Jannette Sandoval

... the SSU Mini-Corps program... taught me how to grow as a passionate leader ... finding my strengths and weaknesses in the educational setting as a future bilingual teacher...

My name is Jannette Sandoval and I’m Mexican-American. I’m a first generation college student from my family to pursue a higher education. I was born and raised in a small town called San Pablo, CA in the East Bay. I’m a recent SSU graduate with a major in environmental studies and a concentration in environmental education. After receiving my B.A. degree, I decided to take a year off and applied for the master’s program to further my education and pursue a degree in education with a concentration in curriculum, teaching, and learning to foster growth and apply the practices for my future students. At the age of 8, my heart always had a passion for teaching and to one day become an aspiring role model for students. My biggest goal is to become a bilingual elementary teacher in a dual immersion school and strive to continue my education down the road and make a huge impact to the community.

During my sophomore year of 2015, I was a HUB/CORE intern, part of a non-profit organization that provides many resources for support and experiences surrounded by people that help me understand the network of relationships to bring this center to the world. In the same year, I was part of the JUMP community service club that provides a variety of programs such as the Redwood Empire Food Bank, beach cleanups, SSU garden, the backpack program, after-school tutoring, etc. In September 2016, I have volunteered as a Cal SERVES mentor in an after school program at Meadow View Elementary school by helping and tutoring students. Through the UNIV 238 Foundations of leadership course, it led me to get out of my comfort zone and be self-confident to play different roles as a student to serve the SSU community.

In October 2016, I took on a big role in the Mini-Corps program that is connected through SSU. Through Mini-Corps, I have learned to grow as a passionate leader finding my strengths and weaknesses as a teacher assistant working with K-12th grade students. In addition, Mini-Corps has impacted me as a future teacher and has provided me with assistance to prepare for the world of teaching. Through Mini-Corps, I have faced challenges as a tutor but learned to overcome them. One of them was working with high school students through an annual summer program called Adelante that pushes students to keep moving forward with their studies by earning their credits to graduate, and the majority of these students are English second language learners that are struggling to write and speak the English language academically. In my position, I work with first-generation, low-income and historically disadvantaged students’ in-group and individual instruction. To add on, my colleagues and I host an annual bilingual conference called, “Tu Eres la Diferencia,” hosted by the PUERTA project at Sonoma State. This is one of the biggest roles I had to present for high school students and community college students by presenting a message to empower them to become future teachers. It was a rewarding experience for me because I had the opportunity to share my experiences and compelling stories through my journey as a student.

As an incoming freshman, I faced challenges in a predominately white institution because the demographics of diversity were very low. I experienced culture shocks, but in this case, it didn’t hold me back in continuing my undergraduate career. One of the biggest challenges I had to face is managing responsibilities, academics, work, extracurricular activities, and a social life. As a full-time undergrad student, commuting an hour led me to stay committed and take full responsibility as a student. The hour commute didn’t stop my involvement on campus and my part in SSU extracurricular activities.

A positive experience was the UNIV 238 Foundations of leadership course, which led me to get out of my comfort zone and be self-confident to play different roles as a student to serve the SSU community. I have belonged to the HUB’s Women of Color Collective Group for two years. Being part of that group gave me the opportunity to be a rising leader for the community. As I glanced around the group, I spotted young women with distinct cultural identities and ethnic backgrounds with a blend of Mexican-African American descent, Indian, Filipina-Spanish descent, Chinese- Indian-African-American, and Latin Americans. Once I looked at these diverse faces, I felt like I found my place where I belonged. Reflecting back on my undergraduate years and now currently as a graduate student, I am beyond grateful to have been given wonderful opportunities at Sonoma State that have enabled me to foster and become the person I want to be. Being part of SSU helped me pursue my fulfilling dreams and motivate me to strive for what I can accomplish. I always advise future SSU students to take advantage of the resources and opportunities given to you because at the end, this pushed me to keep moving forward and contributed to my life-long goals.