Commitment to Diversity

I have shown a commitment to diversity through a number of activities. First, I was hall council president of my residence hall for two years. Second, I was an employee of University Housing for two years, first as a Resident Advisor, then as a Resident Coordinator. Third, I was an employee of the Spectrum Center, the LGBTQ center at the University of Michigan. Fourth, I am an employee of Student Life, formerly known as the Division of Student Affairs. Fifth, I am a swim instructor at Goldfish Swim School, Ann Arbor where I work with children from various backgrounds. Finally, I am a sister of Phi Rho Alpha, a local sorority at the University of Michigan.

My commitment to diversity started prior to my undergraduate career, but my first commitment in college was as hall council president of Mosher-Jordan residence hall. I was elected by my peers during my first month in college and was reelected the following year. My council supported many types of groups around campus in addition to supporting our own residents. We hosted discussions around past and present civil rights movements, what it means to be an ally, and how media influences culture to name a few. We collaborated with the multicultural council to bring diversity into our holiday events, such as bringing the traditions of Dia de los Muertos into our Halloween event. I also built a strong relationship between our council and the residence staff in the building. This sharpened my leadership, networking, and communication skills while increasing my understanding of social justice and how it plays into social events and daily life.

Because of my fantastic experiences with the residence staff of Mosher-Jordan, I applied to be a part of residence staff. As an employee of University Housing, I was required to go through an extensive course on social justice and identities. This class worked to find the edge of my comfort zone and expand it. Because residence staff is made up of people from so many different backgrounds, everyone in class came from a different place, with a different story. I gained valuable perspective from engaging at a deep level with my classmates. I used this insight in my work as a resident advisor for first year students, many of whom had only a small notion of social justice when they arrived on campus. My work was well rewarded when I was promoted to resident staff coordinator for my second year, meaning I was managing the staff as well as residents.

Working as a coordinator was rewarding. I, along with my co-coordinator, provided various social justice and staff trainings. It is amazing to see the difference a discussion can have on someone. People can feel validated from simply having the space to say what they need. Other people can begin to understand how certain words or behaviors affect those around them. This position also helped me to become a better role model. Being a role model for staff, as well as residents, helped me to focus on always putting my best foot forward, no matter what I had happening personally.

One of the hardest parts of being on residence staff is teaching residents the value of social justice and how it plays a role in their lives. The most influential way I did this was by working with a group made up of representatives from University Housing, the Division of Student Affairs (now Student Life), Spectrum Center, and the Psychology Department to create an MPortfolio course for first year students. MPortfolio is a student-tailored integrative learning based course (https://sites.google.com/site/mportfoliodsa/). This course helps students understand who they are now and who they want to be in the future. The core of this class is peer-peer interaction, which fosters conversations around social justice and its importance. Students leave this course with open eyes and a newfound sense of perspective. The course I developed for University Housing was so successful, not only by student feedback, but also by statistical data, that other groups on campus started looking into it. I adapted the course for the Spectrum Center, which is the office for LGBTQ affairs which gave me a deeper understanding of LGBTQ identities and civil rights movement.

Currently, I am working for Student Life to bring MPortfolio to a larger audience. I have seen the benefits self-reflection and exploration have had on students and feel it is important to share with more people. This also ties in with spreading awareness of social justice. I am working on creating a website to bring this to students who cannot partake in a course, but also working on helping other groups on campus create their own courses. The University of Michigan is committed to diversity and social justice.

While I obviously do a lot of work on campus with college students, I also work with children through Goldfish Swim School. Working with children is a special experience because they remind me that everything I do now to change the world will result in the world they are growing up in. Standing up and supporting someone who is different from me teaches them to value everyone. Treating all of the children equally shows them that no one is better than anyone else.

One of my favorite classes was a class of three year old children, none of whom spoke any English and none of whom even spoke the same language. While I taught them how to swim, they reminded me that people communicate with more than just words. My body language and facial expressions told them everything they needed to know; their expressions told me what I needed to know. Reading someone’s body language is probably more important than what they are saying. In a world with media everywhere telling you how to act, what to think, and how to look, it can be hard to be honest and speak up when your opinion isn’t that majority. Children don’t usually have that filter built in yet and are refreshingly honest, when they know how to tell you what they are feeling.

More than that, working with children reminds me what I’m working towards. As a Hispanic woman in a STEM field, there aren’t many like me in my program. A Ph.D. is required to achieve my own goals of becoming the director of a marine conservation area, but I also want to be a role model for the next generations. I grew up with Bill Nye and Jacques Cousteau inspiring my dreams. I want to be the inspiration for future generations. Sometimes a child just needs to see someone else do it first. In swimming, a child might be terrified of going underwater, but if I show them I can do it, they gain confidence that they can do it too. I have witnessed children who thought they would never put their face in the water become champion swimmers. Hope is powerful. If I can provide inspiration and hope to other minorities that if I can do it, they can do it, I will have achieved one of my many goals.

Another way that I have helped make a difference is through my philanthropy work. As a member of Phi Rho Alpha, a local sorority at the University of Michigan, we raise money for the Michigan Autism Partnership every year. This hits home for me because my mother is a teacher for special needs students. Too often people with disabilities and special needs are neglected or looked down upon. Everyone deserves respect, or as the University would say, expect respect. My sisters and I also support our local parks, shelters, soup kitchens, etc. We believe that this is our community and our neighborhood; if we don’t take care of our own, who will? I bring this mentality with me wherever I go. I dedicate myself to my community and help in any way I can because a community is what you make it.

Commitment to diversity is more than a commitment to a single cause. It is more than taking a class and learning about the history of a group. It is more than supporting friends and sharing your own story. Commitment to diversity is living every day realizing that everyone’s identities affect the way they view the world. It’s admitting that I can’t truly understand what it is like to be a different identity than my own. More importantly, it’s making the choice to get outside my comfort zone. It’s being open to learning about and supporting people that are different from me. Commitment to diversity is about making positive changes today so that the next generations can grow up loving and supporting each other for who they are.