What was your experience like being a panelist with other professionals in the Young Visionaries and Emerging Leaders Panel at the 2023 National Partnership for Educational Access Conference?
It’s quite inspiring to be in a room of educators that have dedicated their lives/professions to expanding access to education. It gives me hope for the future of academia. To be able to speak to over 500 educators in the room serving students from coast to coast, it’s a privilege to share my experiences in higher education to empower others to create a more equitable future for our students.
What’s the most pressing issue in educational access that resonates with you? Why?
I believe that the feeling of “belonging” should be an additional component to the Justice, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (JDEI) pursuit. According to the Pell Institute, 90% of first-generation low-income students do not graduate college within six years. In other words, my two fellow Inspira advisors Lydia, Shu Yi, and I are a part of the 10% that made it out. One of the biggest factors that contribute to this issue is the feeling of lack of belonging as their identities aren’t being represented or supported in college campuses.
We should always be considerate of marginalized students and their identities to meet them where they are.
Tell us more about your experience at NPEA itself, and being in community with other educators who are in educational access.
Hearing all of the creative ways others with the same goals as me, tackle specific components of this highly complex multi-faceted problem of expanding access, brings me calm. Knowing that there are brilliant people at every level optimizing all of the nuances that make up the problems we see in academia and higher education keeps me going.
What does Inspira joining as a member of NPEA mean to you?
For us to be a part of a membership organization that hopes to change the status quo for underserved students like me, I couldn’t be more proud. I hope to continue connecting with fellow educators across the national to share practices and pedagogy to move the needle in eliminating educational barriers for marginalized students.