Amanda Flores
Amanda Flores
Hometown: Sullivan City, Texas
CLS Affiliation: CLS Graduate Certificate Student Current Status: Doctoral Candidate
Graduation Year: May 2022
Major: Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education Program
Celebrating Amanda:
Amanda is the president of Rueda Latin@, which is a graduate student Latinx organization in the College of Education. In early 2020, she published two articles and became a doctoral candidate in October 2020. Amanda says her biggest accomplishment during this academic year has been managing her assistantship, training students, and facilitating workshops in a virtual setting. She is grateful for the group of students that she gets to work with every week and for her supervisors for their support during this time.
What advice/tips/consejos would you give students in terms of navigating school?
Don't shy away from trying out writing tools like the Pomodoro method. I have used this method to help me break through many writing blocks. If interested, check out YouTube Study With Me to help you get started. I also recommend changing up your writing space every now and then to promote creativity.
Take on the leadership role. Volunteer for that opportunity. Apply, interview, accept the nomination, never hold yourself back from the unknown because at the end of the day your community will be there to lift you up. Your community may be your friends, your family, your mentors, or your chosen family. Ultimately, there will be folks who believe in you and who are rooting for you to believe for yourself. The best learning and growth comes when we reach beyond our comfort zone.
Be selfish within your personal limits. Think about what you want to accomplish and reflect on the compromises you might have to make in order to accomplish your goals. It is okay to prioritize yourself first. Talk with family, friends, and mentors to help you make decisions that best align with your values and interests. Oftentimes we taught to humble ourselves way too much that we lose out on opportunities and sometimes it's okay for us to shine bright. You never know how your story and your accomplishment may inspire others with a similar story.
What are your professional/career aspirations?
My career aspirations include working at a comprehensive university or college in an administrative capacity assisting with college access and retention efforts for marginalized student populations. My work has always revolved around the college experiences of marginalized student populations, and I have always enjoyed watching students develop their college-going identity, growing comfort in their own skin, and developing a sense of confidence in their past and current life experiences. Moreover, I would like to start a non-profit aimed at maximizing the cultural capital of students and their families when it comes to college access.
What (or who) inspires you?
My mother has always served as my inspiration in everything I do. My mother came to the U.S. at a young age with an extremely limited level of family presence and managed to persist through her education to receive a high school diploma. She developed an extensive network of chosen family members that helped her cope with many barriers. As a result, I watched her lean on her network, think creatively and on her feet, and breakthrough the stigmas associated with solo-parenting in ways that have always empowered me to manage through my own stigmas and stereotypes associated with being a first-generation college student from a migrant background
To learn more about Amanda, visit her LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-flores-99964b2a
You can also follow her on Instagram @aflor324 to learn more about the MSU Student Food Bank! Amanda is a huge advocate for the MSU Student Food Bank. So, if you ever want to learn more about the food bank and its benefits, reach out to her!