Growing up, I was one of the few individuals in my small country town that came from a minority background. Being a Latina woman that is white-passing came with both privileges and unintentional racist conversations. I was never discriminated against because of the color of my skin. I was given many opportunities to succeed in both school and sports. However, I would also hear the negative things people would have to say about Latina people because I was white-passing, and people did not realize that was part of my heritage.
When I was deciding on a college my senior year, I wanted to go to a school that took pride in diversity. I wanted to have a support system away from home to help me excel academically, physically, and mentally. After countless hours of writing essays and going through interviews, I was awarded the Templeton Scholarship. "The Templeton Scholars Program is a comprehensive scholarship program designed for academically-talented students. The Templeton Scholars Program honors John Newton Templeton (Ohio University's first African American graduate, Class of 1828) and his legacy with an emphasis on academic excellence, leadership, and campus and community involvement at Ohio University." (Ohio University). This scholarship is for students of a minority background that succeeded in all of these areas in high school and shows the desire to continue doing so while in college. Coming into college I was super excited to be a part of this amazing academic program and to help spread diversity on our campus.
Once I got to college, I was homesick and overwhelmed being in a new place. My parents kept emphasizing to get involved on campus so I could find my home away from home. I took their advice and I decided to sign up for formal recruitment, play club softball, participate in Bobcathon, and get more involved within my scholarship office, OMSAR. I joined ADPi during my freshman year of college, and I am so happy that I did. I met a bunch of amazing women that pushed me to be a better woman, and they continue to do so now. I found an amazing support system academically, physically, and mentally, and I discovered my passion for helping others through volunteer work. ADPi has continued to make me a better woman throughout college, and I am proud to be a sister here at Xi Chapter.
One of the experiences that have stuck with me to this day happened during my training to be a Rho Gamma for formal recruitment. WPA brought in a woman with a diverse background to come in and speak to us about her experience going through formal recruitment. She brought it to our attention that she felt isolated going through the process because of how she looked. She claimed she found her home in her chapter here at Ohio University, but she wished that she wouldn't have felt this way while going through recruitment. Hearing her story and how she felt made me upset because I had promised myself that I would work towards spreading diversity and acceptance on our campus. After she finished talking, I realized I wanted to be the one to change the experience for both current and future women in our chapter.
During my junior year of college, I decided I wanted to get more involved within our sorority and I applied to be on our Executive Board. I ended up getting a position and I was super excited to make differences to better our chapter. The most important change I made in our chapter to me is educating our women on all of the resources both ADPi and Ohio University has to offer on campus. We host study tables for our women, send out links to
different resources on campus such as mental health hotlines and tutoring services, and we have brought in different speakers to educate our women on different physical health topics. Although all of these things are amazing, I was still not satisfied with myself as an executive board member, and I wanted to do something else. I brought to my team's attention that we have an on-campus advisor that works in the OMSAR office to help support people of diverse backgrounds. We strengthened our relationship with her to help find resources for the women in our chapter that needed it. I also sent our Director of Academic Affairs a list of different resources specifically geared towards helping minority students to send out to our women. These are just a few things that I have done so far to improve our women's cultural competency and to change the atmosphere in our chapter.
As a proud member of Alpha Delta Pi and a Templeton Scholar here at Ohio University, I want to ensure that all women have a positive experience going through greek life and that they get the most out of their time while doing so. I hope to continue making positive changes within our chapter to make our women feel more comfortable and confident in their home away from home. If any of you reading this would like to talk about being a minority woman in greek life or just want someone to talk to and support you, please do not hesitate to reach out. I am consistently researching ways to educate myself so I do my best in helping others.