OWHE Blog
The Unintentional Impact of a Stranger’s Comment: My journey from high school drop out to community college management Sep 2 2016
Meet Amy Sikora:
It was 1995 in Phoenix, AZ, and I was at work, sitting on a stool in a plastic factory, bored out of my mind. My sole job there was to move a piece of plastic out of a box, put it into a machine, press a button, and put the plastic into another box. It was a monotonous job that was fitting for a high school dropout like myself. In fact, I was a two-time high school dropout.
I dropped out the first time when I was a junior in high school, because I’d decided that it would be more enlightening to hitchhike around the west coast with my boyfriend. I dropped out for the second time my senior year because I hated the social scene. From my perspective, I’d seen too much on the road to care about proms, homecomings or any of that other junk high schoolers were supposed to care about. That’s right, I was too cool for school.
I Want to See You Be Brave, written by Maureen Flint Aug 2 2016
I want to see you be brave.
In student affairs we talk a lot about authenticity. We talk about themes of navigating with courage, working towards a common purpose, and being bold without boundaries. And these are great, as national conference themes. As practitioners and student affairs professionals, we negotiate what this looks like day to day, and how we practice authenticity is shaped by our place and the intersectionality of our identities.
This heady topic was the theme of a conversation that began three years ago, and eventually included myself and three colleagues, Gretchen Moore, Kelsey Taylor, and Jessie Ashton. We were all at different levels in our careers, and navigating different spaces, yet as we talked, there was a connection around this idea of authenticity and our shared identity as women in the field of student affairs.
Meet Blanca Aguirre Jul 1 2016
Working in higher education has giving me the opportunity to learn and grow as a professional. Looking back I’ve realized that coming from a Mexican American family taught me the value of hard work. This value gave me the foundation and determination to pursue my journey in higher education.
After completing a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Western Oregon University, I started working as an Academic Advisor at Chemeketa Community College. I was working full time at Chemeketa and completing a part time Master’s Degree in Counseling from Oregon State University. I was lucky to have supportive mentors that believed in my success.
I am currently a Counselor at Chemeketa. My passion is working with students, career development and service learning. As a counselor I provide academic advising and career and personal counseling for students. It’s truly rewarding to work closely with students and help them reach their personal and career goals.
Meet Claudia Davila Jun 2 2016
Claudia Davila
Institution: Linn-Benton Community College
Position at LBCC: Student Recruitment Specialist
When I made the decision to go back to school in my 30’s I had no idea in which direction I wanted to go. I really couldn’t get over the fact I was even heading back to school as I must admit I was one of those teens that could not stand school and really believed I wasn’t a great student so I had given up on any possibility of college even before I graduated high school.
Meet Rebecca Torres Valdovinos May 2 2016
Institution: George Fox University
Position: English Language Institute Director and Assistant Professor
“Tia? That means aunt, right?” the Sacred Heart of Mary nun asked in her New England Accent. Dressed in her full habit, she looked down at the small seven-year-old Mexican-American child. I looked up at her with amazement. She didn’t know that the women I was describing in the conversation about our family party celebrating my First Communion were my mother’s sisters! At 7 years old, I had no comprehension of the word “aunt”; I only knew “tia”. This was my first awareness of being from another culture. Thus, my journey has its roots in the barrio of East Los Angeles, the place of my birth and childhood.
Meet Sharece Bunn Feb 2 2016
My journey to student affairs was anything but linear. Rather than settling down to a job after college like my four siblings did, I took the adventurous route, joining Peace Corps and working temporary jobs after my two years abroad. I was always searching for the job and place that would give me meaning. In doing so, found the field of student affairs without actually looking for it. After getting my masters degree in journalism, I went back into the Peace Corps as a “response,” or short-term volunteer, hoping to find clarity for what I wanted to be “when I grew up.” It was during that year that I fell in love with working at a university. Working with college students brought me joy and pushed me to think in new ways. I had found my niche.
Reflections of the 2016 OWHE Conference from the Conference Director Jan 29 2016
That’s a wrap! The 2016 Oregon Women in Higher Education Conference has ended, and as the Director of the Annual Conference, I am feeling…gratitude, connection, and community.
I am grateful for the experience and the amazing, talented women I had the privilege of working with and meeting at the conference. For the past 6 months, the board of directors and the conference planning team worked hard to organize this event…which was no small feat!