Prompt: What did you learn about the problem, about the community, about yourself? How will the work you did in CODES relate to your remaining time at SIUE, to the career you are planning for yourself, and to the person you want to be?
The most important thing that I took with me was to always keep in mind that we all may have similar experiences, but they never compare nor should they be compared too. Coming from a city like Chicago, usually those who come from a bad neighborhood or past, represent where they come from, i.e if you are from the ghetto, it would show. Before our mentorship program began, I looked Alton up. I had never personally been beforehand and it didn’t seem like a place I’d go to explore for funsies or anything of the sort. But once arriving at the Boys and Girls club, I realized I should never judge a book by its cover. Or I should never assume the location shows what the people will be like. The students we mentored were so driven, they want so much for the future. They have such big dreams that I now know each of them have potential to accomplish. Due to the fact Alton didn’t have high rates of graduation, it felt good to know the students we worked with wouldn’t be a part of the high school dropout percentage. In saying that our research showed with support and guidance for the students, it would be very beneficial and would increase rates in graduation. There is so much I learned about myself, the main thing is my passion to help others isn’t as strong as it used to be. I realized for my peers they gained more out of the experience than I did. For me, I felt as if I wasn’t able to offer the correct advice or guidance. I still had things I needed to learn about myself throughout my time visiting the Boys and Girls club. Although I still feel I have lots to learn, in my remaining time here at SIUE I will continue the journey of self discovery, but will take with me the work I did/ do within CODES. CODES has been such a big part of my life here at SIUE and it’ll always be a part of me and the learnings whether in class, in Alton or from within our research team will always take part in my day to day life. As far as my future career, I aspire to be a lawyer, unfortunately law school wasn’t in my plans while visiting the Boys and Girls club, but my goal as a lawyer is to show that it can be accomplished. At least for people of color and my main audience, the Hispanic Community, nothing should hold you back from your dreams. No matter how small or how big at the end of the day you should do what will make you the happiest in life. Through the rest of my journey in SIUE and law school, I will continue to be proud of where I come from. I will make it known that the hispanic community, that Latinas/Latinos, deserve to have a voice and be as successful as everyone else.