Anisa Navarro

June 7, 2023
GEN ST 297 D
Final Reflection Paper

As my Junior year comes to an end, I aim to reflect not solely on this quarter but on my

growth throughout this year, especially in how I view what it means to be a leader. Coming into

the beginning of this school year I had a leadership opportunity that truly changed my perception

of my impact on a person’s life. Fall quarter I became a mentor in the Mentor Power for Success

program, in which I was paired with an incoming freshman to guide and help them as they

navigate their transition into college. While this was not my first leadership experience here at

the University of Washington as I had previous opportunities within my sorority - it became the

most impactful experience. Within MPFS I had to reflect on my journey here at UW in order to

give the best advice to my protege; while she had her own goals and ambitions to reach here at

UW she slowly began following my footsteps as she applied to the Honors program and even

joined the greek community, and eventually my same sorority. While I had already left said

organization - I saw how much the way I lead my life has an impact on someone who I

mentored. This experience began the journey of self reflection of who I wanted to be as I

continued to enter other leadership opportunities.

Prior to MPFS I saw a leader (as in the word) someone who takes charge and leads others

- and while part of that I still find to be true (which is in taking initiative); I soon realized that a

leader is someone who guides, a leader is honest and compassionate, and shares experiences,

faults, and wins in order to help others. The reading from week 6 mentions how leadership is a

process not a position; but also that the process is an attempt to accomplish positive change,

(Tillapaugh et al. 2). Furthermore, due to my experiences and findings from fall quarter I came
into the Diversity Leadership Development program to continue learning and discovering what it

means to be a leader. The article by Tillapaugh et al. truly encompasses what I’ve learned in this

program as I joined a new organization; Unidas Seremos. Coming into Unidas Seremos I had no

leadership title, and just came to meetings, which firstly was out of my comfort zone as I came

mid school year, but also alone. While I had no official title, after some time I learned that

Tillapaugh et al. was correct; in which leadership is not a position - but a process, or as I would

like to put it - an experience or journey. While in Unidas Seremos I often took leaps and

initiatives by offering to help out, coming to events and repping the organization. In the ACE

Conference hosted by M.E.C.H.A multiple Latine RSO’s had a spokesperson to share what the

organization was about, and although other officers of Unidas were present, they had asked me

to represent and share Unidas with the high schoolers. Although a minimal feat, this had meant a

lot to me and made me realize that although I had no official title - others in my organization saw

me as a leader.

Throughout this quarter I have attended multiple events hosted either by the ECC or

ASUW in hopes to expose myself to multiple environments of different leaders and how they

interact with others and each other. I am a person who loves to be inspired and these were my

favorite memories of the quarter as I gained more confidence in going to events alone and taking

initiative to continuously step out of my comfort zone. I find that the most personal growth that

can be acquired through engaging in opportunities that you normally wouldn’t do, especially

without a friend who acts as an emotional support buffer from being scared and nervous in new

situations. The event I attended for the Social Justice component of this course was the Indian

Child Welfare Act: Then and Now hosted by a graduate student from the School of Social Work,

in relation to the ECC and a partnership with The Alliance. This was a workshop and discussion
panel to open a conversation regarding the history of the Indian Child Welfare Act, and the

injustice that is to come if it were to get removed from law. Although I was one of the 4

participants in the Social Justice workshop, it was incredibly impactful to understand and learn

the importance and reasons behind the Indian Child Welfare Act. We talked about colonialism

and how native history and familial relations to Native tribes are overlooked by the government a

lot. The Panel from The Alliance also were Native themselves and shared stories of why this act

was important in the long scheme of preserving their native history after decades of genocide. In

my own life I wish to become a social justice advocate and work in the legislative area.

Attending this workshop was helpful for my future endeavors as I believe a key part of being a

good leader and advocate is to hear from others where help is needed and why; and to uplift their

voices and demands. To meet the requirement of attending a community event I attended the

Living Community Forum, which was held on April 12th in association with the RCSA

(Residential Community Student Association). The purpose of the event was to offer a platform

for students to ask questions to those running for ASUW positions, and get to know more about

who they are and plans for our UW community. I find that this event impacts my leadership in

the future as I was able to make an informed decision about who I would like to vote for in terms

of who is in charge of ASUW. I was able to express some concerns and even see what each

person would like to accomplish in their time. I was also able to get a better understanding of

what ASUW does and who I can reach out to to coordinate events or get help in my future

leadership roles. I also saw that this event had minimal participation beyond those who were

required to attend, and those running. I hope that next year I could work to be involved in getting

more information out there and getting more students to vote. The second event that I attended

for the community involvement requirement was the ECC Annual Awards Gala which was held
on May 18th. This event was held to celebrate leadership and accomplishments of different ECC

RSO’s as the year comes to an end. This event was an enjoyable experience especially as I went

on behalf of Unidas Seremos who won awards years prior. Although they didn’t win an award

this year, I was able to see other Latino students and celebrate their accomplishments in paving

the way for others. I’m excited to attend next year with Unidas Seremos again, especially as the

Community Service officer, and hopefully have my organization win some awards. I plan to

apply what I learned from this event to putting more effort and collaboration into the

organization that I am a part of and to leave a memory or start a new tradition that can help and

empower other students. For the demonstration of the leadership component of this course I got

involved with the Alianza Leadership Hub under the Latino Community Fund. I joined a 7 week

program, which will go beyond spring quarter and into the first few weeks of June with an event

hosted in August. We met once a week via zoom and discussed our topic area of immigration

and narrowed down to what issues within immigration would we like to focus on; with our

decision being access to healthcare. I joined the committee of a community event to be held in

August which would have resources relating to healthcare, insurance, and how to access it for

mixed generation families and those who are undocumented. Before joining the leadership hub I

believed that I would have more work within advocacy and lobbying, however with the

legislative session just recently ending, our group couldn’t do much right now. The leadership

hub also met via zoom and I found that it was a bit hard to stay engaged, especially with a group

that didn’t participate much. However, things that I learned for my leadership skills in the future

is that I should be prepared to step up. I often doubt my voice and fail to bring up my opinions

for fear of it being “dumb”. However, I realized that oftentimes if I don’t speak no one else will.

I also realized I get discouraged when the group isn’t as engaged, which could be related to the
format of our meetings. Overall, I did learn that community organizing is complicated and truly

requires engagement from everyone in regards to agreements, and ideas. It also comes with

compromise as our team was stuck a few times over people not wanting to compromise on ideas.

Before I continue expanding on my experiences and reflections especially with the

addition and relation to the readings of the quarter - a very integral part of why my experiences

have been so impactful are based on my first few years here at the University of Washington.

Transitioning into my freshman year of college is a difficult experience and journey to begin

with, given I came into UW during the height of the pandemic - this made the transition even

more difficult. As a first generation college student I was scared and didn’t know where to go to

find a new community, especially one that valued and accepted my cultural identities. While

imposter syndrome was something I had heard so much about, I never felt it my first year - a plus

of everything being online and not having to interact with others besides my family. However as

life and college became more and more in person - I had begun interacting with my peers from

social environments and had quickly realized that I felt very different. During COVID I had

joined the Greek community, and while they offer a great family for others - I often dealt with

classist remarks regarding my hometown, and was made aware at every moment that I did not

look or have the same experiences of my counterparts. While I do not regret my journey, it was a

struggle trying to navigate who I was and who I wanted to be in a PWI (predominantly white

institution). This experience was fortified through the readings during week five where the article

mentions that a students sense of belonging impacts and is important to the influence on students

persistence and success during their undergraduate years and their post-graduate years (Bowman

et al.) As I finish my third year and have found a new community, one that understands and

values my identities, I find that I’ve made the most growth socially, within leaderships, and with
myself. Prior to college, in high school, I was involved with identity based organizations and I

saw that my high school leadership positions within non-identity organizations were more

pleasing to others. While before the readings of week seven I never thought too much about it, I

realized that the article had some truth in that outsiders view these identity based organizations

as stepping stones to real leadership, (Kodoma & Laylo). Reflecting 3 years later I realize that

was a key component on why I tried navigating my college years without using this “crutch” and

relying on my cultural community.

However, as I’ve learned leadership has nothing to do with titles, and all to do about the

process and way of becoming. All in all, I have learned that just because my leadership or way of

becoming and leading does not mirror my white counterparts - does not make me less valuable or

impactful. The very first article we read for this class covered the 7 C’s of leadership; the first

being consciousness of self - which is awareness of emotions and beliefs that motivate actions,

( Astin & Astin). As I continue to journey my undergraduate years and finish off my senior year

at UW I will carry all my experiences, reflections, and learned experiences with me as I continue

to grow and become a better person, leader, friend, and student.

Works Cited:

1. Bowman, N. A., Park, J. J., & Denson, N. (2014). Student involvement in ethnic student

organizations: Examining Civic Outcomes 6 years after graduation. Research in Higher

Education, 56(2), 127–145. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-014-9353-8

2. Kodama, C. M., & Laylo, R. (2017). The unique context of identity-based student

organizations in developing leadership. New Directions for Student Leadership,

2017(155), 71–81. https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.20251

3. Sheriff, S. (2019, August 1). Social Change Model of Leadership Development. Social

Change Model | Social Change Model of Leadership Development | Dickinson College.

https://www.dickinson.edu/info/20380/student_leadership/3795/social_change_model_of

_leadership_development

4. Tillapaugh, D., Mitchell, D., & Soria, K. M. (2017). Considering gender and student

leadership through the lens of intersectionality. New Directions for Student Leadership,

2017(154), 23–32. https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.20237