use of hashtags for times when tweets are beneficial to those who are following the hashtag. For a discussion about “hashtag abuse,” please reference @StacyLOliver’s blog post.
The discussion does not end here! The Twitterverse continues to grow as more people create innovative applications to maximize our social media use. Know that this post, although long, is not exhaustive, but it provides a good starting point for those who want to make the most use out of hashtags. Please remember to follow us at @tweetinglavoz, and use #salatino to engage about topics pertaining to Latina/os in higher education!
---
About the Author:
Estee Hernández is a Residence Director at Texas State University-San Marcos. She earned her Master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Baylor University, as well as her Bachelor’s degree in French. You may follow her on Twitter at @esteehernandez.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Alternative Spring Break in the Dominican Republic
Written By: Angel Garcia
Elon University
As a Latino in the field, community service is a lifestyle. It is also seen as a key experiential learning component for colleges and universities. I would like to share a personally rewarding and inspiring experience: Dominican Republic 2011: Cambiando Vidas in Lavapie. (Translation: Changing Lives in Lavapie)
For the first time in my professional career, I had the opportunity to participate in an Alternative Spring Break Trip. Dominican Republic was the site, and Cambiando Vidas our community partner. Cambiando Vidas is an organization whose mission is to provide housing to the poor neighboring communities of San Juan de la Maguana in Dominican Republic including communities such as Lavapie and Las Charcas. Cambiando Vidas is an Elon University community partner through the Kernodle Center for Community Service.
Our mission was to build a house in five days for Luisa, a single mother of two young daughters. As any other project, the trip’s preparation was a key element for its success. Student coordinators did a phenomenal job preparing the trip by being inclusive. Every student had a part preparing for the trip. Groups were made and given the task to study and research the culture of the Dominican Republic; politics, food, weather, and language were some of the topics that the groups studied.
From the moment we arrived in the Dominican Republic, student’s experienced overwhelming hospitality provided by our local guide, Jose. Pepo, as he is known, was our guide and he is also the founder of Cambiando Vidas. We took a three hours bus ride from Santo Domingo to San Juan de la Maguana. During the drive, Pepo talked to all the students giving an overview of the trip, and thanking the students for their participation. We arrived at the hotel in San Juan at 11pm; seventeen hours after first beginning our journey on a plane in Charlotte.
Each of the five days was hard worked but enjoyed. Every day, we had breakfast at 7am and started working at 8am. We took a 15 minute ride, and on our way to the community, we drove by rice fields, sweet potato’s fields, and the scenery was spectacular. San Juan is surrounded by mountains so the weather during mornings and nights is very pleasant. Our first day at the site, we were able to experience the sense of community in Lavapie. Each day, about twenty community members, joined forces to build the house; Luisa and her two daughters included. We all shared jobs, asked for help, laughed together, and after five hard working days, Luisa’s dream of owning a house came true: two bedrooms, one bathroom, six hundred square foot house. But, size didn’t matter. What was importance was the service provided for and by the community and the experience shared those five days.
When I think of community service, I think about giving, sharing,learning and reflecting.
Giving: seeing the community of Lavapie come together and help each other without expecting things in return was a very admirable and inspiring experience. Community members worked for one or two hours and then returned to their daily lives. But those two hours were hard-working and full of joy. Students noticed that each day, there were new people and each day was a new adventure for them. Daily, students wanted to match the efficacy shown by the community members, and it soon became a friendly competition among the groups to see who helped the most. We were all supervised by professionals of course. Ultimately, it was a team effort. I recall forming assembly lines during concrete pouring and stacking up the blocks, and even when it was about 95 degrees outside, everyone had lots of fun.
Sharing & Learning: as a Latino advisor for a group of American citizens, it was essential for students to learn as much as possible from the experience and the Dominican culture. This learning outcome was easily achieved due to the community’s hospitality and friendliness, and the students’ willingness to share and learn. Students were learning and practicing Spanish through conversation and, at the same time, teaching English. The fun and outgoing Dominicans were teaching students to dance Merengue and Bachata. Lunch was, in my opinion, the most valuable learning experience during this trip. It brought up the concept of familia or familismo, which Latin cultures are known for. The kitchen where lunch was made consisted of a few stones and wood; but the flavor, simply remarkable. The community as a whole came together during lunch and simply enjoyed an hour of peace and deserved rest. Enjoying each others’ company, the whole community and students talked and joked around as if we knew each other for years.
Reflection: Before going to bed, we would come together and reflect on our workday. What did we do, what did we learn, what we liked the most and the least, etc. But, the most important part of our conversation took place when we talked about what we were going to do after this trip. If possible, we wanted to come back to Dominican Republic and continue to help the community. But, we also talked about the communities within the U.S. that could benefit from our service.
Acknowledging my own Latino heritage, I find a desire to help communities such as Lavapie every chance I get, or at least try to help. But I know that, by keeping in touch with them via facebook, our friendship will continue to strengthen. Ultimately, I don’t believe that service is a onetime type of event. I believe that the goal and meaning of community service should be to become agents of change for the development of our communities. The success of community service depends on what we do after the initial act; after the trip, after philanthropy, after the clean-up, after building a house. We have to weigh the outcomes of our service however, and make sure that we are maximizing our efforts while also maximizing our resources.
About the Author:
Angel Garcia is an Assistant Director of Residence Life (East Area) at Elon University. He earned her master’s degree in College Student Affairs from Nova Southeastern University (’10) and her bachelor’s degree from Florida International University (’08).
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Journey to the PhD with Trace Camacho
Written By: Trace Camacho
Michigan State University
This will be the first of a series of blog posts documenting my experience as I apply to PhD programs. Hopefully this will be helpful to those of you thinking about pursing your PhD and also allow those of you with or (currently pursuing your PhD) to share your insight and wisdom. A little bit of information about myself, I am just completing my second year as the fraternity and sorority advisor at Michigan State University and I received my master’s degree from Iowa State in 2009.
I have already made the first big decision which is applying to PhD programs this fall. This sets in motion a laundry list of tasks I must accomplish before I can even complete one application. Signing up to take the GRE was my first task. Since I have taken the test previously, and it is about to expire, I am hoping for a better score. I will be taking the new GRE in August the two main factors that influenced my decision was: 1. there are no analogies on the new GRE and 2. If you take the new GRE in August or September you receive a 50% discount.
At this point I would be remised if I didn’t say I have had the wonderful guidance and mentorship of many Latino PhD’s who have been helpful but also caused me to reflect critically as start down this journey. Dr. Susana Munoz has been my sounding board providing me with amazing support but also asking me the tough questions. During a recent chat with Dr. Munoz she asked me “why now?” and “what will do after you get your PhD?”, I have reflected on these questions almost daily during my evening jog. As to the “why now”, I miss the classroom and I have a number of topics I am interested in researching, I actually keep sticky notes next to my computer of topics I am in interested in researching. To get my feet wet I have enrolled in a graduate level research class at my home institution for the fall.
So after I receive my PhD what will I do? This is the more difficult question to answer as my interests shifts from day to day. To balance my varying interests I would like to secure a position at the director level and also be an adjunct professor in a higher education program. I am trying to keep my options open as the job market may look different in five years.
My first piece of advice is to seek out a mentor. I am lucky in that I have an amazing professional mentor, Monica Miranda-Smalls; but also some amazing Latina Scholars who are always willing to share their advice such as Dr. Susana Munoz, Dr. Michelle Espino, and Dr. Judy Marquez-Kiyama. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice there are many great mentors in and outside of the LKC.
Michigan State University
This will be the first of a series of blog posts documenting my experience as I apply to PhD programs. Hopefully this will be helpful to those of you thinking about pursing your PhD and also allow those of you with or (currently pursuing your PhD) to share your insight and wisdom. A little bit of information about myself, I am just completing my second year as the fraternity and sorority advisor at Michigan State University and I received my master’s degree from Iowa State in 2009.
I have already made the first big decision which is applying to PhD programs this fall. This sets in motion a laundry list of tasks I must accomplish before I can even complete one application. Signing up to take the GRE was my first task. Since I have taken the test previously, and it is about to expire, I am hoping for a better score. I will be taking the new GRE in August the two main factors that influenced my decision was: 1. there are no analogies on the new GRE and 2. If you take the new GRE in August or September you receive a 50% discount.
At this point I would be remised if I didn’t say I have had the wonderful guidance and mentorship of many Latino PhD’s who have been helpful but also caused me to reflect critically as start down this journey. Dr. Susana Munoz has been my sounding board providing me with amazing support but also asking me the tough questions. During a recent chat with Dr. Munoz she asked me “why now?” and “what will do after you get your PhD?”, I have reflected on these questions almost daily during my evening jog. As to the “why now”, I miss the classroom and I have a number of topics I am interested in researching, I actually keep sticky notes next to my computer of topics I am in interested in researching. To get my feet wet I have enrolled in a graduate level research class at my home institution for the fall.
So after I receive my PhD what will I do? This is the more difficult question to answer as my interests shifts from day to day. To balance my varying interests I would like to secure a position at the director level and also be an adjunct professor in a higher education program. I am trying to keep my options open as the job market may look different in five years.
My first piece of advice is to seek out a mentor. I am lucky in that I have an amazing professional mentor, Monica Miranda-Smalls; but also some amazing Latina Scholars who are always willing to share their advice such as Dr. Susana Munoz, Dr. Michelle Espino, and Dr. Judy Marquez-Kiyama. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice there are many great mentors in and outside of the LKC.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
