Witten By Victoria Snyder
Frostburg State University
Many of my students and colleagues have asked me what brought me to the field of Higher Education. I have a simple yet much understated response; there was no who looked like me working at my institution. I am a beautiful child of mixed heritage. My mother is Caucasian and my father Mexican. I went to a Predominately White Institution for my undergraduate work and slowly realized that the school was split in to two—White and Black with no room for those “Brown” kids. The Black students had the Black Student Union and the White students, well they were the majority, and they had each other. But where did I fit in? Where did the Brown fit in? Where were the faculty members or staff members like me? Where were the students like me? I felt alone, lost, not wanted in my journey through college. I sat back and heard racist jokes, was told to take derogatory comments on the chin, and listen to countless classmates mock my heritage. For a while I sat silent, because I thought I had to, until I realized I had a voice and that I needed to stand up not just for myself, but for others like me. That led me to what I felt was my calling, working in the diversity field in Higher Education.
As I transcend my career in Higher Education I feel there s still a lack of education or conversation about the Brown students. Let me preface by saying that not all schools are divided into the White and Black but that some do amazing work reaching out to various multicultural populations. In the field of diversity, too often I have seen institutions support one population over the other. Where do my hermanos and hermanas fit? Hispanics are the largest minority population entering higher education, with 2.1 million students currently. However, when you look around at the number of faculty and staff of Hispanics, Asians or those from the LGTBQ community, do those numbers represent their growing populations respectively?
My call to mi gente is this: be that voice, be that person. Often, we are a small population on college campuses, and it can be terrifying to stand up and be that one person, that person who expresses a voice for a whole demographic, but we have to! It is up to us to be the proponent on our respective campuses. Sitting back and denying our heritage, only promulgates the problem instead of solving it. How many terrified, alone, and scared children are going through their college careers without having a mentor, or someone who is like them who can guide them? Your call to action is as follows: stand up at your institution, speak to HR, to the Vice Presidents and President about increasing the population of Hispanic faculty and staff members. In 2012 alone, Hispanics made up 16.5 % of the population in Higher Education, which is an outstanding number! Why shouldn’t the population of faculty and staff members in Higher Education reflect that same percentage? Encourage others to be that mentor and that guide for other students. You never know what your guiding hand or mentorship can do for the next generation. As for working in Higher Education, its okay to push the Brown agenda, I encourage you to do so! Challenge administration for more money to support Hispanic students and their programs, meet with Admissions to create advanced efforts to recruit students, and do not be afraid to research and read up on growing trends with Hispanic students. Your effort no matter how small will get the ball rolling and you never know what change you can make from there.
Stay positive, stay energetic and remember, Brown is the color!
About the Author:
Victoria Snyder is the Assistant Director of the Diversity Center at Frostburg State University. She has an undergraduate degree from the University of Mount Union in history and a Masters degree from the University of Akron in Higher Education Administration. She is currently pursuing a second Masters at Duquesne University in Leadership in Professional Administration.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
DREAMers
Written By Laura Bohorquez
Loyola University Chicago
Growing up in Brewster, a small rural agricultural town in central Washington State has been an immense life lesson and a true blessing; it taught me the power of organizing and the power that came with being in solidarity with community. Furthermore, it taught me early on how it felt and what it meant to hold multiple marginalized identities (Mexican, woman, lower working class, DREAMer) while living in a White-heterosexual dominated society. Moreover, and most importantly growing up in a town that lacked basic human resources and access to a good education allowed me to explore how my marginalized identities as well as the privileges that I hold from my other identities (educated, bilingual, catholic, heterosexual, able-bodied) all intersected and fostered my resiliency and helped me find the voice that I needed to empower myself and others.
Growing up I have learned that struggle is inevitable and thus I constantly remind myself that I come from a place of resiliency and empowerment, which is my family. Additionally, I continuously remind myself that I come from education and from the ideology that in order to keep succeeding, I have to always bring my community with me. With this said, early last spring semester I decided that I wanted to practice my ideology by contributing to Loyola University Chicago’s (LUC) Jesuit mission of social justice and practice being a person for others. I decided that I wanted to do this by following my passion on immigration and education and what better way than by advocating for undocumented students.
With the support of my director Sadika Sulaiman-Hara and the contributions of my colleague Maria Guzman the first safe space & ally training for undocumented students at Loyola was created. Since the beginning, my vision for this project included and emphasis on education and the deconstructing of the negative profile that the media has given immigrants. Furthermore, I wanted to give the Loyola community the opportunity to learn about the issues faced by undocumented students from DREAMers themselves. I wanted people to have the opportunity to reflect on their journeys and be able to connect and experience parallel empathy with undocumented students. Moreover, I wanted all participants to leave the training feeling empowered and confident and understanding that either as a DREAMer or an ally, we all play an important role as social justice change agents. My overall goal was to bring awareness to Loyola’s campus about the barriers DREAMers face so that we could create a more welcoming campus for all students because initially our purpose in an institution of higher education is to support and foster the education of all students.
On September 27th and October 4th my colleague and I made my vision a reality. We educated about 50 staff, faculty, and graduate students about terminology, the history of the various legislations affecting DREAMers such as the DREAM Act and current Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals memorandum, we talked about the undocumented student movement, the role that Loyola had played in advocating for DREAMers and we gave DREAMers the opportunity to share their experiences. At the end of the training we provided our attendees with various tangible resources, such as a counselors guide, academic research, names to community organizations as well as guided them through the DREAMer website that I created under the Department of Student Diversity & Multicultural Affairs at LUC. My colleague Maria and I also mentioned that we too were willing to support them in their ally journey.
Due to the training, I have been encountered by allies who want to learn more and others who offer to assist me in making Loyola a more welcoming space for DREAMers. My first lesson learned is that once we provide people with a common language, the basic issues faced by DREAMers, the opportunity to reflect on their journey, and resources; people are more willing to openly talk about their role as an ally. My second lesson learned is that I had the privilege to create, follow my passion, and share my knowledge with others, something that many graduate students only hope for. My experience has been transformational and grounding, it has reinforced my ideology that anything is possible; it’s just a matter of educating one another, recognizing our privileged and marginalized identities, and always remembering to bring our communities along.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
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
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
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Hispanic Serving Institutions Week
Written By Christine Hernandez
American Association of University Women
I didn’t know that I was a student at a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) until the beginning of my senior year in college. The Dean of Students at Cal State Fullerton, Dr. Kandy Mink Salas, let me know of an opportunity to attend the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) annual conference in Denver, CO. The university sponsored several students to attend the conference in 2008. What made 2008 unique and inspiring for me was to see our President Gordon take on the role of HACU president.
Before attending HACU, I had never really thought about institutional type other than 4-year/2-year and public/private. I knew that I had to learn more about Hispanic Serving Institutions, their history, and their relevancy to the greater higher education discussion. I was inspired to learn more about the topic of minority serving institutions through my higher education master’s program.
You may not know this but #HSIweek is September 16-22 this year. I thought it might be helpful to share some information about HSIs for those who may not be aware of its history.
In 1983, national hearings on postsecondary education brought attention to the fact that Hispanic enrollments were increasingly concentrated in a small number of institutions. At the same time, issues of access, completion, and financial support were discussed. The term, “Hispanic-Serving Institution” was given national attention in 1986 by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. Hispanic Serving Institutions were included in federal policy in 1992 and the first appropriation of $12 million was distributed under the Developing Institutions Program for Hispanic Serving Institutions.
HSIs are defined by law as “accredited and degree granting public or private non-profit institutions of higher education with 25 percent or more undergraduate Hispanic full time equivalent student enrollment”. At least 50% of those Hispanic students must be from low-income families. With limited exceptions, Hispanic-Serving Institutions were not originally established as such but developed as a result of changing student populations. Overall, Hispanic-Serving Institutions are characterized as institutions with overall diverse student enrollments. Most are public 4-year institutions or community colleges.
Although such institutions represent a small proportion, 6%, of all postsecondary institutions, Hispanic-Serving Institutions enroll almost half of all Latino undergraduates. In 2010, 30% of all students at my own undergraduate institution identified as Hispanic. In 2012, Cal State Fullerton was the first in the state and fourth nationally for the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to Hispanic students. Many HSIs like my own undergraduate institution are able to do some fantastic work for students.
Title V of the Higher Education Act provides competitive five-year grants for Hispanic-Serving Institutions. Since the first authorization in 1994, more than 200 grants have been awarded, with an average of $375,000 per year. In 2009, more than $16 million were distributed to 29 institutions under the grant. Funds may be spent on a variety of projects at the institution, ranging from capital improvements to new or existing university programs in student services, academic affairs, or other areas.
Through these funds and through the leadership and direction of higher education administrators, many HSIs have done an exceptional job in supporting and graduating Hispanic students. Most HSIs were not formed with the distinct mission to serve and graduate Hispanic students, rather many campuses been able to use Title V funding to support students who come from traditionally underserved backgrounds.
Interested in learning what colleges and universities are categorized as HSIs? There are a few ways to check. You can visit the U.S. Department of Education website to see which institutions have received Title V funding. Excelencia in Education produces a list of HSIs as well and HACU has a list of member HSIs.
HACU provided a list of ways that institutions can celebrate #HSIweek this September, including:
1. Raising awareness
2. Hosting a campus forum
3. Organize a community-wide activity
4. Use the web
5. Showcase your students
6. Celebrate National HSIs Week in your own unique way
7. Share your institution’s plan
I would encourage you to spend some time learning more about Hispanic Serving Institutions. Excelencia in Education has done several excellent reports on this topic and you can also search for articles in the Journal of Hispanic Higher Education. Search around to see if your institutions are HSIs and don’t forget to follow the #HSIweek hashtag this month to learn more about what campuses are doing around the country.
___________________________________________________________
About the Author
American Association of University Women
I didn’t know that I was a student at a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) until the beginning of my senior year in college. The Dean of Students at Cal State Fullerton, Dr. Kandy Mink Salas, let me know of an opportunity to attend the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) annual conference in Denver, CO. The university sponsored several students to attend the conference in 2008. What made 2008 unique and inspiring for me was to see our President Gordon take on the role of HACU president.
Before attending HACU, I had never really thought about institutional type other than 4-year/2-year and public/private. I knew that I had to learn more about Hispanic Serving Institutions, their history, and their relevancy to the greater higher education discussion. I was inspired to learn more about the topic of minority serving institutions through my higher education master’s program.
You may not know this but #HSIweek is September 16-22 this year. I thought it might be helpful to share some information about HSIs for those who may not be aware of its history.
In 1983, national hearings on postsecondary education brought attention to the fact that Hispanic enrollments were increasingly concentrated in a small number of institutions. At the same time, issues of access, completion, and financial support were discussed. The term, “Hispanic-Serving Institution” was given national attention in 1986 by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. Hispanic Serving Institutions were included in federal policy in 1992 and the first appropriation of $12 million was distributed under the Developing Institutions Program for Hispanic Serving Institutions.
HSIs are defined by law as “accredited and degree granting public or private non-profit institutions of higher education with 25 percent or more undergraduate Hispanic full time equivalent student enrollment”. At least 50% of those Hispanic students must be from low-income families. With limited exceptions, Hispanic-Serving Institutions were not originally established as such but developed as a result of changing student populations. Overall, Hispanic-Serving Institutions are characterized as institutions with overall diverse student enrollments. Most are public 4-year institutions or community colleges.
Although such institutions represent a small proportion, 6%, of all postsecondary institutions, Hispanic-Serving Institutions enroll almost half of all Latino undergraduates. In 2010, 30% of all students at my own undergraduate institution identified as Hispanic. In 2012, Cal State Fullerton was the first in the state and fourth nationally for the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to Hispanic students. Many HSIs like my own undergraduate institution are able to do some fantastic work for students.
Title V of the Higher Education Act provides competitive five-year grants for Hispanic-Serving Institutions. Since the first authorization in 1994, more than 200 grants have been awarded, with an average of $375,000 per year. In 2009, more than $16 million were distributed to 29 institutions under the grant. Funds may be spent on a variety of projects at the institution, ranging from capital improvements to new or existing university programs in student services, academic affairs, or other areas.
Through these funds and through the leadership and direction of higher education administrators, many HSIs have done an exceptional job in supporting and graduating Hispanic students. Most HSIs were not formed with the distinct mission to serve and graduate Hispanic students, rather many campuses been able to use Title V funding to support students who come from traditionally underserved backgrounds.
Interested in learning what colleges and universities are categorized as HSIs? There are a few ways to check. You can visit the U.S. Department of Education website to see which institutions have received Title V funding. Excelencia in Education produces a list of HSIs as well and HACU has a list of member HSIs.
HACU provided a list of ways that institutions can celebrate #HSIweek this September, including:
1. Raising awareness
2. Hosting a campus forum
3. Organize a community-wide activity
4. Use the web
5. Showcase your students
6. Celebrate National HSIs Week in your own unique way
7. Share your institution’s plan
I would encourage you to spend some time learning more about Hispanic Serving Institutions. Excelencia in Education has done several excellent reports on this topic and you can also search for articles in the Journal of Hispanic Higher Education. Search around to see if your institutions are HSIs and don’t forget to follow the #HSIweek hashtag this month to learn more about what campuses are doing around the country.
.jpg) |
| Dr. Milton Gordon, former HACU and Cal State Fullerton president with Christine Hernandez (right) and another attendee at the 2009 HACU conference. |
___________________________________________________________
About the Author
Christine Hernandez is the Manager of College/University Relationships at the American Association of University Women. She earned her Master’s degree in Higher Education from the University of Pennsylvania and her Bachelor’s in English from California State University, Fullerton.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Enough
Written By Christine Hernandez
American Association of University Women
I’ve been thinking about this topic for a while, but a
graduate assistant at my last institution inspired me to write my thoughts
down. She delivered a speech this
past May on the issue of being ‘enough.’
Entitled, “Barely a Lesbian, Hardly a Futch,” Caroline
Pendry, former graduate assistant, bravely shared her
experiences with the LGBTQ community as a student:
“…
last semester, when I was complaining to a friend about being called my girlfriend’s “cute little straight girl.” As any friend would do, she asked me
why I cared. Why was I so bent out of shape? Who cares what “they” think? Of
course I agreed. I was like, yeah, who cares what they think…
But
then I thought for a minute, and realized… it’s a really lonely feeling when
you don’t feel accepted by one group of people because you’re gay, or queer, or
trans, or not conforming to some standard — and then you get dismissed from the
group of people on the other side of the fence, who you thought would accept
you. I told her, “It’s just a lonely place between one world and another.”
I
bet I can safely say that all of us in this room, have felt at one time or
another, that we weren’t enough of something. Not smart enough, not pretty
enough, not feminist enough, not feminine enough, not masculine enough, or even
— not queer enough.”
Caroline was right.
In that room, many of us were nodding our heads in agreement. It was reassuring to know that I wasn’t
the only one. As a biracial woman
living far from where I grew up, I feel like I’m constantly defending and validating
my own presentation of my identity.
The language is a large part of that struggle. In my own experiences, I’ve been made
to feel lesser than by all sides because I don’t speak the language that they
expect from me. My family history
and personal experiences are never accounted for and I’m made to feel ashamed. It doesn’t matter that I can cook the
same food as my grandma did for me when I was young or that I do it to bring
back the memory of my ancestors.
It feels almost like a religious experience each time because it feels
like that part of me that was lost in my cross-country move is brought back,
even if for a few hours.
I’ve seen the silent hierarchy and divisions that can exist
in campus communities. While
conducting a study involving heritage month programming, I noticed how
frequently students would separate those who could speak Spanish and those who
couldn’t. There were other
dividing factors and those changed from person to person. I kept thinking, why? Why divide and judge? Why condone this but end an interview
talking about the unity that comes out of Hispanic Heritage Month? One student I interviewed spoke in
detail about how some students were considered as less a part of the community
because of certain characteristics.
Although she defended those “outcasts” and reassured me that she didn’t
believe in the separation, she couldn’t fully stop what was happening.
Our community is often misrepresented as a monolithic
culture when in fact we are a collection of narratives, histories, and
experiences. What makes being a
part of this community so wonderful is that we have such a collection of
narratives to share. What has made
my transition in the past, from attending a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI)
as an undergraduate student to a Predominately White Institution (PWI) as a
graduate student to working in higher education and the nonprofit sector, so
much easier is the support from my community.
With the intersectionality of our own identities- race,
ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, region, and so much
more- life is too complicated to create scales and classifications of what
counts as part of the different communities that we are a member of.
I’ll end with a few more words from my former graduate assistant
and now colleague, Caroline, that motivated the audience with the message that
enough is enough, “It might be hard at first — but I believe an attempt at
radical self-acceptance can turn the world around from the inside out. Once we
begin to accept ourselves, we begin to accept others for who they are and for
where they are…We are enough! You are enough! And I AM enough!”
________________________________________________________________________
About the Author:
Christine Hernandez is the Manager of College/University
Relationships at the American Association of University Women. She earned her Master’s degree in
Higher Education from the University of Pennsylvania and her Bachelor’s in
English from California State University, Fullerton.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Entre La Familia y Carrera
(Between the Family and Career)
Written by Zaibis Muñoz
Pace University
Between the graduate assistantships, practicums and internships, I can say that grad school definitely prepared me to work in student affairs. Grad school allowed me to really be confident in my abilities and ready to be successful in my first position.
On the other hand, nothing prepared me to balance my passion and time investment in my new job with the stresses that were bound to happen in my personal life. As a latina and the oldest of three I have really been able to make my parents proud by going to college, grad school and now begin my lifetime work in a career that I enjoy. As I was establishing my own life, my parents were getting older and their lives were also changing.
As a Puerto Rican and the eldest child there seems to be an innate responsibility embedded in me to be there for my family, no matter the cost. We are taught that family is very important and that no matter what happens they will always be there for you, so you in turn do the same for your family. You grow up looking at the sacrifices that your parents make for you and when you get older you learn to make sacrifices in return for your family. Working in students affairs provides the opportunity to move around the country which can at times create large distance between you and your family. This leaves you often in a position where you are not able to immediately be there for your family to share moments of happiness or distress.
So now the question I’ve had to ask myself is how do I navigate the fine balance of being there for my family but not allowing this desire to help them overwhelm me as I try to succeed in my new position?
I pose this question because it has been something I have had to think about this year. We are taught to establish goals and go after them, but as a latina who is often sought out to act as a mediator and decision maker to my family members, I have to think of how far I want to be and for how long.
One would think that the biggest transition out of grad school would be maybe the new city, or the new job or the new institutional culture but it’s actually been the easier components of my year. In January mi mami shared with me she had cancer and it was the first time that I really felt just how far away I was from my family.
In that moment when you find out such unfortunate news you want to run to arms that can comfort you and that know you. Yet, who can be that for you when you are 1200 miles from home and are still getting to know the “family” that you work along side with. Thankfully my work “family” was very supportive through all of this and allowed me to be there for my mom this year and although my work did not suffer it really made me think of all the things that I cannot immediately be there for my family. This year was about juggling judicials, surgery, occupancy, biopsies, programming, chemo therapy, and recruitment. Making sure all the while I was able to keep my emotions in check. My days were endless roller coasters this year. I would wake up and have a productive, developmental day with my students at work only to receive a call from Mami telling me that she is struggling to pay for her chemo, or crying because she is losing her hair or is being rushed to the hospital. Knowing that I could not run to the hospital to be with her or even hug her through her tears really tore me apart this year. Suddenly talking to a student about a roommate conflict over who left hair in the drain was hard to focus on.
One of the most important things that I learned this year was that having a workplace that is supportive of you in your personal life is very important to me. It is probably one of my top “non-negotiable” items on my wish list when it comes to selecting a new job. This is a risky thing to be at the top of my list because it is hard to know this about a new staff before you start but I asked many questions and really connected with the staff and trusted that the support would be there. Knowing that my peers as well as my supervisors were concerned with my physical and mental well-being really helped me get through those challenging days. Another piece to that was, knowing when I needed to ask for that extra support. I was blessed this year to work with a co-residence director that was also a really good friend and I was able to not only vent about my stress at times, but depend on him when I had to fly home to tend to my family. I had to ask for help in completing projects and know that I was not superwoman and could not do it all alone.
Another vital life lesson that I learned this year was, knowing when to say no to my family. As much as I want to immediately be there to help solve my family’s problems I had to worry about my own stress level and how it would directly impact my job. Knowing your own limits and what you can handle is important to be able to function at work. It is often a hard thing to explain to your family that you cannot afford to send them money or why you cannot take a phone call during the day. We all know how difficult it is for your family to understand what it is that you do, let alone that you cannot fly home during the summer because you have to work even though there are no students in the building. It is all about what compromises you want to make in either your job or with your family that you will be ok with at the end of the day.
The familism that is placed upon latino culture conflicts at times with our career goals and learning the balance and coping with the added stress is a lesson that I cherish from this year. The last important lesson that I learned was that having friends and colleagues within the same field is a great support system that allows you to talk about feelings, anxieties and fears. Find a friend, someone you can trust that you know will be there to listen and encourage you when you need it. As I continue this journey and mami continues her treatment I can only keep learning more valuable life lessons and about the work/life balance phenomena.
_____________________________________________
About the Author
Zaibis Muñoz is a Residence Director in the Office of Housing and Residential Life at Pace University- NYC Campus. She earned her Master's degree in College Student Affairs with a concentration in Conflict Analysis Resolution from Nova Southeastern University, and her Bachelor's in Religion with a minor in Theories and Politics of Sexuality from the University of Florida.
Written by Zaibis Muñoz
Pace University
Between the graduate assistantships, practicums and internships, I can say that grad school definitely prepared me to work in student affairs. Grad school allowed me to really be confident in my abilities and ready to be successful in my first position.
On the other hand, nothing prepared me to balance my passion and time investment in my new job with the stresses that were bound to happen in my personal life. As a latina and the oldest of three I have really been able to make my parents proud by going to college, grad school and now begin my lifetime work in a career that I enjoy. As I was establishing my own life, my parents were getting older and their lives were also changing.
As a Puerto Rican and the eldest child there seems to be an innate responsibility embedded in me to be there for my family, no matter the cost. We are taught that family is very important and that no matter what happens they will always be there for you, so you in turn do the same for your family. You grow up looking at the sacrifices that your parents make for you and when you get older you learn to make sacrifices in return for your family. Working in students affairs provides the opportunity to move around the country which can at times create large distance between you and your family. This leaves you often in a position where you are not able to immediately be there for your family to share moments of happiness or distress.
So now the question I’ve had to ask myself is how do I navigate the fine balance of being there for my family but not allowing this desire to help them overwhelm me as I try to succeed in my new position?
I pose this question because it has been something I have had to think about this year. We are taught to establish goals and go after them, but as a latina who is often sought out to act as a mediator and decision maker to my family members, I have to think of how far I want to be and for how long.
One would think that the biggest transition out of grad school would be maybe the new city, or the new job or the new institutional culture but it’s actually been the easier components of my year. In January mi mami shared with me she had cancer and it was the first time that I really felt just how far away I was from my family.
In that moment when you find out such unfortunate news you want to run to arms that can comfort you and that know you. Yet, who can be that for you when you are 1200 miles from home and are still getting to know the “family” that you work along side with. Thankfully my work “family” was very supportive through all of this and allowed me to be there for my mom this year and although my work did not suffer it really made me think of all the things that I cannot immediately be there for my family. This year was about juggling judicials, surgery, occupancy, biopsies, programming, chemo therapy, and recruitment. Making sure all the while I was able to keep my emotions in check. My days were endless roller coasters this year. I would wake up and have a productive, developmental day with my students at work only to receive a call from Mami telling me that she is struggling to pay for her chemo, or crying because she is losing her hair or is being rushed to the hospital. Knowing that I could not run to the hospital to be with her or even hug her through her tears really tore me apart this year. Suddenly talking to a student about a roommate conflict over who left hair in the drain was hard to focus on.
One of the most important things that I learned this year was that having a workplace that is supportive of you in your personal life is very important to me. It is probably one of my top “non-negotiable” items on my wish list when it comes to selecting a new job. This is a risky thing to be at the top of my list because it is hard to know this about a new staff before you start but I asked many questions and really connected with the staff and trusted that the support would be there. Knowing that my peers as well as my supervisors were concerned with my physical and mental well-being really helped me get through those challenging days. Another piece to that was, knowing when I needed to ask for that extra support. I was blessed this year to work with a co-residence director that was also a really good friend and I was able to not only vent about my stress at times, but depend on him when I had to fly home to tend to my family. I had to ask for help in completing projects and know that I was not superwoman and could not do it all alone.
Another vital life lesson that I learned this year was, knowing when to say no to my family. As much as I want to immediately be there to help solve my family’s problems I had to worry about my own stress level and how it would directly impact my job. Knowing your own limits and what you can handle is important to be able to function at work. It is often a hard thing to explain to your family that you cannot afford to send them money or why you cannot take a phone call during the day. We all know how difficult it is for your family to understand what it is that you do, let alone that you cannot fly home during the summer because you have to work even though there are no students in the building. It is all about what compromises you want to make in either your job or with your family that you will be ok with at the end of the day.
The familism that is placed upon latino culture conflicts at times with our career goals and learning the balance and coping with the added stress is a lesson that I cherish from this year. The last important lesson that I learned was that having friends and colleagues within the same field is a great support system that allows you to talk about feelings, anxieties and fears. Find a friend, someone you can trust that you know will be there to listen and encourage you when you need it. As I continue this journey and mami continues her treatment I can only keep learning more valuable life lessons and about the work/life balance phenomena.
_____________________________________________
About the Author
Zaibis Muñoz is a Residence Director in the Office of Housing and Residential Life at Pace University- NYC Campus. She earned her Master's degree in College Student Affairs with a concentration in Conflict Analysis Resolution from Nova Southeastern University, and her Bachelor's in Religion with a minor in Theories and Politics of Sexuality from the University of Florida.
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