{"id":3043,"date":"2016-10-03T15:40:51","date_gmt":"2016-10-03T19:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter\/?page_id=3043"},"modified":"2016-10-03T15:40:51","modified_gmt":"2016-10-03T19:40:51","slug":"samantha-alcala-11","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2016\/profiles\/samantha-alcala-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Samantha Alcala \u201911"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Samantha<\/a>
Samantha Alcala \u201911<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DEGREES: B.S. in educational studies and psychology; M.A. in sociology and education, Teachers College, Columbia University, expected spring 2018<\/p>\n

JOB TITLE: Senior program manager, college success at iMentor<\/p>\n

FAVORITE TRINITY MEMORY: I had a great time in Trinidad with Professor Alison Draper\u2019s first-year seminar on science and asthma in Hartford and Trinidad. It motivated me to study abroad and to make travel a priority in my life.<\/p>\n

What do you do in your role at iMentor? <\/strong>I facilitate college readiness relationships between mentor\/mentee pairs at a public bilingual (English\/Spanish) high school for recent immigrants. I teach weekly classes where the pairs exchange online communication and organize monthly events for their in-person check-ins.<\/p>\n

What drew you to the field of education? <\/strong>I have admired my teachers\u2019 work for as long as I can remember, but I knew I did not want to teach traditional school subjects. I did not plan to study education even though I have enjoyed visits to my cousin\u2019s third-grade classroom since I was in the third grade. I learned two things at Trinity that finally drew me to the field: 1) I could pursue an educational studies major that isn\u2019t a teacher certification program but an interdisciplinary approach to understand education; and 2) I earned a merit-based scholarship, but people who share similar backgrounds and experiences as me do not always get equal access to resources and opportunities based on their merit.<\/p>\n

How did your time at Trinity affect your career choice?<\/strong> Trinity provided me the space and time to reflect on my identity and to build more self-confidence. My campus leadership roles and educational studies work in Hartford helped me understand my position as a Puerto Rican and Venezuelan New Yorker removed from my comfort zone. I became more appreciative of Posse\u2019s role in my experience as I gained a better understanding of the American education system; college access and readiness work has become one of my main interests in the field.<\/p>\n

To what do you most look forward as the recipient of Columbia University Teachers College\u2019s first full-tuition fellowship for Posse Foundation alumni seeking master\u2019s degrees? <\/strong>Months have passed since I received my \u201csecond Posse call,\u201d and I still question if this is real. I am grateful and excited to return to the classroom as a student rather than as an educator so I can reflect on my work these past five years. I am also excited to conduct research with leaders in the field and to collaborate with peers who have similar ambitions.<\/p>\n

What do you hope to do after receiving your master\u2019s? <\/strong>My main goal is to provide resources and opportunities to underrepresented youth in New York City. I am interested in a few schools and organizations but will keep my options open to all possibilities. It\u2019s the only way I\u2019ve gotten to this point in my life.<\/p>\n

What was the most memorable course you took at Trinity? Why? <\/strong>The introductory educational studies course \u201cAnalyzing Schools\u201d \u2014 it set the foundation for the rest of my time at Trinity. I still have the course reader and recently used it to plan a discussion on diversity and inclusion at my office. I also loved taking \u201cBasic Acting\u201d \u2014 a fun and sometimes terrifying experience that provided invaluable, transferable skills.<\/p>\n

Was there a Trinity professor who was particularly influential? If so, who was it, and why? <\/strong>Several Trinity faculty and staff were influential, but I must acknowledge Professor Jack Dougherty. He helped me realize my potential to push myself further than I imagined, even throughout my grad school application process. Jack\u2019s investment in his students\u2019 success is as admirable as his investment in the Hartford education system. I aspire to use the lessons from his course work and his example as an educator in my own classroom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DEGREES: B.S. in educational studies and psychology; M.A. in sociology and education, Teachers College, Columbia University, expected spring 2018 JOB<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"parent":1468,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-full-width.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3043"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3043\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}