{"id":151598,"date":"2021-05-06T08:18:57","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T08:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=195095"},"modified":"2021-05-06T08:18:57","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T08:18:57","slug":"key-lessons-for-success-in-higher-education-and-beyond-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/05\/06\/key-lessons-for-success-in-higher-education-and-beyond-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Key Lessons for Success in Higher Education and Beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

3. \u00c1lvaro Huerta in front of mural \u201cGhosts of the barrio\u201d (1974) by Wayne Healy. Photo by Pablo Aguilar (2005.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As I reflect on my early undergraduate years at UCLA, where I entered as a first-generation math major<\/a> from the notorious Ramon Gardens public housing project (or Big Hazard projects<\/a>) in East Los Angeles, I\u2019m still surprised (more like shocked!) that I graduated. While I excelled in mathematics, I wasn\u2019t prepared in reading and writing at the university level. It didn\u2019t help that I prioritized my student activism (e.g., being a MEChista<\/a>) over my studies.<\/p>\n

Hence, before I voluntarily withdrew from UCLA in Winter of \u201988, embarking on a hiatus to become a community organizer and idealistically transform the world, I received the following English grades:<\/p>\n

\n

+ ENGCOMP A = C<\/p>\n

+ ENGCOMP B = D+<\/p>\n

+ ENGCOMP B = B (retake)<\/p>\n

+ ENGCOMP 3 = NP<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This doesn\u2019t include a couple of incompletes, where I left with a 2.32 GPA!<\/p>\n

Fourteen years later and several community organizing victories to my name (e.g., organizing Latino gardeners<\/a>, defeating power plant<\/a>)\u2014after teaching myself how to read and write\u2014I returned to UCLA to finish what I started many moons ago. Being more mature and better prepared, for my final years, I received mostly A\u2019s (with several A+\u2019s), graduating with a history degree and 3.56 GPA (cumulative).<\/p>\n

This led me to my master\u2019s degree in Urban Planning at UCLA (fully funded), where I graduated top of my class with a 3.96 GPA (being robbed of the top dept. award!). I then pursued my Ph.D. degree in City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley (fully funded, including a prestigious Ford Foundation Fellowship<\/a>), as the # 1 ranked public university in the world<\/a>, where I graduated with a 3.86 GPA.<\/p>\n

Did I mention that I\u2019m an Associate Professor at a great university\u2014California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (or Cal Poly Pomona)?<\/p>\n

During all my years in higher education, several professors \u201cfondly\u201d told me (in person and via email) that: \u201cI wasn\u2019t going to graduate\u201d; \u201cI didn\u2019t have what it takes to succeed\u201d; \u201cI wasn\u2019t going to acquire a tenure-track faculty position\u201d; \u201cI wasn\u2019t going to secure tenure and promotion\u201d; and two more pages of racial micro-aggressions.<\/p>\n

Why is it that for students\/faculty of color, we must always prove ourselves to the members of the dominant culture? It\u2019s especially sad when the diatribes come from other students\/faculty of color.<\/p>\n

My usual response to my cowardly bullies and racists: \u201cIf I could survive the abject poverty, extreme violence and state of hopelessness of Tijuana and E.L.A. projects\u200a\u2014\u200asomething you know nothing about, like almost being killed by the police<\/a> for \u201cdriving while brown\u201d\u2014 I could survive anything!\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on the aforementioned, I provide the following lessons for success in higher education and beyond:<\/strong> Learn from your mistakes. Adapt to new or unfamiliar environments. Be bold. Be brave. Dare to take risks without fear of failure; without failure, there can be no success. If you\u2019re a racialized minority, you must work twice as hard (or more) to succeed in this country. Don\u2019t be afraid to ask for help; only successful people seek help. Master the rules of the institution(s) or game. Prioritize your education\/degree(s); you have the rest of your life to work, socialize and play. Don\u2019t let others validate your self-worth; always believe in yourself. Never give up!<\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

3. \u00c1lvaro Huerta in front of mural \u201cGhosts of the barrio\u201d (1974) by Wayne Healy. Photo by Pablo Aguilar (2005.) As I reflect on my early undergraduate years\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":698,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151598"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/698"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151598"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151599,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151598\/revisions\/151599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}