“Was there ever a time where you felt like giving up and going home?”

Patricia Alvarez went to Animo Jackie Robinson Charter High School. Patricia graduated from Animo Jackie Robinson three years ago. She is in the class of 2017. She went on a college trip for a week in her junior year of high school. Patricia went to many colleges and universities. Patricia fell in love with a university called UC Davis. Once she went on that trip all she would talk about is how UC Davis was her dream school and that was the school that she wanted to go to. Senior year came by and she got a letter from UC Davis. She got accepted to her dream school. Patricia had to face some problems in college. For example, she got home sick most of the time because she is an only child and wasn’t used to being away from her parents, but as time passed she got a little bit more comfortable with the college life. In her freshman year of college, she joined a club called MAR which is basically helping the community out and helping students pursue higher education. Patricia is now going into her third year in college and is very excited because she is almost done with her four years of college and nervous because as time goes by her classes are going to get harder and harder.

Transcript:

Jacqueline Alvarez : Hello Patricia. 

Patricia Alvarez : Hi Jacqueline.

JA : Tell me a little bit about yourself 

PA : My name is Patricia Alvarez I am an only child from Los Angeles California and I am going into my third year of college.

JA : How is it like going into your third year of college?

PA : Well it’s both exciting and nerve wracking because well exciting because I’m almost done with my four years of college and nerve wracking because as time goes by the classes are going to get more and more difficult.

JA : What college did you attend?

PA : I currently attend The University of California, Davis.

JA : How did you decide on what college to go to?

PA : I decided to attend UC Davis because in my High school umm my class went on a college trip umm in North California specifically and we explored different Universities and Cal States umm like UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz,and UC Davis being one of them and once we arrived at The University of California Davis we went on a tour trip on a tour guide and I fell in love with the camps and everybody was very friendly there and the atmosphere just felt great.

JA : Nice, umm did you ever regret picking UC Davis as your college?

PA : No, I never regretted uh picking UC Davis as my college because as I said before, I really enjoyed being there and the atmosphere was amazing and everybody was really friendly and I enjoyed the fresh air.

JA ; Where there ever sometimes where you felt like you wanted to give up and go home?

PA : Umm no and yes, yes because I did live 7 hours away from my parents and no because I really wanted to go to that school.

JA : Okay, What was it like leaving your parents and going to college 7 hours away from home?

PA : It was very difficult because I did get home sick umm most of the time being there but every time I did get a chance to call my parents and text them and I just felt like I wouldn’t miss them that much if I got the chance to talk to them and yeah.

JA : Okay, What are you studying in college?

PA : I am currently declared as an animal science major but i will soon be changing to psychology and Spanish double major with a minor in Chicana, Chicano studies.

JA : Okay, umm are you involved in any sport or club, if so what is it?

PA : I am currently involved in an organization called MAR which stands for Mujeres Auydando la Raza and we are a non profit Community service organization umm which we are basically umm encouraging umm lower income Latino students into pursuing higher education and main Community serves events that we have our umm youth conference and that’s where we invite local high school students grades 9 through 12 so that they can pursue  higher higher education and we have different workshops for them we have goody bags , we give them lunch and breakfast ,and we also have many fun activities and the second community serves event that we have is called Migrant Center and that is where we basically go to a Migrant Center umm near Davis and we have different  workshops for the families and that’s where we talk to them about letting their kids pursue higher education, we give them food,we have raffle baskets, we also have fun activities for the children, we interact with the children, we interact with the family as well, and yeah I am an upcoming Coordinator and last year I was a Secretary for MAR.

JA : Cool, umm how did you find out about that club MAR?

PA : Well I found out about Mujers Auyudando la Raza umm thru an on campus event called Bienvenida and that’s where all the organizations sororities and fraternities and sports are so that they can recruit umm more club members and other members as well and I just got the chance to learn more about the club and what they stand for and what they do to help the community and they were Latinas and they were all females but they are not all gender inclusive which means not only females are able to apply so males are able to join the club as well but I just felt like that was my second family away from home.

JA : Okay, at of all the clubs why did you want to join that club?

PA : umm, Well I joined MAR umm well specifically  because the two girls that were at the table talking to the students about the organizations they were very friendly and loving and they were just wanted to get new members to the club and they were all happy like if you join like our club we hang out a lot, we interact with students ,your going to gain more experience into the college and when you have finals or midterms and have a chance to have study groups with the organization and in the organization they also have a study group which last from 10 am to 10 pm and that basically where they rent a room where they will be there all day and anyone can just go in study for a few hours and then go out or they can stay in as long as they want to and they always provide snacks and food and yeah.

JA : Cool it seems like you really enjoy that club, umm who helped you get to where you are right now?

PA : Umm well I can say that my counselor from high school really helped me a lot because he encouraged me to join college and not only the university but also Cal states and Community colleges, he just wanted me to gain higher education and it didn’t matter to him where I would just as long as I get a degree  in college.

JA : I also wanted to add on to where you said that you wanted to change your degree to animal science to Chicana/Chicano studies umm why is that? 

PA : Well umm the reason why I applied to UC Davis was because they were a number 1 in veterinary science and that is what I wanted to be a veterinarian but as time flew by, I took some classes like for example I took biology, math, and a few animal science courses I found out that it’s very difficult so I am planning to switch to a psychology in Spanish double major with a minor in Chicana, Chicano studies, my second choice of animal science was to me a psychologist and it doesn’t matter which as long as I help out the community and umm Spanish so that I can speak more fluently in Spanish and so that I can, when I get a chance to be a psychologist and start working I am a bilingual person therefore I can help members  from my community that only speak Spanish and with a minor in Chicana, Chicano studies is because I really enjoy those classes and the department does need more students to attend those classes in order for it to keep running.

JA : Okay, just a final thought to leave this interview on, What would you advice to incoming college student?

PA : Umm that is a good question but I would definitely  advice that incoming college students to seek help,to not be afraid to ask for help, go to counselors, ask help to your professors, to your teachers,and if coming in from high school I recommend in summer to at least take a summer course at a community college so you do gain that experience of classes at a college and I know they are hard but if you need help go to tutoring, ask your professor for help if you really don’t understand the subject and in regards to text books I know they can be very expensive, I suggest to look on other sites like amazon or check because I know that they are cheaper there and you don’t really have to buy the textbooks you can also rent them and you can paste sticky notes on the text books and if you don’t find the textbooks online you can also go to a nearby library on campus or off campus and you can rent those textbooks as well or your professor will always have an extra copy and if you get there first you can also ask the professor for help as well.

JA : Okay,  I am sorry I also wanted to add on to what you said about,at least take one course class at a community college umm I wanted to know if you attended a community college in summer?

PA : Umm well I specifically did not take a college course at a community college but I did take it at a university umm which was UCLA and I took two courses there and I felt that it did help me out in college and I know it was very difficult in regards to the course and the textbooks because they were very expensive but like I said before I did manage to get them online cheaper or I asked for a friends help and if they took the course before hand I asked if they had the textbooks so that they can lend it to me which they did and that was very helpful and the course it self I went to tutoring, I asked the professor for help , I asked my classmates and they helped me out threw the course and I successfully passed the courses.

JA : Okay thank you Patricia for this interview and for giving advice and for answering all my questions, this is all that I have for you today.

PA : You’re welcome.