Written by LLuliana Alonso, Assistant Professor, Teacher Education; San Diego State University, Imperial Valley; AAHHE Faculty Fellow, 2020

Being selected as a 2020 Faculty Fellow in the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) during my first year on the tenure track was critical in my development as a scholar. As a first-generation student, mentors have been key to my success. But prior to attending the AAHHE conference, my conception of mentorship relied solely on years of experience with mentors at my institutions, such as dissertation committee members. My experience at AAHHE reshaped my understanding of mentorship and expanded my notion of who can be a mentor and how mentorship happens; it elucidated our power as a community and affirmed that “we are who we’ve been waiting for.” There were three types of mentoring practices I found helpful and hope to continue to nurture.

Intergenerational discipline support: This type of mentorship occurs when senior and junior scholars in your discipline provide advice and direction on how to navigate academia. They share strategies and explain policies and procedures on the tenure and promotion process. Although I did not know many of the fellows, I recognized familiar faces – colleagues with whom I shared a prior faculty advisor. Being in this space felt like an intergenerational family reunion. Reconnecting and catching up with my academic tias/os and primas/os was an embrace reminding me I am not alone in this journey. This type of mentorship means showing up for those who come before and after you. 

Authentic care and social support: This refers to a mentorship that authentically and respectfully honors our identities and lived experiences. These are reciprocal mentoring relationships rooted and sustained in authentic cariño. A final conference activity for fellows involved a candid, powerful and insightful dialogue on first-generation experiences in the academy. By the end of the conference, I felt affirmed in the struggles, sacrifices and triumphs I have lived through as a first-generation scholar. The authentic care and social support mentorships developed during the time spent in community. This mentorship practice authentically values overall well-being over academic success; we look deeper within ourselves and embrace connections not for what we can gain but for what is already there – authentic cariño. Through this practice, we recognize ourselves as an intricate part in sustaining reciprocal relationships rooted in love. 

Writing and publishing: This type of mentorship is the practice of being in and building community around the process of writing, creating space to honor, nurture and develop our ideas. Immediately after the conference ended, we formed a writing group. Being part of a weekly discussion where we think and write, as well as provide feedback and guidance on publishing, has been instrumental in nurturing my scholar identity. The space affirms our intellectual contributions. This type of mentorship offers an opportunity to step into our power as scholars and nurture our voices. 

The AAHHE conference provided a space for me to connect with scholars and helped me see my colleagues as mentors. More importantly, the conference was a reminder to first-generation scholars to remain steady in our paths and continue to aim to be the mentors we’ve been waiting for.