An Overview of my Assistantship

This year brought new experiences to my career in higher education as well as new meanings to working with a social justice mindset. Social Justice was never a proponent brought up in my previous programming experiences. However, in delving deeper into the issue I realized I had always been programming with a social justice intention. I always looked for that area or program in which I could voice my culture’s point of view, share my story, and educate others. This assistantship has helped me in defining what social justice means to me as well as my program and how I can be a social justice advocate. But overall, I found myself in a better place when I programmed about issues related to my culture and identity versus others.

The toughest part of the assistantship for me was creating interactive and meaningful discussions around issues the films would bring up. The issues did not particularly addressed all my identities, maybe some, but not all. I can easily put together a film series, however initiating and navigating the discussions before and after the film was tough. It was easier for me to turn to the film maker or producer to create those conversations because they could relate more to the issues than I could. In going through my program and social justice trainings, the idea of educating the dominant culture created a wall between me and the students. And with that wall, it has been tough to hold those conversations. My experiences might be different if there were more students of color in the audience, but that is not for me to determine. With experience and proper preparation I hope to tackle this part of my assistantship with confidence and hope to foster a better learning environment.

The best part of the assistantship is definitely coordinating the art gallery exhibits. Working with individuals and helping them craft their exhibit is a great part of this assistantship. Undergraduate students very often have experiences they like to share and helping them identify why that experience was important and establish their purpose is sharing the experience definitely adds to the mentoring/advising component of the HESA program in general. The last art exhibit definitely highlighted how the assistantship can be filled with joy and laughter. The colors in the exhibit did not only show off the artists attitude about her work, but it really brightened up the center and it helped end the semester on the right foot. It was a great experience and it taught me how art can truly relate to social justice and how one can teach social justice via art, an even greater reason for me to continue with my music!

Overall, I have traveled a long way from my initial being in the fall. It has been a long and draining road, but hopefully I can use the skills I have learned next year. I have attended social justice institutes where I have been able to identify my role as a social justice advocate. I have participated in cultural planning committees that have given me a different space and venue to express myself outside of my assistantship. And I know I am better prepared to program and create effective social justice dialogues next year.