"The most important thing is to remember the most important thing." ~Suzuki Roshi
Besides being a counselor, I am also a researcher. Previously, I served as a graduate research assistant of Dr. Jasmín Llamas for four years. Together we investigated the impact of faculty match, having a professor of the same ethnicity, on college students’ GPAs and graduation rates. I successfully shared this work at the American Psychological Association Annual Convention in Denver, Colorado and the Division 45 Research Conference in Palo Alto, California in 2016. I was also a member of Dr. Llamas' Research, Education, And Culture in Health (REACH) Lab at Santa Clara University, a lab that focuses on investigating educational and health disparities from a cultural perspective.
I believe that an engagement with issues of race, ethnicity and intersectionality is essential to an understanding of our current world. As a gay immigrant of color, I have developed an interest in bringing my understanding of intersectionality into conversations about equity and diversity, a component that is far too often mishandled or ignored altogether. Specifically, I am interested in examining how intersectional identities contribute to our understanding of multiple, interlocking systems of oppression on diverse groups. My long-term research goal is to critically examine racial inequality in higher education and the workplace in order to make equity a vital component of our education system and workforce. I plan to make this the forefront of my call for racial structural changes at institutions and organizations.