DEI Testimonial: Jennifer Perales
I was told by my Dad not to apply for Graduate school, he said that it was a waste of money and what else did I need to prove. It’s funny how sometimes it’s easy to forget what people say toyou, but “what else did I have to prove,” stuck. Maybe, because it was my Dad or maybe because it was not just about proving something.
When you grow up never seeing anyone like you at the table you think things are not possible for you. I KNOW when I applied to the LBJ School of Public Affairs I KNEW I was NEVER going to get in. The LBJ School was the only school I applied to, and it made the idea of being rejected less painful. When I received the notice I was accepted, I cried because I was shocked and happy, all rolled up in the same instance.
When you give in to imposter syndrome, it becomes easy to forget you are worthy of accomplishing the impossible. I was so fortunate to be able to use the DEI offices not as a crutch or a handout, but as a form of building up my own self-esteem, which was nonexistent.
The DEI offices, help students find themselves in a place they feel like they do not belong, or matter. I was able to find myself with the help of the DEI Office, and our amazing JEDI coordinator before the office will have to be cut because of laws like SB 17. This journey of higher education for Latinas with graduate degrees is only 7%, while Latinos/Hispanics make up 40% of the population of Texas. Numbers do not lie. They do show that this state needs to work on bridging the gap between the population and higher education within the state of Texas.
DEI has become a dirty word where in fact it is about inclusivity. I am not sure when or how being inclusive became vulgar. I believe representation matters and we can only do what we can see, so the importance of showing future generations anything is possible is by doing the hard work of DEI offices, despite them being outlawed in this state.
Jennifer Perales, First-Generation Hispanic Master of Public Affairs Student from Houston, MPaff ‘23 and Co-Chair of the Barbara Jordan National Forum and Documentary Filmmaker Fellow for the Latinos in Heritage Conservation
