It has been a really great 4th year, mostly because at the start of fall I couldn’t envision myself still continuing my PhD. There have been a long list of obstacles, but an even longer list of what kept me here. I am extremely fortunate to have found support in so many people, and will never forget the kindness they showed me when I was at my lowest. Because of this large network uplifting me, I was able to accomplish so much this year!
In the fall, I attended the National Diversity in STEM conference hosted by the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). I was honored as a student leader at the Chapter Officer Leadership October Retreat (COLOR) and learned how to better support the Grad SACNAS chapter at UC Davis. I also won a presentation award for best Neuroscience talk! I have grown so much as a scientist, a leader, and a person because of SACNAS, and the NDiSTEM conference is always a perfect way to reflect on my time in science. I plan to return in my final year for the Phoenix conference this upcoming fall!
Fall was also the start of my time with Danzantes del Alma (DDA), a student retention and ballet folklorico group at Davis that provides academic support and cultural expression through dance! I was encouraged to join by my friend and lab member...who was also the student manager! There are no words to describe how important this group has become to my life here in Davis. I found a space that supports me as a scientist, a Latino, and as a little weirdo with a lot of energy! I have never been much of a dancer, which hurt my pride as a Mexican, but my musical background allows me to at least stay on beat. It is a little odd to be one of the only graduate students in the group, but I eventually learned to overcome the early jitters because of the many friends I made. These friendships empowered me and allowed me to perform for the first time at the Mondavi Center in April! I'm thankful to the more senior and skilled dancers mentoring me, and I was proud to return the favor. I partnered with the GSPD SACNAS and hosted two Spanish/English Bilingual Grad Panels to provide necessary information in a culturally relevant manner to undergraduates interested in STEM PhDs, humanities MAs, law school, and medical and vet school. Because UCD is a rising Hispanic Serving Institution, it is important that programming can properly accommodate its students.
Culturally relevant programming came up quite a bit this year. I was awarded the Psychology department's Community Cultivation Award to foster community among Native students in the university. This time I worked the Native American Studies GSA (NAS GSA) and the Native American Academic Student Success Center (NAASSC) - also called "The Native Nest". Emma Cape and I did some lovely cultural exchange movie nights where I cooked esquites, Mexican street corn, and she picked a Native film. It was hugely successful with Mexican/Latine and Native undergraduate and graduate students all joining in on the fun! The goal is to continue hosting this event, and hopefully the Psychology department will be willing to continually fund and join us in this community-building fun!
I ended the academic year on a high note, with a display of student excellence in research! In June, Accelerating Success by Providing Intensive Research Experience (ASPIRE) hosted the 9th annual symposium. As co-director, I was so proud to see all the students present such impressive research. Since students begin in their freshman or sophomore years, the graduating seniors are always so brilliant in their ability to articulate their research. Even students that recently joined the program in January present posters in this symposium. Since the students accepted to the program are high achieving and budding research talent, we aren't particularly surprised the students are skilled enough to have a poster so soon. However, it is always so amazing to see how quickly these students go from unsure students, to confident researchers. Our program is growing and it is actually fairly difficult to get everyone in the photo...but above you will see the photo I took of all our presenting students! Congratulations to all the ASPIRE scholars to presented this year!
I am so incredibly happy with how this year turned out. Notable other wins this year were: a new publication, winning the Psychology department's Leadership Award, and getting voted "Most likely to practice on their own" at the DDA awards! As I wrap up my 4th year, I'm happily looking forward to finishing my dissertation, applying for jobs in grant writing/medical+science writing or getting into science policy/research management, hosting more fun events with SACNAS, mentoring ASPIRE scholars, and performing one last time at Mondavi!