Growing up Puerto Rican

Growing up Puerto Rican meant growing up within a rich and diverse culture. However, during my years in school or college, the topic of diversity was not one that was ever discussed and it should have been. Drawing on my past experiences as a student in Puerto Rico I am now able to better understand the importance of diversity and inclusion, especially in the context of education.

 

I was part of a middle-class family and privileged enough to attend private schools for early and high school education. It was not until I was enrolled in a school where most of my peers belonged to high income families that I felt the disparities permeate the classroom environment. My experiences in high school taught me that being aware of socio-economic diversity in a classroom is of upmost importance so that students are by no means left out of events or class work. As someone who did not grow up with wealth, I understand that students will not always have the means to buy class materials. I make sure to provide as many educational resources and alternative options for inexpensive class materials as I can so that my students can succeed.

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Promoting Equality in Higher Education Opportunities

Back home not everyone considers graduate school, in fact, not only was I the first one in my family to pursue a bachelor’s degree but I was the first to pursue graduate studies in the US. I was motivated by a workshop at my university during my sophomore year to apply to graduate school in the US since it was paid in full; a fact that I was unaware of when I entered college. For me, having a PhD degree was a somewhat unattainable goal that only a few people obtained through some mysterious circumstance. Once determined to seek this degree, navigating the graduate school application process by myself was not an easy task. At times I could not find a ride to the airport and had to turn down several interview weekends. I wish that as an undergrad I had been more aware of the opportunities available for higher education in the US. It was only during my junior year that I had the chance to participate in formal science research through the Student Research Opportunities Programs (SROP) at Penn State.  I will make sure my students are informed of all the programs available for the advancement of their education and future career. I have served as a mentor for the SROP program at Duke where I trained a student from my own alma mater for a summer. I have also been highly involved in recruiting students from minority backgrounds into the SROP and Duke’s Graduate School by attending the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) as a recruiter for two consecutive years. Through these opportunities, I have been able to impact the lives of students like me who might be unaware of the fact that they can also pursue a PhD and that is not some unattainable goal.

 

Inclusion and Diversity in my Teaching

Through the Preparing Future Faculty Program at Duke I was able to make long lasting connections with faculty at North Carolina Central University, a Historically Black University in North Carolina. I became more aware of the challenges faced by both faculty and students of minority-serving institutions and a year later became an Adjunct Professor of Biology at the same institution. While working at NCCU teaching Non-majors Biology, my challenge has been creating a course that sparks curiosity to non-majors and helps students become well informed citizens in this era where prejudice and misinformation pervade social media. To do this, I incorporated special topics in my class that deal with science news and ethics in science and research.

 

My experience teaching undergraduates at Duke, children at various outreach events, and students at an HBCU opened my eyes to the multiplicity of learning styles and approaches to teaching. I constantly procure to provide culturally aware examples in my teaching that will make students feel included in science. For my non-majors Biology course, I research my student’s intended majors and include activities that apply to their interests. For example, this year I have several Criminal Justice majors in my class so I plan to incorporate a Forensic Case Study for learning about DNA extraction and analysis, hoping that they will see how science can play a role in their future careers. By demonstrating how everyone regardless of their background can participate in science I promote an environment of inclusivity in my classroom where all students can see the impact Science has in their everyday lives. I plan to continue to incorporate these approaches into my teaching and service activities so that science continues to become more accessible to everyone.