LETTER TO THE COMMITTEE

To My Committee, 

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I first begin with expressing my immense gratitude for each of your contributions to my academic, personal, and professional journey. Your presence, wisdom, and support throughout this journey have been anchors. Thank you for your guidance, joy, and care. 

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As I reflect on my journey in the Student Development Administration (SDA) program, I have a deep appreciation for the opportunities of integrated reflection, gained knowledge, and the community of care I have encountered. I have seen myself and the students I serve in the theories, frameworks, and models I have learned to be central to my pedagogy and praxis as an educator. From Gloria Anzaldúa's Borderlands Theory to Kimberlé Crenshaw's Theory of  Intersectionality, I have been sustained by the tireless work of scholars and academics across the field utilizing scholarship as a means of critical, radical liberation and love. Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Eduction (SDAD 5910) taught me about love as action and a means of accountability. The American Community College (SDAD  5590) taught me about the power of data, research, and evaluations as a means to provide for students' basic needs. 

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In addition to my academic growth, I have flourished as a leader throughout my time in SDA. Through my internship with Kennedy Catholic's inaugural Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), I found mentorship and guidance in Derek Sparks - may he rest in peace. His legacy of servant leadership, tenacity, grit, and culture of community, have changed my life. At the close of my internship Derek encouraged me to apply for a position as a Director of DEI, a role I convinced myself I was not ready for. Yet, with his mentorship, a community of encouragement, and the tools gained from the SDA program, I now hold the position of Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. I am forever grateful for the experience of support and care offered to me as I continue to grow into my ever-evolving role as a leader.

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I have been a full-time educator (teaching through a pandemic, navigating hybrid and remote modalities no less) and full-time graduate student throughout this process. While it has been an incredibly challenging balancing act, I have found that my ability to apply theory to practice in real time has transformed the way I view myself as a professional practitioner. Each course, assignment, project, and presentation has had implications on my professional practice. I have become a better resource and support to my students, community I hold, and loved ones. The SDA program has enabled me to sharpen my skillsets and build upon my funds of knowledge, while also pushing me to lean into my areas of growth. Through this work I have become a critical, intentional, and mission integrated professional. 

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These experiences inform my current and future practice. I am committed to my continuous formation, particularly in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. I will continue to utilize a critical lens of interrogation and equity-mindedness, raising questions about the systems of inequity that are perpetuated within educational systems. I will continue to practice integrated reflection as a professional practice. I will continue to center student voice and make it my life's work to journey alongside young people demanding a paradigm shift across academic institutions where true belonging is upheld by frameworks of accountability. 

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I am grateful for my journey in the SDA program. I have been afforded the opportunity to freedom-dream, re-remember, and find community through integrated theory to practice, care for the whole person, and integrated reflection. My Jesuit education has continuously reiterated cura personalis, where I have been educated, crafted, held, seen, and celebrated as a whole being. I wish to carry this approach with me, catering to the whole student. I have been blessed by this program and I am excited to answer this vocational call! 

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With Light,
Sofia A. Lopez