Ep. 75 - Building Your Confidence as a Student

In Episode 75 of the CSUSB Advising Podcast, Matt Markin is joined by Veronica Ramirez Amerson, Director of the Educational Opportunity Program for this special 75th episode! Veronica shares her story as a college student, building rapport and confidence, and truly taking advantage of opportunities while in school. 

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Transcript

Matt Markin  
Welcome back to the CSUSB Advising Podcast. If you can believe it, we are at a monumental episode, and this is episode 75 Never did I think that when this podcast started, alongside my friend and former CSUSB advisor star wilds, that we would get to this episode. And to celebrate, we have a guest who has so much knowledge to share with you, yodes, and that is Veronica Ramirez Amerson, the director of the Educational Opportunity Program here at CSUSB. So relax and take in all the nuggets of information and experience Veronica will be able to share with you. Veronica, welcome to the podcast.

Veronica Ramirez Amerson  
Happy to be here, Matt, thank you for the invitation.

Matt Markin  
Yeah. So we're going to jump right in. And usually our first question we're going to throw at you is to tell us a little bit about your background. Tell us what about you as a student, and kind of how your path led into higher education?

Veronica Ramirez Amerson  
You know, I've had, I've had time to reflect on this question a little bit, and I have to tell you I didn't know quite where to start when I think about my college journey. It seems like many, many moons ago. I'm going to be celebrating this upcoming year my 20th year of employment at Cal State San Bernardino. So my college days were definitely some time ago, when I think about the question, though, as you phrase it, is about my background as a college student, I kept thinking about, Okay, do I do I start off by sharing how I almost didn't go to college? Or do I start off and sharing, you know, what my first year was like in college, or, or my latter years in college, and the transitioning after college. So I'm going to try to give you a cliff note version of all three areas to get a a picture going of what my experience was like as a college student. I think one thing that's important to always highlight is, you know, where did, where did I come from? You know, what was my household experience? Who who were my role models, or who were my parents? And why didn't I almost go to college? I happen to identify with a number of different identities, and one of the things that I identify with is being a first college, first generation college student. As a first generation college student that came from a mother who majority of her academic years and her years on this earth was moving. She was very active in the farmers movement. And so it was not uncommon that her childhood experience was moving, where the wherever the farm workers were going, and following my grandparents. And so coming from a mother who had that background and really didn't start her education much later in her years, when my grandmother finally decided, I think it's time for my girls to to go to school. And so she started later years struggled with starting her, I'm going to say her latter part of her education, because she really didn't start until probably, maybe her first year of high school, if I remember correctly. And that was a tough adjustment. If most of your time was moving and moving and working and getting whatever little education you could get from your older siblings or folks in the community that you happen to be a part of at the time. And then on my father's side, my father has a sixth grade education, and like many other folks, decided to migrate over to California to just create a better life and to earn funds to help his family back in Mexico, and one of the things that I vividly remember as I grew up in that household is coming from a traditional household of father, sharing your My positionality, right that in that household, which was as the eldest child of four, that I needed to make sure that I was available and accessible to my younger siblings, and so for the longest time, I never thought college was a possibility. But then on the flip side, you had a mother that was like, Nope, I want my daughter to have a different life, a better life, and I'm going to encourage and motivate and push and we're going to figure this out together. And why I almost didn't go to college is because I remember one thing vividly, as it happened yesterday, when I decided to apply for colleges after much nudging from my high school counselor, which will lead into some of the other reasons why I chose the career pathway that I'm in now, I had a choice to make. I. And I almost didn't have a choice. It was either stay home and as the eldest, continue to support my parents in their journey here in California, because oftentimes it was not uncommon that I was the translator, I was the I was the doer, I was the advocate in what their lived experience was in this state, and just support and my younger siblings to go on. But my mother had other plans for me, and although my father had told me I am not going to college, which to this day he will deny, even though we reminisce on occasion, um, I call him uh, dearly, my my old man, and it's it just rings differently when you say it in Spanish, but it's a term of endearment between us, and he likes to not remember those days and act like it never happened. But one of the things that we do reminisce about is the fact that he didn't want to let me go to college. He had different plans for me, but my mother and a dear aunt of mine that I will forever be grateful to decided to shove my belongings and as much food as possible and drive me to a college campus not too far from where I lived, and hence, the beginning of my of my college career. So that's how I ended up at college. I had this bright idea as a first generation student, a young lady who came from a traditional household that was not going to have, that didn't have the opportunity to do much in high school, whether it was because of affordability or access, that I was going to spread my wings and go outside of California. And although I applied to different universities and was accepted, I quickly lost that dream when I learned what out of state tuition was, and when I learned what that was, and I knew that it was not going to be affordable and feasible, regardless of how many scholarships I may have received because of housing and all of that good stuff, not having to relocate. Then lo and behold, I found myself getting shoved into my mother's Plymouth cult at the time, with my aunt's support, and getting driven maybe less than an hour away from home and starting my college career. And I was super excited about it, although it's very scary, because you wouldn't believe it, but it would have been the first time me spending the night away from my household.

Matt Markin  
Once you got to college, you know, I can imagine how nerve wracking that probably was. Can you talk about maybe some of those initial like, first year, how things went for you and ultimately, like, what led into you choosing the major that you did?

Veronica Ramirez Amerson  
Absolutely. I think one of the things that I really yearned when I first started there, although I had mixed feelings, there was this feeling of whether I made the right choice, should I have listened, you know, to my traditional father. There was always this also this excitement, of this mixed feeling, of this freedom all of a sudden, that I felt of okay, I'm spending the night away from home. I get to stay up as late as I want. I don't have this structured directive of chores that I need to do. So what do I do with my time? And I think one of the things that I quickly yearned for was making sure that I found a community that was really important for me. I needed to find a sense of community. So I started trying to seek out and I was fortunate, because one of the things that I quickly learned the summer months prior to starting was the sports and the activities and the athletic program that they had available. And unbeknownst to me, and I don't know how this was missed, but unbeknownst to me, apparently there was reach out. And when I was in college, you know, email wasn't a really big thing, I remember typing my college application on a typewriter, if any folks out there know what that, know what that is, and being super excited when white out was a part of a typewriter, electronic typewriter, typewriter experience. And what I quickly learned is that there was opportunity for open calls and lo and behold, next thing I knew, it one of the things that I loved doing the most in high school that brought great memories, because it was part of my father's life as young as I can remember was every Sunday being, if it wasn't church, it was being on the soccer field. And so one of the things that I immediately took advantage of was the women's soccer program at the University that I attended, and I was fortunate to have a group of individuals that had similar interests and hobbies and drive and found joy right of the sport, and it was reminiscent of my growing up days of spending my weekends at the soccer Park. And so that was my experience, my first year as being actively involved, and I went. Of the things that I vividly remember that was really neat for me is one of the very first games that we did in the pre League season was out in Chicago. So you can imagine my excitement. And I say that because it was my first time ever getting on an airplane. So when I had the chance for the first time ever to get on an airplane and visit this other area that I've never visited before. I was like baby in a candy store. I was super excited about the fact that not only was I going to get to spend the night somewhere different, but I was going to have the chance to have this experience with the people who have I built a community with which were my teammates, and get to see another part of this grand world that we live in, outside of the community that I was familiar with. And it was just exciting. It was, it was a neat experience. And although I was nervous of it, I'm like, Okay, I had this confidence of like, all right, this plain thing is not so bad I'm seeing and how this all works. And I think I could possibly do this again. And I remember sharing the experience and being so excited. And if you've ever visited Chicago, I can confirm some of the best pizza in town.

Matt Markin  
And let's say we fast forward to now. You're at CSUSB. You're the director of EOP. What does that all entail? Of your responsibilities to CSUSB as the director of EOP?

Veronica Ramirez Amerson  
You know, there's this running tagline that a lot of the EOP directors, if folks don't know, there's an EOP program at every California State University. We have 23 campuses, and one of our last campuses implemented an EOP program not too long ago, which was super exciting. So we have a EOP program at all CSU campuses. And one of the taglines that we say is that opportunity is our middle name. EOP does stand for Educational Opportunity Program, and I really think that that really underscores a lot of a lot of what we do, and is reminiscent of what our what our mission is, and what our goals are, and what we're hoping to accomplish. It has a lot of history, and so if folks haven't had the chance to learn about the history of EOP, I urge you, for any students, staff, faculty that are listening, or other community members, urge you to take a look at it. Google it, visit our EOP history website. It's also listed on the Cal state.edu website. Every campus has a unique history, but overall, the theme is the same, and there's a lot of connection that folks don't realize regarding the implementation of EOP and what was going on in our society at the time, and a lot of things that are still going on in our in our local community, and some of the challenges that many populations have to deal with, but one of the responsibilities as the director of EOP, or any director of EOP, is to focus on access. And so we really have these different pillars that we focus on. One is providing access to higher education to underserved communities and populations. The other thing that we focus on is making sure that we have a comprehensive student support services program, and so it's not only about giving access to students and doing outreach in the community and recruiting students so they're aware of the opportunities that are available in higher education, but once they are here, because majority of our students, almost over 90% of them, are first generation students, is helping them navigate the application process, exposing them to what's available as far as resources are concerned, providing transitional experiences for them, orienting them to the university. And once they're orienting them is once we get them here, is really staying true and committed to building a rapport with the student from coin of entry all the way through graduation. And I think that's one thing that is unique about our program, is that once you're a part of our program, we work with you from your first year and every year thereafter. Granted, we do a lot of intervention, because our focus then at that point is, once you have access, is to retain you. So that's what we focus on, is our is our retention efforts, and of course, the ultimate goal is that the students that we serve meet our graduation thresholds and then move on to whatever they find to be what they identify as their success. Right? Because success could mean so many different things to different individuals, whether that's going. Going on to graduate post baccalaureate program, directly into career field, a paid internship, whatever that may be. And so we really focus on providing a space where we have trained professionals that could focus on the whole student. So if we're not out in the community, sharing what we do, then you find us here in our office, supporting students through a number of things. It could be academic advising, it could be personal counseling, dealing with crisis, providing basic needs, financial aid, literacy, pretty comprehensive. There's a list of services. But I think ultimately, if you ask me, What is my responsibility? I think it's late. There's layers to it, right? It's not only being a constant visionary, because I think there's always a shift in who is our most vulnerable population, right, that is underserved, and that changes sometimes. If you would have asked EOP folks 50 years ago who those sub populations were, there would be some some mirroring, right, because some of those same populations still need comprehensive support, and I think that's why it's important to have programs like ours in place at higher ed institutions. But also there's shifts in that things change. I think in the 20 years that I've been here at this institution, what I've seen an immense increase on is making sure that we are formalizing direct services for students that are unhoused, students that are undocumented students who have foster care experience. There's such a variation. And I think as time goes on and there's more practices and interventions that are put in place and resources and people share those best practices, we may find 10 years from now that there's another underserved community of folks. And so I think our job as directors is to be at the forefront and identifying what populations those are, and using innovative practices to ensure that they also have access to university environments and get the support that they need and get assistance to make it to whatever personal or career goals that they may have.

Matt Markin  
Yeah, and I can attest to a lot of what you said as both as a former EOP student, and also I say former, but I always know, like you always tell everyone once EOP always yes, yes, oh yes. I mean, I feel like I really got served in terms of every need that that I had, and even things I didn't think I needed. And I'm like, wow, okay, I'm glad that this was brought up, and I really felt supported by the EOP counselors, by the whole EOP office, and then also getting to work in EOP after I graduated. And you were my boss, and a great boss, by the way. So thank you.

Veronica Ramirez Amerson  
Thank you, Matt, you were a wonderful employee. And you know what I have to say? It really warms my heart to hear you say that, because I always tease alumni when I talk to them, or even students now, they're always saying like you always do, or your team always does, so much, like, what can I do? And I always tell them I said you could do three things. One is, we want to see you walk that graduation stage because we get just as much joy seeing you than you. Then you get giving getting that diploma. The second thing I always say is be proud of the community that you you came from, right? Be proud. Don't forget the community you came from. And then the third thing is, always, you know, paying it forward is what I share, oftentimes too. Even when years go on, many of us, you know, become successful with the hard work and the time that we've put in, and success, like I mentioned before, can mean so many different things to individuals. And I think one thing that's always important is that we have to remember that we started off from some and the most important thing that we can do is just help others. Because when we help others that come from similar experiences, lived experiences and communities, and really does make an instrumental impact and imprint on generations sometimes. And so, you know, I do say, if I had a nickel or a dime for every time a student says, if it wasn't for EOP, I'd be a gazillionaire for it by now, but I hearing it. I heard it after two years of employment, after five years after I'm here now, 20 years later, and I just had the pleasure, even right before this, to meet up off campus with one of our alumni who graduated, oh gosh, maybe six, seven years ago. He finished his master's degree, and he wanted to meet up, and we were talking about an upcoming speaking engagement, and him pursuing his doctoral degree, and it just brought me such joy, and honestly, tears to my eyes, because I'm like, wow, this really is full circle. I remember this young man starting off as a 17 year old student from the community in our Summer Bridge Program, and then seeing everything that he's accomplished and what he's up to now, and him sitting across from me now as a, as a, as a grown man about to be a father, and now pursuing his doctoral degree, to say, you know, what can I do for you? And I don't think that happens all the time, and it just warms my heart, because when people are so willing to give, I think it really is, as human beings, we're willing to give with no questions asked, when, when we feel like we've received so much, right? And it's not always monetary, it's really just love and support.

Matt Markin  
And maybe I'll combine this question a lot of times, it's always we get asked like, what are tips that you have for students? What are tips that you know for success? And as you mentioned, success is different for everyone. But are there any general tips that you have for students? Or even if it's like exploring interests early on, what advice can you give to students?

Veronica Ramirez Amerson  
Yeah, that's a great question. I think, you know, even when I if I reflect back to my days, there's things that I was courageous enough, you know, to do, there's things that I observed, and then there's things that I just stumbled across. And I think that's usually the experience right, as a brand new college student, sometimes even first generation student. When you set foot on campus, you know what you know and you don't know what you don't know. And sometimes it's a it's a interaction that you have with a faculty member or or a peer, a neighbor in the residence halls, maybe a super a supervisor, if your student assistant or work or work study student, or maybe it's something that you notice around campus. I think one tip that I would always share with students is it's is to is to be courageous. Be courageous to explore and try something new. One of the beautiful things I think about a college journey is you get to flourish as a student. And I think that's one of the things that brings me a lot of joy, is when I see some of these young folks that we work with start off, some of them transfer students, some of them as first time freshmen. And you see, you see, slowly but surely, some of their interests changing, or the interest that they already had, or the passion they already have flourishing because they found a community that really nurtures that. And so one tip absolutely that I would give to a college student is to be courageous. Another tip that I would give is to not be afraid to ask for help. Often, what I find with first gen students is that we, if you're so accustomed, oftentimes, to being a giver or hanging on to things or doing things on your own. A survivor, to some extent, it's easy just to continue to navigate that way. And what I always, often find myself telling students when I'm meeting with them and they're at the end of their rope, where they're thinking, okay, maybe this is not for me, and I feel like I don't have any other option but to potentially stop it's it's really honing in and exploring with the student and asking them, you know, what have you engaged in? You know, what steps have you taken? Because sometimes it's just about awareness, and so why I say in addition to being courageous and also not being afraid to ask for help, is I think it's important for students to know that you don't have to do this alone. There's many CSUSB employees, and it's it could be faculty, it could be staff, it could be someone you know from down the hall, or someone you bump into that you see every day as you're crossing certain buildings, connecting with individuals, asking for help, is one of the best tips that I can I can give to a student, because having those interactions with individuals sometimes will lead to some beautiful things, or some knowledge that is attainable and accessible that'll open up a new world for you. Because whether that could be getting academic support right, familiarizing yourself with academic support services, whether that is connecting with organizations and clubs that you can partake in. So you can continue to spread your support network or your peer network, and explore different interests and things that you may be passionate about. But if I think of those things, it would be to be courageous, not be afraid to ask for help and to end it and to get and get get engaged. It's so easy, especially as a student who maybe lives close by, to just come to campus, go to your class and go home or and I get it, many of our students are balancing work life school, but if there's opportunity for you to be engaged, it doesn't have to be every week, but maybe make sure you make time to go to an event and get exposed to all the wonderful things that CSUSB has to offer, because there's such a diversity amongst the opportunities and the events and workshops that take place here. 

Matt Markin  
I love all those tips, and I think connected to that, and actually segues right into the next question that I have for you is campus resources, other departments. You know, I'm sure when you're when your EOP counselors are meeting with students, when you're meeting with students, you're sharing a lot of the different resources that CSUSB can offer. So I guess you can take it any number of ways. You know, if you wanted to. Are there any departments or resources aside from like you were mentioning, academic resources that you would want to share with students, or resources that you often inform students about when you're meeting with them?

Veronica Ramirez Amerson  
Yeah, because we always take the approach of making sure that we want to be able to touch the whole student? I think it's really important. If we think about, okay, students are here to be students, right? There's a goal in mind, and that goal is to earn the Baccalaureate degree. So one of the things that we often underscore is those academic support services programs. So, you know, it just behooves me to start off with that. I think it's really critical for students to make sure that they are aware that these resources are free. I always love to underscore that it's free. It's free take advantage of it. So one of the things that I often regularly encourage and nudge students to do is seek out the free tutoring support that's available. Understand what supplemental instruction is embedded tutoring, and partake in that. The more and more exposure that we get, I think in really grasping and understanding the subject matter content that we're taking, I think that builds a student's confidence and like, Okay, I think I got this and let me try again, and let me figure this out and feel comfortable asking for help in those spaces. So I can't stress enough for students to make sure they familiarize themselves with these academic support services that are available throughout the campus community. Get involved. If there's an opportunity for you to receive mentoring, that's a fantastic thing. You have upper division and other peers that have gone through experiences that may be similar to some of the scenarios that students are experiencing now. So being a part of those peer networks, I think, is critical and important, and then there's so much to be involved in, I think also students understanding that when there's a need that arises, being familiar that we have a basic needs department on campus, being familiar with that we have mental health services here on campus, which is critical, also for student success, if they're experiencing any matters that they want to you know, understand more about whether it's learning techniques, coping our caps department does such a wonderful job if students have not familiarized themselves with the individual and group sessions that they have available in workshops, I urge you to take a look at those, and I think that's critical for our own self care and well being, because in order for a student, I believe, to be successful in the classroom, they need to be okay and in a good space. And being okay to be in a good space means, you know, stable housing, food resources, mindset, right? The other critical resource that I think is important for students to be aware of is our services for students with disabilities. If they're students in need of accommodations, they do a wonderful job, too, of connecting students with the support that they need so they can be academically successful, so they are aware of what their rights are here on campus and in parts, to accommodations. And then, of course, there's a plethora of ways to get just have some fun. Be involved with clubs and organizations. Be involved with campus events, with community engagement, service learning opportunities, with research, so much opportunity for students to do research. And the best thing, I think, a student. Can do in building confidence and getting exposure and experience is partaking in those research opportunities as well. Because when you're in it and you're actually becoming a practitioner in the work, there's just something that happens to your spirit and your confidence level, right? And so I really would encourage students to take full advantage of that and also explore what opportunities the university has for engagement outside of the CSUSB community, and take advantage. I don't hear as often, sometimes students taking advantage of our study abroad program or exchange program. And there's so many things that students can be exposed to when it comes to that too. Hey, it could be one of the students first time, like my experience, you know, getting on a plane to go somewhere for the first time, and that's a beautiful thing, because your eyes just open up to how much more there is out there.

Matt Markin  
And then with the time remaining, our last question I have for you is, you know, you talked about, kind of growing up, going into college. A little bit about your experience. Can you talk about, you know, have you had any mentors that for you, that you had throughout your college journey?

Veronica Ramirez Amerson  
I'm going to say if I've been identified by a very first one mentor that started right before college, and that's what actually led me into the career that I'm in. I had a high school counselor that wouldn't give up on me. He just wouldn't, and we still have a relationship to this day, the man has been to every pivotal moment in my life. He was at our wedding, at our him and his wife at our baby shower. It continues to be an integral part of my network. And he just what. He wouldn't give up on me. He checked in on me regularly when I had tough days. He empowered me to have confidence that I can do, you know, AP work, and it was the it was something I've never heard of, and challenged me in my critical thinking skills and helped me navigate things. And so that he started off as my very first mentor. I think one thing that I really admired about him that was a takeaway for me is the fact that he was forever inclusive of my family to these decisions. And sometimes that sounds that approach that most folks takes, right? They just work with the student, but I think he understood that it and ultimately was going to be a family decision, and that's what sometimes folks don't realize when you're working with students that do have involved families, that's one thing to consider, but oftentimes we have to also realize that sometimes there's different lived experiences, and some students don't have families to land softly on. And so I think he was forever inclusive in the type of ways that he approached things. So I remember watching him and observing this and thinking, finally, one day, I had the courage to ask him, How do I do your job? How do I do your job? What did what do I need to do, to do what you do? And sure enough, he took full advantage of that and started talking about college, right, and all the credentials and degrees that he needed to get to start that journey. And he'll forever be a wonderful mentor, and he has been somebody who's made a huge impact in my career, and that's how I decided to pursue the counseling profession, advisor, mentor, whatever you want to call me, but I wanted to make an imprint and an impact on young people's lives in my community, and that's why I'm here and still here 20 years later.

Matt Markin  
I think it's a perfect way to end this interview, and hopefully yodes, you will find a mentor like Veronica had with her high school counselor, or you might find a mentor, just like Veronica herself. So Veronica, thank you so much for being on the podcast today and getting to celebrate with us with episode 75.

Veronica Ramirez Amerson  
Thank you, Matt, always proud of our EOP alum.