![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/files\/2019\/06\/OutstandingMaleGrad-683x1024.jpg\")
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Bailey Thompson<\/strong> | News Editor<\/span><\/p>\n Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?<\/b><\/p>\n I\u2019m a first-generation student from Hood River, Oregon. I have three older siblings, and I\u2019m the first in my family to graduate \u2026 My parents migrated from Culiac\u00e1n and Jalisco, Mexico. And growing up with Mexican and American culture is like two different worlds colliding all the time \u2026 I\u2019m a business major, too, graduating with a concentration of management \u2026 and I\u2019ve been working here as a Multicultural Representative Coordinator here since my freshman year.<\/span><\/p>\n How do you feel about having been chosen for the Delmer Dewey\/Julia McCulloch Smith Award?<\/b><\/p>\n Honestly just surprised \u2026 I honestly never saw myself as a distinguished leader like that. I always saw myself as someone who wanted to see others go beyond what I feel like I could ever reach. I\u2019ve always had self-esteem issues, and if I know if I can\u2019t do it, I hope others can do it \u2026 So even being nominated, I was just surprised \u2026 It\u2019s just an honor for me, coming from where I come from, because not many Latinos have gotten this award. I see all these Honors students constantly getting this award \u2026 and I started getting the imposter syndrome a little bit. I thought other people deserve it more than I do \u2026 but getting this and having it is just amazing. And I hope that it inspires other people that, regardless of where you come from, you can get this award if you put the time and dedication in.<\/span><\/p>\n Can you tell me a bit about what your experience has been like at Western in general?<\/b><\/p>\n I\u2019ve transformed in so many ways. Looking back, it\u2019s like \u201cI don\u2019t know that person\u201d \u2026 I went through a big self-identity crisis and had fallen into depression a little bit, suicidal tendencies and stuff like that, because in my culture \u2014 having also come out as LGBTQ and bisexual \u2014 where I came from, it was hard to grasp at. I was raised in a Catholic environment \u2026 so the topic was never brought up \u2026 And, coming here, it seemed kind of taboo to me. Also, when I go back home, hearing constantly in the Latino culture \u2018gay\u2019 and \u2018fag\u2019 is just in their vocabulary all the time in a derogatory way \u2026 So, I would just go to class and fly by them and put on my headphones. Then I would just go home and sleep or watch TV, and that\u2019s it. \u00a0And that was freshman year for me \u2026 But having this job gave me purpose in a way. And I blossomed up when I started connecting with other people and finding my place here \u2026 So, I\u2019m so grateful that Western was so inclusive and so welcoming like that.<\/span><\/p>\n What are some of the ways that you have been involved here at Western?<\/b><\/p>\n I got the Diversity Commitment Scholarship … Then I became an MCR coordinator, and that\u2019s where my whole leadership journey started. Then I got into PLUS+ Team \u2026 I was an interim ambassador, so I helped during the summer doing tours when no one was around. And I was also a part of the Cesar E. Chavez Leadership Conference, so I help with that annually \u2026 I was in the Tuition and Fees Advisory Committee this year \u2026 and that was really cool because my major is business, but I haven\u2019t gotten that much experience with business, so this was cool, and I loved it \u2026 I was in the Multicultural Student Union, and I was on the Student Activities Board for a little while. And my first club that I joined here was the Running Club \u2026 I was nominated for Wolf Royalty this year and won that, too.<\/span><\/p>\n What is the thing that you are most proud of during your time at Western?<\/b><\/p>\n Finding myself \u2014 just having the courage to be like, \u201cHey, I\u2019m bisexual. And I\u2019m proud of it.\u201d Even just saying that, and how easy it is, is an accomplishment for me. Before, I couldn\u2019t even think about it. So, looking back on what I went through, that alone is an accomplishment \u2026 I can represent people more, and I can give a voice to something that some people don\u2019t ever think about. So, just empowering students in general to feel comfortable and proud of who they are.<\/span><\/p>\n If you could go back and do one thing differently, what would it be?<\/b><\/p>\n I should\u2019ve talked to someone sooner \u2026 I always felt alone, and I wish that I had reached out. I should\u2019ve gone to the Student Health and Counseling Center or talked to my Peer Mentor. So, that\u2019s my biggest regret is just isolating myself.<\/span><\/p>\n What advice do you have for underclassmen at Western?<\/b><\/p>\n During New Student Week, a lot of the speakers say to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and that\u2019s definitely the best advice that I could give \u2026 This is where you make mistakes and improve on your deficiencies and weaknesses. Do stuff that you\u2019ve never done before and join stuff that you\u2019ve always wanted to join. And if you don\u2019t like it \u2014 okay, let\u2019s move on. Let\u2019s find something that you want to do. Get acclimated and integrated with the university. There are so many opportunities here, and all the staff and administrators want to see you succeed. I think a lot of first-years are just scared to fail, and honestly college is the best time to fail, learn from it, reflect and then try it again. <\/span><\/p>\n What are you going to miss most about your time here?<\/b><\/p>\n I\u2019m going to miss all of the administrators, staff and faculty here \u2026 I know Western isn\u2019t the most extravagant \u2026 but the people here make it. And that\u2019s who I\u2019m going to miss the most. I\u2019m going to miss the people who\u2019ve helped me find myself and who\u2019ve empowered me, and … all of my friends, too.<\/span><\/p>\n What are your plans for after graduation?<\/b><\/p>\n After graduation I\u2019m moving to Beaverton \u2014 that\u2019s where my brother is. I went from Hood River, which is a small town, to Monmouth, which is a smaller town, and I want to try the city a little bit. I was very caught up in (deciding) whether to take a gap year or going to get my MBA \u2026 and right now I\u2019m being really picky about where I put my time into. So, after this, I\u2019ll be moving, finding a job, figuring out what I want to do. And, after a year, I\u2019m going to get my MBA.<\/span><\/p>\n Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bailey Thompson | News Editor Can you tell me a little bit about yourself? I\u2019m a first-generation student from Hood River, Oregon. I have three older siblings, and I\u2019m the first in my family to graduate \u2026 My parents migrated from Culiac\u00e1n and Jalisco, Mexico. And growing up with Mexican and American culture is like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1094,"featured_media":10646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"modified_by":"The Western Howl","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}