In spring 2017, I attended my first American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) conference as a graduate fellow in Irvine, California. I was halfway through my fourth year of doctoral studies and looking ahead to my quickly approaching dissertation proposal defense on the spatial effects of Latinx migrants in peri-urban new immigrant destinations in the South. I yearned to meet other Latinx doctoral students with similar backgrounds.

During the graduate fellow introductions, I realized I had never been in a full Latinx room in an academic setting. I was used to being the ‘only’ or the ‘one of a few.’ Sitting in that large suite made me wonder what it would be like to maintain this feeling beyond the annual conference and the walls of the Hotel Irvine. Naturally, my life experience influenced why I wanted to participate in realizing that goal. I grew up in East Los Angeles, an unincorporated jurisdiction that is home to many poor, working-class and single-parent immigrant families and one of the nation’s largest and most established metropolitan Mexican immigrant populations. Like many minority students, I am the first person in my family to benefit from higher education. 
The graduate fellows I met illustrated that the end goal is not solely about advancing our own research — it’s also about making sure we have the tools to mentor the next generation of underrepresented minority scholars. This charge is especially apparent in institutions of higher education where general discussions about underrepresented populations do not necessarily translate to recruitment and retention of diverse students and faculty members. In fact, my previous experience with culturally inclusive mentorship has shown that students like myself benefit from finding professors they can relate to and depend on for guidance. 
Perhaps the most valuable aspect of my AAHHE experience was the built-in opportunities for peer learning across all levels of the academic spectrum. Pre-doctoral graduate fellows shared words of wisdom on wellness and writing. Junior professors provided tips about life in the academy (and better yet, how to navigate it). Senior scholars reflected on the value of becoming a professor, and how its importance is more critical now than ever before. And my AAHHE mentor shared similar struggles in her own doctoral experience and showed there’s no match for perseverance. The unwavering support from AAHHE members spanned academic disciplines, academic ranks, geography, and ethnic and racial boundaries. 
Overall, my AAHHE experience introduced me to a special family of inclusive scholars and education activists who are not shy about their intentions to transform academia. My involvement with the fellowship has infused me with the energy and genuine friendships necessary to support the completion of my degree. Upon graduating from MIT, I will pursue a career as a tenure-track professor in a humanistic social science department that places an interdisciplinary emphasis on urbanism, ethnicity and policy studies. I am interested in partnering with Hispanic-Serving and other Minority-Serving Institutions to serve both scholarly and applied policy audiences concerned with the future of Latinx and other ethnic minorities in metropolitan areas like my native East L.A. •