¾«¶«

Describe your work and activities at your current position.

I currently serve as the Virginia State Manager for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice. In this role, I oversee all state work which includes grassroots advocacy and mobilizations with activists and all policy advocacy and lobbying work at the state level with legislators and other partners/stakeholders. Currently, the biggest project I am involved in is working in coalition with Virginians for Reproductive Freedom, a coalition created that advances reproductive freedom measures in Virginia, to enshrine a constitutional amendment that would ensure the right to abortion and protect reproductive freedom even more broadly (i.e. IVF access, contraception access, etc.) across the Commonwealth. This has been the biggest goal I’ve pursued as a manager on this team, and I feel extremely proud to be one of the main contributing authors on the amendment language that was entered in for consideration.

 

What skills and intellectual experiences did you acquire in the history program at ¾«¶« that have served you well in your subsequent career?

An intellectual experience that I acquired in ¾«¶«â€™s History program that has served me well in my career was the vast amount of preparedness from the professors and the curriculum that was imparted on me as a student. As a history major, I was reading at least a book a week and engaging in riveting Socratic method style discussions that expounded on those thoughtful readings and taught us as students the value of dissecting our thoughts with other colleagues and being engrossed in literature that could be applied to the skills of life. I took pleasure in the lecture-style history classes that rattled off details and dates, but that also had professors pondering thought-provoking questions from those big ideas. I was completely immersed in derailing from one tiny kernel of an idea from a passage that transformed into an explication and theme dissection of how Chinese dynasties changed social structures and society through their generations of rulers. The history program at ¾«¶« gave me the ability and patience to read through a particular reading and be able to fully flesh out its ideas and subject matter to use as a baseline in imagining a new world. And it’s exactly what I do now in working on the constitutional amendment effort. 

 

Based on your experience since graduating: Is history only about the past or how does it relate to today and the future?

Based on my experience, history relates to today and the future. In learning about the past and fully dissecting it, we can begin to study and learn from the patterns that have led humans in society to the very moment they’re currently in. In understanding where we’ve come from, we have the blueprint for how to proceed. 

 

Which professors do you remember and why from the Department of History at Old Dominion University?

The professor from ¾«¶« that I remember most was also my department advisor, Mr. Del Corso. I always knew I wanted to be a history major from the start, however, Mr. Del Corso’s introductory-level European history class completely changed my life and made me appreciate and love history even more. I very much enjoyed his perspective as a Catholic on all the historical themes of European history and how big an impact, either positively or negatively, religion played into the success or downfall of certain civilizations. His analyses, especially as a progressive person of faith, gave me so much clarity on taboo topics and how to reconcile one’s faith with history and the decisions of our spiritual predecessors. His teachings reaffirmed my desire to stay in the history department.

Another impactful professor in my time at ¾«¶« was Dr. Q Jin. Her class on Asian history was quite possibly the best class I’ve ever taken in my life and her willingness to share deeply personal stories, a lived experience that contributed to a crucial time of dictatorial rule in China, was something so uniquely special; something I won’t forget for a long time. Dr. Jin was so culturally competent and passionate about the material she was teaching, and it showed in the way the information was received by her students. On our last day of class, she finally shared the story of her family and the role they played in said dictatorial rule and subsequent immigration story. The gift she gave our class that day in sharing photos of her father alongside Chinese leaders and real-life accounts of what she experienced prior to escaping the country is something I will never forget.

 

What new areas of historical inquiry have you explored since leaving ¾«¶«? 

Since leaving ¾«¶«, my newest area of historical inquiry has been in reproductive freedom policies and laws. By researching what other reproductive health and justice measures have been successful in other states, it serves as a baseline for what we can dream up, reach for and achieve in our own state! My hope is that through exploring what other states have done, what hasn’t been successful and what could have been tailored to accommodate individuals in a particular state, I can lead my team and coalition through viable solutions or policies for our current effort to enshrine abortion as a right in the Virginia Constitution.

 

What is the one thing you would like to tell our current students?

I’d like to tell other students to never stop being persistent. When I graduated, there was a lot of uncertainty in the world too – much like there is now. I was graduating into a market for public service that was getting constant attacks from the sitting administration at the time and finding a job felt impossible. But I never stopped dreaming. I never stopped being persistent and I always held on to the fact that, as history has taught me, that the pendulum always comes back to swing the other way, in my favor. 

 

What would your advice be to the department for the future?

My advice to the department would be to keep employing inspiring professors with real lived experiences that students can relate to when they take a history course. Learning about the past can often feel depressing or useless to someone that doesn’t identify as a historian. But I think it’s imperative, especially in these times, to continue teaching that history and detailing a factual history from culturally competent professors that reflect or represent the culture and lives experiences of its students. This is the only way we will entice students to take history courses, heed its lessons seriously and even attract more history majors!