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- Thank you for tuning into UC San Diego
Mi Camino students series.
Today, we're sitting down with Andrea Bravo,
a fourth year clinical psychology major
who found community and sisterhood
in the Latina sorority Sigma Pi Alpha,
and whose dream is to be a teacher.
Thank you for being here, Andrea.
- Yeah, thank you for having me.
- I'm so glad you could join us.
I was hoping maybe we could start
by you telling us a little bit about yourself,
where you grew up and maybe how it was
that you heard about UC San Diego.
- Yeah, of course.
So I am a fourth year at UCSD from Muir College,
and I am originally from Stockton, California,
which is up north.
It's about maybe eight or seven hour drive
away from San Diego.
I attended a high school called Franklin High School.
I had a unique high school experience,
I would say, because I attended high school with my dad.
So he's actually a Spanish teacher at the same high school.
Thank God he wasn't my teacher,
but we had a special relationship and yeah...
So I went to high school at Franklin High School
in Stockton, California,
and I was in the International Baccalaureate program.
I was really passionate, I think, about community.
Coming from Stockton, California, there's not much there,
and it needs a lot of help in order to grow.
And so, I really wanted to be a part of that change.
So I knew I needed to pursue higher education
in order to really have the kind of power to make change.
And so, I applied to a couple of colleges.
In making my decision, it was a little hard
to choose a college that was away from home,
but I was really inclined to UCSD, because of the...
I remember looking at a brochure,
and they had like folklórico dancers there.
And so, for me,
it was really important to have a university
with diversity and that really empowered their students
to celebrate that.
And so when I saw that,
I thought that I would find like community and culture
at UCSD which is what helped me make my decision
to come here.
- That's great, and I'm wondering, you know,
your first year here, did you find community and culture,
and if so, where?
- Yeah, my first year was a little difficult.
I would call my parents every so often,
maybe like once every other day.
It was hard to be away from home.
At first, I was in the pre-med environment,
and so I wasn't really seeing myself in my peers
and in the classroom.
And so, I felt like I didn't really belong.
I was really lucky to be a part of Summer Bridge,
which was a program, it was I think five to seven weeks
before the fall quarter,
so I could get familiar with all the resources on campus
like Oasis, which I think was a huge help in helping me
succeed academically my first year
as well as meet other people that would be attending
Muir College or were interested in similar things
or had similar diverse backgrounds.
And so, that helped me transition.
The first year, however, it was still a little difficult
as I was finding my way,
what I was passionate about,
and how I could use that passion to get a degree
and go on to do amazing things.
And so, yeah,
I would say first year was a little difficult.
Once I got into my second year,
I feel like I really did find community,
and that was in the Multicultural Greek Council Sorority,
which is Sigma Pi Alpha.
I was really interested in the sorority
because I would see the sisters
from that organization around campus
really involved in their college
and just organizations that I really wanted
to be involved in,
and I saw how passionate they were about community
and about creating change in the world.
And so I was like,
"I want to be like them."
And so I joined Sigma Pi Alpha,
and I found sisters that I think have really helped me
find support throughout this entire college experience.
- Maybe you could tell us a little bit more
about what a sorority is.
I know you've mentioned sisters,
and from what I understand, sororities, you know,
are a community, and they're usually built around pillars,
particular pillars that the members embrace.
Maybe you could tell us a little bit more
about Sigma Pi Alpha and your pillars.
- Yeah, of course.
So our three pillars are campus involvement,
philanthropy, and academics.
Oh no, sorry, sisterhood.
(laughs)
- So those are things that we really try
to uphold within the organization within each other.
So that means studying together at Geisel,
spending long nights together,
or attending each other's events.
I know we had one sister
that would dance baile folklórico.
So we'd all show up at her show
and really just show support
because ultimately we're all going
through this college experience
and trying to really navigate a system
that wasn't necessarily built for us,
which I think was difficult,
but being able to do that together was really helpful,
especially for me being away from home.
I think I needed to find that home away from home,
and I think that I really did.
- Now let's talk a little bit more, you know,
about your first year.
It sounds like somewhere
between your first year and your second year
you decided to change majors,
which is not uncommon.
So maybe you could share a little bit
about that process and how you came to that understanding.
How did you develop a passion for clinical psychology?
- Yeah, so it was kind of a hard transition.
I think I started out as a communications major,
and I wanted to do medicine.
So, I was taking all the pre-med courses,
but I felt like I didn't really have the basis
in order to compete with everyone.
I didn't like the environment.
I just felt like I didn't really belong.
And so, I really, I called my mom,
and I just really got to thinking
about what my passion is and like what I want to do,
because not only...
I don't need to do medicine in order to create change,
and I think that was something
that took me a while to realize.
So once I was in my second year, I was like,
"Okay, well, what do I enjoy?"
And so, I was taking a psychology class
that I really enjoyed and my mom actually studied psychology
back in Mexico, and so talking with her, I was like,
"I don't know, it's kind of a lot of pressure
for me to make that change."
And she just told me to do whatever would make me happy.
And so, I knew that I needed to be happy
in order to be able to help others as well.
So I decided to make the change with psychology
and see what I can do with that,
and I will be following the steps of my dad
of becoming an educator.
I think that's where change can really be made
is in the classrooms,
in helping others and all of those students
that come from diverse backgrounds
feel empowered to pursue higher education
or whatever their goals are.
- That's great.
So, I imagine your father's feeling very proud
about you wanting to also be a teacher.
- Thank you. Yeah, he's very happy.
- So let's talk a little bit about your home environment.
Your father's a teacher.
Sounds like your mother is from Mexico,
and she also went to university there,
it sounds like, I don't know if that's correct or not,
but I'm wondering what...
Was it basically understood
that you would go on to university?
- So I'm the youngest of three.
It was more like
I think I had my personal drive,
and my parents would support me,
but I did feel like I had a responsibility
to do that because they immigrated here.
My dad immigrated here around the age of 13,
and my mom immigrated here from Mexico
when they got married.
So, they created this whole new life
in a whole new country,
and I think that's something that I will always carry
with me, and I wanted to make their sacrifices worth it.
And so, I wanted to go on to make them proud,
and I felt like I could really do that
by pursuing higher education.
It was a little difficult.
I think being the youngest,
there's I think a stereotype
that I would have a lot of support,
especially not being first-generation,
but my dad is a little older.
So when he was applying to college,
times were a little different, I would say.
And so, my brother,
we were blessed that he was able to attend
a university back home.
My sister was attending community college,
trying to figure out what she wanted to do as well.
So I was the first one to move away from home,
which I think it made my experience kind of unique
that I needed to figure out how to be independent,
how to live away from my family,
and make sure everything gets done.
So I think that was a change that I needed to make
and a step that I needed to take
in order to become independent
and really do what I wanted to do.
- So yeah, you know,
let's talk a little bit about how did you learn
to become independent and how did you learn,
I guess a lot of young people call it adulting, right?
How did you learn to adult?
- Yeah, that's definitely,
I think a process that I'm still learning to do.
It was all about, for me, finding resources
that could help me.
So like I said earlier,
I needed to build that home away from home here.
And so, finding community was really important.
I know that I needed to be supported,
but I also had this drive,
and I never lost sight of what I wanted to do,
what my passions were, and what my ultimate goal was.
And so, for me, I think it was really important
to make use of all of the resources that were on campus,
what was available to me, and also surround myself
with people that shared similar goals
or could also support me throughout my process here.
- So I know that you participated in Oasis,
which is a resource
that we have here on campus for students,
and you did the Summer Bridge,
which is where you originally found some community.
So what other resources did you take take advantage of?
- There's also a lot of professional organizations.
So when I was interested in pre-med,
I was joining a lot of organizations
where I could take advantage of opportunities
that they offered.
For example, my first and second year
I was a CPR instructional assistant,
and then I went on to become an instructor.
So just being able to be around people,
I think, that have similar goals as important
because networking ultimately will get you the job
or opportunities that will eventually lead up to that.
And so, I started out there and then I moved on
to join Psychology Club once I was interested in psychology,
and I actually got a job through a mutual friend
through Facebook.
- They had posted on Facebook
that their job was actually hiring
and that was as a behavior interventionist,
which is working with kids, doing applied behavior analysis,
a lot of play-based therapy.
And so, I made the jump and I talked to her
and I applied and I got the job.
So, definitely networking
and being able to be around people
that share similar goals, I think.
- So if you were speaking to yourself, you know,
another young woman living in central California,
in addition to networking and finding community,
is there any other advice you might provide to that person?
- Yeah,
to definitely just get in touch with themselves
and what their passion is
and see the many ways that they can pursue
whatever their dream is.
I know I started off with the medicine,
but that's not the only way to create change.
So just really being able to get a clear vision
of what their passion is
and use that in order to create change in the world.
- And if you're...
You're in your fourth year.
Are you graduating this year?
- Yes, I'm graduating this summer,
and I will be attending the University of San Diego
for my masters in education this fall.
- Wonderful, congratulations.
- Thank you.
- So if you look back on your four years here,
maybe you could share with us
two or three super fond memories that come to mind?
- I would definitely say all of the moments
that I've had with my sisters.
I can remember a specific time,
we all went to Boiling Crab,
and it was like a huge group of us,
and we had these friendship bracelets
and just the whole night
resembled to me like that community, that support,
and feeling empowered by all of these wonderful women.
I think that's one of my favorite memories
as well as those long nights sitting at Geisel together.
- That sounds like a lot of fun.
You know, we've had...
I've interviewed some alumna
and one of them was in a Latina sorority,
and she told me that some of her sisters
were like in her wedding, and they baptized her kids.
So, I know that the Latino sorority
offers really lifelong relationships
that you can get out of coming from college,
which I think is really an extra benefit.
- Definitely.
- So, I guess in closing,
I would just like to ask you a few more questions.
One is that...
What are you hoping to do with your master's degree?
I know you want to be a teacher,
but are you aspiring for administration in schools,
higher ed, middle school?
- I think I definitely want to work with younger students.
I think it's really important
for them to know early on their ability,
and have someone really believe in them
when they can't believe in themselves.
I know that might be a little difficult for students
that are bilingual,
and bilingual education programs
are trying to really just navigate this whole experience,
especially how things are now.
Yeah, so, I think I definitely wanna work
with younger students.
Just really empower them and make them believe in themselves
as well as creating change.
I think in, as much as I can,
hopefully move on to the district level
and make change in the classrooms.
- Well, I look forward to reading about
Superintendent Andrea Bravo one day.
Thank you for spending time with us
and best wishes to you as you head out on your journey
towards your master's degree.
- Thank you.
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