George's Jungle Podcast EP:1 Being a minority in college

The podcast episode discusses the experiences of George and Gabby as Latino minority students at Rutgers University. They talk about facing discrimination, the cultural differences they encountered, and the challenges in the education system. They also mention how organizations like Alpha have helped them find a sense of community and support. They discuss imposter syndrome and how it can be overcome. They mention that the Hispanic high school dropout rate has decreased and that more Hispanics are enrolling in college. They express their desire to succeed and be educated. Well hello everyone, my name is George and welcome to George's Jungles Podcast. Sadly, we cannot have my fellow friends Jose and Eddie B with me, but we have the next best thing and if anything the most prestigious person we can get on the show, her name is Gabby Hernandez and I'm going to let her introduce herself real quick. Hello, my name is Gabby, a quick little fun fact about me, I go to Rutgers University, I'm studying Supply Chain Management, I'm Cuban and Peruvian and yeah, I'm glad to be here. Yes sir, and yeah, just a quick little run down about myself, my name is George Vazquez, I'm from New Brunswick, New Jersey, currently at Rutgers University pursuing a Communications degree with a specialty in Public Relations and yeah, I'm also Latino, I'm Mexican-American, I've been through, you know, the works of Rutgers, I'm currently involved with Alpha Tassa, just to name a few and yeah, I can't wait to get my podcast started and one of the first things I want to start with is the topic of today is basically, you know, life as a Latino minority, me and Gabby are of course minorities, but as well as not just that, we're also Latinos, we're currently at college, studying here at the big old Rutgers University and yeah, Gabby, one of the first things I want to talk to you about is have you faced any, let's start with one of the first things is dealing with discrimination as a Latino minority student here at Rutgers, have you faced anything like that, Gabby? Yeah, so I feel like I have, I feel like anyone who has, who is a minority, going to Rutgers is a predominantly white college, so I feel like everyone has experiences at some point, but something that has helped with that is being in organizations that are for Latinos, such as Alpha, which we are both a part of. Yeah, sure. Do you feel like Alpha has helped you in this sense? I feel like Alpha has helped me, it's found my sense of community here at Rutgers, but not only like clubs such as Alpha, clubs like MASA, the Mexican American Student Association, which helps identify my Mexican roots, and I get to express it to the Rutgers community, you know, stuff like that helps a lot. Now dealing with the topic of discrimination here at Rutgers, I myself haven't faced it, but have I heard many stories here? Yes, I have. I know it's a reoccurring thing. However, it's a reoccurring thing here with the minority groups. I've heard stories from, let's say, the Arabic community. I've heard stories from the Hispanic communities. I haven't heard stories from the Caucasian community, but I know it's a real thing, and it's a situation that, you know, that just happens, you know. Life as a Latino minority at college that's predominantly white can be challenging in many ways, as Latino students may feel like they are part of a small, marginalized group with a larger community campus. Now, you know, these are some of the struggles, I guess, one of the first struggles as a Latino minority could deal with. You know, Latino students may face several forms of discrimination, bias, prejudice, based on their race, ethnicity, or culture, such as they may experience such as derogatory comments, racial slurs, microaggressions, and all these types of things as a minority Latino can make us, you know, feel unwelcomed and undervalued. So these are just one of the things, you know, as a minority, especially as a Latino, we have been dealing with. I guess you could agree with me, Gabby, but yeah, I just wanted to get your intake on that. But yeah, overall, I wouldn't say Rutgers is a racist school, but had there been scenarios with this, I would not, you know, discredit it. It has happened, you know. And the next topic I wanted to get to is another, you know, thing they have to go through is, you know, the cultural difference. When I walked in my first time in Rutgers, it was very different, you know. It was different from my hometown of Brunswick. I'm usually around Latinos, and my first class was just fully, you know, not Latinos, Caucasians, predominantly white people, you know. I felt imposter syndrome, one of the first things I've ever felt in my life. Once I came back, because I started college in the COVID era. I hated the COVID era, Gabby. It was trash. But like I was saying, that was one of the first things I've ever felt, the imposter syndrome. And yeah, it's a real thing. I remember all my mentors from Rutgers Future Scholars, everybody, EOF, were telling me you're going to face it. I never believed them. Now I felt it firsthand my sophomore year coming back into Rutgers. So you ever felt something like that, a culture difference, Gabby? In high school, I feel like I haven't experienced cultural differences, especially at Rutgers too. At Rutgers, you definitely have to look for it. If you just go to classes, you'll definitely see more Caucasian people. But if you want to go into more cultural organizations, you have to look for it, word of mouth, social media. And also, something that we do face is imposter syndrome. Yes, sir. So experiencing imposter syndrome can be very challenging, as it can lead to self-doubt, anxiety, and stress. Individuals who experience imposter syndrome may feel like they're constantly on edge, worrying that they will find out or be exposed as not being good enough. But it's very important to remember that imposter syndrome is a common experience, and that many successful people have experienced it at some point in their lives. So by recognizing your feelings, focusing on your strengths, reframing your thinking, practicing self-care, and stuff like seeking support, you can overcome imposter syndrome. Well, adding on, Gabby, have you ever faced imposter syndrome? Or you want me to go first? I can go first. You can go first. All right. So one of the first times I ever felt imposter syndrome was, like, legit the day I walked into class. Nah, it was like two weeks leading into class, because I thought my classes would easily progress into diversity. Well, like, nah, it was just a lot of Caucasian people, I'm not even going to lie. And then I met people. I was applying during that time, my sophomore year, to a lot of business frats, just to get that exposure, to get that experience. But a lot of them have been, like, either Caucasian or a different race, or a different uprising, I guess you could say, that would do, like, yeah, my dad worked here, my dad worked here. And I already worked a couple of internships my high school years, and, you know, coming from a minority city such as New Brunswick, you don't get as much exposure as them. So once I heard that, I felt like, damn, I can't compete with these people. You know, I couldn't, I couldn't, I was, I felt worthless, if that makes sense. I felt underwhelmed. I'm not at par with these fellow Rutgers students. And, you know, I just felt, I felt that impostor syndrome, I'm not going to hold you, it was weird, it was weird. But thankfully I powered through it, you know. Now I'm in clubs such as Alpha, Masa. Now I'm one with myself again, I guess you could say. But Gabby, have you ever experienced the impostor syndrome yet? Yeah, I definitely have, especially because I go to the business school, and in the business school it's very hard to see Latinos in the same class as you. And everyone who is at the business school in my classes, such as managerial accounting or financial accounting, you definitely feel like you're, you definitely feel like you're left out. But something that I did that I found very helpful is that I found students that were in my Alpha organization that were also studying the same major that I am in, and I took the same classes with them. So it made it easier to overcome this, because we were going through it together. We went over impostor syndrome. So yeah, after talking about impostor syndrome, I feel like the next important topic we must discuss about is the education system that many minorities, especially Latinos, face on the reg. I know from my personal experience, my education system from the public schools wasn't as far as, let's say, Piscataway. I remember hearing my colleagues having these types of classes, these types of lessons, et cetera, et cetera, while I was just dumbfounded hearing what I was being told, because I was barely, I barely heard anything. We barely had, we had a couple of AP classes, but nothing added to what I was being told. And yeah, it's just stuff like that I feel like really affects students going into, let's say, for college, for example. One of the biggest topics me and my university peers talk about a lot is how our education system is very bad, but it doesn't let, legit, it doesn't set us up for records. We're almost, our education system is just almost setting us up in a way. We just have to grind. And yeah, that's just one topic I feel like us minority Latinos face is our education system, if you want to add on to that, Gabby. I feel like I face the same thing as well. I went to Edison, and there's a North Edison and South Edison. I went to South Edison, which was Edison High School. And even compared to North Edison, my peers that have, that they go to Rutgers and they went to North Edison, J.P. Stevens has a lot more AP classes, they have a lot more support like education-wise than I had in Edison High School. So I feel like I did, I just face the same thing as well. Blue Edison, we're from Brunswick. But yeah, thank you, Gabby, for that take. It just shows that many different cities and minority cities as well just have different types of forms of education, you know? I don't know if that's a good thing, a bad thing, but from my eyes, I feel like it's a bad thing. However, in better news, from the website Pew Research Center and article Five Facts About Latinos in Education by Jens Manuel Krogstad, he stated that over the past decade the Hispanic high school dropout rate has dropped dramatically, so I feel like that's good. A lot of people associated with Latinos usually say that they just barely make it out in high school, which I've seen firsthand. I've seen people drop out from my high school. Gabby, I have you. So it is a real thing, but it's glad to know that a bunch of Hispanics have stopped dropping out of high school, so that's one up. And another thing is Hispanics are now making big enrolls in college enrollment. As of 2014, 35% of Hispanics have enrolled from the age of 18 to 24 from either a two-year college to a four-year college. It went up from 22% in 1993, a 13% increase, and it's just only getting bigger and bigger as future generations start picking it up and all that. But like I'm saying, education, it's what you can take, and I feel like we are as minorities, especially Latinos, have been taking up that big step and going into college, taking that leap of faith and wanting to exceed our education and running away. Not running away, but trying to be more educated from wherever we are. Like me, I want to be more educated as well as make the family proud. How about you, Gabby? The same thing. The same thing. But yeah, I'm glad. I love seeing Hispanics, especially Latinos, succeed. That's the beauty of it. All right, guys. With that being said, thank you for tuning in with George Jungle's podcast. Thank you for my guest, Gabby Hernandez. Say hello, Gabby. Hello. Thank you for having me. Hopefully you guys took in the information, and hopefully you guys look at the minority Latino topic more seriously. Thank you, guys.