Running head: I AM UNIQUE, I AM PROUD 1

I am unique, I am proud

Diana Aguillon

Western Carolina University

I AM UNIQUE, I AM PROUD 2

I am unique, I am proud

I am Diana Laura Aguillón, a daughter of immigrants, raised in a Spanish speaking

household, and in the lower middle class. At an early age I knew I was different from my peers

with my long black hair that everyone loved but also with my uninvolved parents who did not

attend school events due to working twelve-hours a day. As my parents raised me, the traditions,

values, customs, and culture they taught me was something I enjoyed doing and learning.

Nevertheless, my identity process and self-identification process were not easy but engaging

with social justice and diversity in higher education was a pivotal learning experience.

Once I entered the third grade, I understood I was bilingual, helping the teacher translate

class material to the new students from Mexico (Garcia, 1999). When teachers asked who knows

Spanish, I would be that happy student to raise their hand. There was another Latina in the

classroom, but she did not know Spanish. When I began talking in Spanish, that is when I would

see the new student from Mexico smile. I was that person willing to take a moment to help them

feel at home. As I reflect on these experiences I now understand why I am so passionate about

advocating for my Latino community, seeing how powerless students felt because they could not

communicate with their teachers and working hard to learn the language. For this reason,

diversity could be defined as the inclusion of different types of people in a group or organization

(Long, 2013). On the other hand, social justice is fighting for minority groups such as social

class, gender, or sexual orientation, for the equality and justice for all humans in society.

As a young girl these terms were not a part of my vocabulary because I had no idea what

they were. However, these concepts hit home when I reached college and attended Belmont

Abbey College for a week and only saw two Latinas in total. Later, moving to Winston-Salem

State University (WSSU) and seeing Black students everywhere. This was when I finally opened
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my eyes to reality, that I was not as educated as I thought. Attending WSSU, I began to

encounter the Black culture daily, I knew I had so much more to learn about their culture. In

addition, social justice was a part of the strategic plan of the university and it was engraved in

our academic courses. From my first professor to my last professor we had discussions on how to

advocate for our Black students because they deserve the same opportunities as their White

counterparts. Experiencing social justice first hand from an outsider perspective was truly

memorable and knowing how proud and grateful Black students were to be Black, lead me to

find pride in my identity, a proud Latina student who can speak Spanish, with an American

accent. I embraced the Black culture and learned something other than my own culture (Long,

2013). Learning and gaining this experience was something not all students get to experience.

Therefore, diversity in higher education was molded by my experience at an HBCU. It

truly is something that I take into consideration when working with my Black students because

family means a lot to them. Since I was able to gain this experience it is emulated in the way I

interact with the Black community. But as a student affair professional I find it important to

know our student’s upbringings, attitudes, beliefs, values, and lastly their personality type

(Cultural diversity, 2006). These are instrumental elements to get to know our students. As I

worked as an RA I gained an appreciation for my uniqueness and pride in who I was. My

supervisor was that mentor I needed to help me appreciate my Latino culture and learn to share it

with those around me. I always knew I was Latino but I did not like talking about it unless I was

directly asked about it. He taught me the true meaning of social justice because he was ready to

fight for his community but not only his, mine too. That truly showed me and molded my

perceptions and ideas of what it means to an activist and a social justice advocate for others.
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Furthermore, HBCU’s have many myths attached to them. Some of these myths are the

idea that they only serve Black students, and only have Black faculty (Gasman, 2015). These are

all myths, at least in my experience because I have direct experience with attending an HBCU.

First, the idea that HBCU’s only serve Black students, to begin I do not consider myself a Black

student and I attended an HBCU, they do however historically serve Black students (Gasman,

2015). WSSU took pride in the fact that they had a diverse campus, I saw numerous Black

students, but they were all different which included international African students, Columbian,

African American, or mixed students. The diversity I encountered at WSSU was larger in

comparison to that of my previous primary education. Second, the myth that they only have

Black faculty, I had a lot of Black faculty, but also Asian, Cacasian, and Canadian faculty. Most

of my professors were able to teach about their experience with social justice. They talked about

it in class and always created activities where we were given the opportunity to learn about

others and how to advocate and fight for our rights. As a university we had a lot of great faculty

that would help us have a voice at the university. This all helped me through my self-

identification process because I understood who I was. Although I attended an HBCU, I learned

more about myself during those four years because our student population was so diverse and

most of us had a willingness to learn about diversity other than our own.

As I continue to grow as a student affairs professional one area of growth is learning

more about our LGBTQ community. I do not identify with this community and I find it hard to

learn more about them because most people do not disclose this information to strangers. My

friend from undergrad was lesbian and I did not find out until my second year of knowing her

because she did not want my opinion of her to change. This was my friend I would talk to

everyday and it happened to be something we never talked about but to this day she is my best
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friend and I still love her as she is. So, I find it hard to know if someone is in this community

because it is not something most people are comfortable sharing. I do not like assuming either, so

knowing who is in this community is something I struggle with. I often find that the more you

get to know someone in this community and your willingness to learn and know them

individually leads to their willingness to share who they are. Therefore, educating myself about

this community would be highly beneficial to me.

To conclude, I have much more to learn as it relates to diversity. As I continue to develop

as a future student affair professional. This is one aspect of my career I think I can always

improve on especially on all the different communities. These groups will continue to grow, and

they will always need someone to help advocate for them. As I continue to understand and learn

more about others it will help me see how my experience can help them. But also realizing that

you are not going to know it all, knowing you might make a mistake but taking the time to learn

from it and grow as a student affair professional. Diversity and social justice is an area that will

help me grow and I look forward for the opportunity. Therefore, I am unique and a proud Latina

with immigrant parents, who knows how to speak Spanish, and is a first-generation college

student.
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References

Cultural diversity & awareness. ReadytoManage, 2006. eBook Business Collection

(EBSCOhost). Web. 15 Oct 2016.

García, Eugene E. Student cultural diversity: Understanding and meeting the challenge. Boston:

Houghton Mifflin, 1999. Print.

Gasman, M., & Nguyen, T. (2015). Myths dispelled: A historical account of diversity and

inclusion at HBCUs. New directions for higher education, 2015(170), 5-15.

doi:10.1002/he.20128

Long, M. J. (2013). What does diversity mean to you?. Access, 27(2), 13-28.