Women and Gender Studies is
about making sense of the real world
and making real change.
1. What were your undergraduate and graduate programs of study?
I received my bachelor’s in 2020 from the University of Nebraska, where I majored in Film Studies and minored in English, Spanish, and Women and Gender Studies. I received my master’s in 2024 from George Mason University where I was a part of the Interdisciplinary Studies program with a concentration in Women and Gender Studies.
2. What work are you doing now?
I am currently serving as the Assistant Director for the Student Transition Empowerment Program within George Mason’s First-Gen+ Center. My work mostly revolves around helping first-generation college students like me, successfully transition into college.
More specifically, I run a summer-bridge program called the Student Transition Empowerment Program, that allows first-generation students take a college course, meet with campus resources, get personalized mentorship, build community and a strong sense of self, the summer before they start college.
I began working with the program and first-generation students as a graduate assistant and became passionate about working with students and creating space for students who are often overlooked in higher education.
3. How do you see your degree and coursework in Women and Gender Studies influencing the work you do now?
I think my coursework greatly influenced the work that I do now. Women and Gender Studies allowed me to critically examine barriers to success and survival that are often overlooked or dismissed by systems that we all participate in. It also introduced to the complexities of identity and provided me with the tools I need to help empower and validate others.
I find this extremely helpful in my own work because I work with a wide range of students and they each bring complexity and individual experiences that guides their experience and brings new meaning to such a broad identity, like First-Generation. My course work has given me the language to speak to student experiences, the understanding required to provide care, and the theory to make sense of complex real life issues.
4. Is there a WGST class that you took that really stands out as something quite impactful for you?
The first class I took at George Mason WMST630 Feminist Theories. For me, this class was super impactful because I was consuming so many ideas, arguments, and theories that I had never seen before. While the class was challenging, I will never forget reading Chandra Mohanty’s “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses”. I remember reading it so slowly and making so many notes in the margins that I could barely read all of it.
As someone who came to graduate school to try and understand how and why Southeast Asian women like my mother are represented in media and television, I finally felt like someone was finally trying to help me answer the questions I had been asking myself and my undergraduate film professors to no avail. Mohanty’s essay laid the foundation for my journey in graduate school and still guides the work I do today outside of film and media.
5. If someone is considering pursuing a degree in Women and Gender Studies, what advice do you have for them?
My advice for someone who is considering pursuing a degree in Women and Gender Studies, would be to come with questions and curiosity. Women and Gender Studies is about making sense of the real world and making real change. It is important for the field to bring your experiences, your questions, and your passions to your studies.
Come ready to talk about your experience and passions, be prepared to challenge your own beliefs, and bring empathy and compassion to each space you enter.
April 30, 2025