Isabel's Honors Portfolio
2nd Quarter!
Here are some more artifacts that depict my first year in college!
GWSS
I'm aThis artifact is from my GWSS 200 class. It is a picture of the Beauty and the Beast clip when Gaston proposes to Belle. Our assignment was to watch a few clips from Beauty and the Beast and analyze them using a critical lens.
I chose this artifact because it represents how influential this class has been in my intellectual journey thus far. Beauty and the Beast was my favorite Disney movie growing up, but it wasn't until taking this class that noticed the sexism it idealized. I wonder how I had watched this so many times without seeing its harmful message. Gaston is degrading towards Belle, objectifying her, and on the verge of assaulting her, but Disney plays it off as harmless flattery. This class is making me question society's intentions (through media) as they have a huge impact on future generations' ideologies. I am appreciative to this class for opening my eyes. I plan on continuing to work on analyzing through a critical lens. wn text and edit me. It's easy.
Housing Disparities
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"Not only are Latines people less likely to be granted loans to become homeowners, but they are also regularly denied the ability to refinance their homes. “Only about a quarter of Latino homeowners and a fifth of Black homeowners refinanced their mortgages in 2019, compared with a third of white homeowners” (Sukumaran, 2021, np). Income inequity paired with high mortgages, being less likely to be able to lower them, and higher income losses lead to the inability to keep up with payments. “50% of Latino homeowners lost income by the first quarter of this year, the highest among any ethnic group. As a result, 16% of Latino homeowners were behind on their mortgage payments in early 2021” (Sukumaran, 2021, np). Because Latines people aren’t able to lower their monthly housing payments, when circumstances such as a pandemic occur, they inevitably fall behind on their mortgage.
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https://unidosus.org/blog/2021/10/28/latinos-lead-homeownership-but-systemic-barriers-remain/
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The National Housing Act of 1934 - redlining
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Many housing disparities that Latines people currently experience originated in 1934 with Franklin D. Roosevelt’s passing of the National Housing Act. This act “...explicitly supported withholding home loans to people living in neighborhoods with larger populations of Black and non-Black Latino residents” (Latinos lead homeownership, but systemic barriers remain, 2021, np). In the 1960s, the National Housing Act became known as redlining. By not having access to loans, Latines people were unable to buy homes, nevertheless homes with high appreciation. “Federal Housing Administration’s home lending guidelines ranked ‘Negroes and Mexicans’ as the riskiest and least worthy of credit” to justify their discriminatory National Housing Act (Latinos lead homeownership, but systemic barriers remain, 2021, np)."
In my Honors Western Civilization and Public Policy class, we had an important assignment surrounding Housing Disparities. Each group was tasked with a researching a different demographic, and it's history of experiencing Housing Disparities. My group focused on the Latine community. And I specifically focused on the origins of the housing disparities Latine people faced.
This assignment forced me to research the factual history behind the reason people just like my family, Chicanos, Latinos, immigrants, were/are facing perpetual poverty. It cemented my belief that Latino poverty was not due to a "lack of hard work" or "not taking opportunities", but instead caused by a systemic issue. This assignment made me feel validated. It sparked an interest in researching historical events that have unfairly targeted underrepresented groups. Maybe I can have a passion for social science as well as nursing, maybe all of these passions are more interconnected than I had originally thought.
Futsal!
I decided to join a Futsal Intramural team this quarter! I felt like I needed to find a hobby, something to destress which led me to this amazing team. We had so much fun playing together. It was a great way to get active, make friends, have some fun competition, and take care of my mental health. It did help that we were pretty darn good - we got second place (via penalty kicks at the final) in our league! This experience reminded me of the importance of taking care of myself, and how that can positively influence every other part of my life. It turned into something that I would look forward to all week. It was nice to be that excited about something, it definitely helped me get through the Seattle Winter gloom.
Reflection
This quarter was a whirlwind. I definitely had a couple mental breakdowns, but I also had so many wonderful memories and experiences. I feel like I am more a part of a community here now. I joined a club called Relay for Life which has introduced me to some great people, I tapped back into my love of soccer, and I decided I will be pursuing a nursing degree.
While my academics are still a top priority, this quarter I feel like I've grown in a m, which I'm proud of. I am fully committed to my Relay for Life club - we are tabling to spread cancer awareness, and preparing for our big end of year event that our club is named after. It feels self fulfilling to be a part of something so big, I hope ton continue with this club for the rest of my time here at the UW. I'm trying to get out of my comfort zone a little more, pushing myself to make more friends, go to basketball games, take photos, and have fun! I'm trying to get back into reading instead of spending all my spare time on my phone or laptop.
Academically, I feel like I made big strides this quarter. I took a variety of classes - from organic chemistry to gender, women, and sexuality studies, to an Honors class about Western Civilization and Public Policy. And even though they were all starkly different, I loved each one in a different way. I really did like the problem solving that came with Organic Chem, but it didn't alone fulfill my intellectual longing, I would have felt incomplete unless paired with my Social Science courses. The STEM part of me was being challenged simultaneously with the social justice/activism part of me. To me, this was the most perfectly balanced quarter. I learned that I will need to continue feeding both my passions for science and social justice as long as I live. How I will do this through a career? Not quite sure yet. But I know I'll be able to figure it out. Honors has helped me see that these two passions don't have to be dichotomous, they are actually deeply intertwined. That's the beauty of learning, especially in an interdisciplinary sort of way - you are able to connect all of your lived experiences, and knowledge in whatever you do. Whether I end up being a nurse or a director of equity, or a teacher, I'll take my passions with me.