I am a proud first-generation Xicana from the Pacific Northwest with raíces in Oaxaca, México. I was born in California, but my family moved to Oregon, where I was raised with my two younger brothers. As beautiful as my home state is, growing up in Oregon was detrimental to my identities as a low-income student of color. I attended a small, predominantly white school district where I did not know a word of English. The Latinx population has increased throughout the years, but we were never represented in the school’s administration. The strong anti-immigrant sentiment in the community caused me to internalize the racism I encountered, and I struggled embracing my cultura, language, and brown skin. My parents’ inculcation of the value of education kept me going, though I had no idea of what to expect in college. Their support helped me persist in an environment that didn’t celebrate students like me. After much hard work, I was selected as a recipient of the Gates Millennium Scholarship–which covered my educational expenses for 10 years.

I enrolled at the University of Oregon–a Predominantly White Institution with more than 25,000 students where only 6% identified as Latina/o/x. I struggled to find a sense of belonging and to navigate campus life. I began to learn about the systemic oppression rooted in colonialism that I had experienced for most of my life.

Slowly, I began to embrace my identities and became involved on campus as a student leader. It was then that I realized I wanted to help more people from my community enroll in college, so they too could embrace their narratives and identities.

After college, I interned in Washington, DC, and learned about different career opportunities that I had never been exposed to. I remember feeling sad that my college peers couldn’t be there with me to learn the things I was learning. I went on to enroll at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City to earn a master’s degree in higher education. I felt proud to represent my community at an Ivy League school, but I continued to feel guilty that my peers back home did not have access to an elite institution. I learned more about the barriers that Latina/o/x students face in terms of college access and college success, and I knew I had to continue into doctoral studies.

Currently, as a doctoral student, my research is focused on educational equity and Latino men in higher education. I have two little brothers, remember? They are my inspiration to help transform colleges and universities to better serve young men of color, because they are continuously pushed out of the educational pipeline from a young age. With this degree, I hope to return home as a professor and encourage my students to challenge systems of oppression in the classroom and to work to uplift our comunidades.

All of my identities have played a role in every step of my journey so far. Though, I’ve had many successes, I’ve had twice as many failures. I learn from them and I use them to share my experience with other students. This is how I lift others as I climb, and I encourage you to do the same.

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Advice to younger self:

• • Be curious and explore the opportunities that are available to you. Join a student club that you’ve never heard of. Take an elective that you would probably never take in college. You never know what will catch your interest until you step out of your comfort zone.