My name is Carlos A. Galan. I was born and raised in Aguilares, a small town in San Salvador, El Salvador. When I was fifteen years old, I immigrated to the United States. Since then, I have lived in the Greater Los Angeles area. Through one of his quotes, James Baldwin, reminds us that “anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.”

As an individual from a working-class family, I have endured and overcome many issues related to economic poverty in my personal and professional life. Like James Baldwin, I understand financial hardships and the many challenges working-class individuals encounter. However, I am thankful for my upbringing as it helped me understand the value of an education and the importance of empowering racially marginalized communities to navigate educational settings. 

Without understanding what I was doing and with much help from kindhearted individuals, I enrolled as an undergraduate at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). While at UCLA, I started tutoring students from racially marginalized communities. This early exposure in a professional educational setting made me realize that I enjoyed working with high school students.

Once I graduated from UCLA, I was privileged to be allowed the opportunity to manage a college outreach program at USC’s Pullias Center for Higher Education. In this position, I assisted working-class students to apply and transition to college.

My experiences in this position magnified my understanding of educational inequalities across different school districts throughout California. At the same time, working at USC’s Pullias Center enabled me to meet educational leaders who were driven to serve racially marginalized communities and close equity gaps for these demographics. I am indebted to all the Pullias Center members as they all allowed me to serve my community. Through them, I realize how much I enjoy working with students on their college application materials and learning more about their stories. Seeing students gain acceptance to different colleges is still one of the best joys of my life. 

I am dedicating my life to ensure that all individuals have a fair shot at succeeding in this economy. To this end, inspired by the resilience and determination of the students I served as a college access practitioner, I decided to enroll in a master’s in Educational Counseling at USC and then in the Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration and Policy at UC Riverside. As a Ph.D. student, my research is informed by personal and professional experiences.

My primary research focus on: college access and college readiness for underserved youth, issues of equity in university faculty participation and retention, the experiences of Central Americans and Latinos in higher education, and decision making in higher education. My ultimate goal is to become a university president at a Hispanic Serving Institution. I want to use my research to shape institutional policy that advances equitable outcomes among historically underrepresented communities in higher education. I see my role in academia as a mentor and as the voice for underserved communities to facilitate the conditions for underserved communities to succeed in higher education. 

My ultimate goal is to become a university president at a Hispanic Serving Institution. I want to use my research to shape institutional policy that advances equitable outcomes among historically underrepresented communities in higher education. I see my role in academia as a mentor and as the voice for underserved communities to facilitate the conditions for underserved communities to succeed in higher education. 

In sharing my story with others, I would like people to understand the importance of working with the most vulnerable members of our communities. I firmly believe that by serving the most vulnerable members of society, in any capacity, we are challenging systems of inequality while laying the groundwork for a more just society. Therefore, I encourage future generations to identify the needs in their communities and find creative ways to serve others.

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Advice to younger self:

• • You will graduate from college. Enjoy college a little bit more. Take risks and talk to people from all walks of life. Life will work itself out. Oh and do not forget, you should call dad a little more often; go visit him.