{"id":212762,"date":"2024-04-29T09:30:59","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T13:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=212762"},"modified":"2024-04-29T09:30:59","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T13:30:59","slug":"valentina-rodriguez-aguado-24-college-of-liberal-arts-and-sciences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2024\/04\/valentina-rodriguez-aguado-24-college-of-liberal-arts-and-sciences\/","title":{"rendered":"Valentina Rodriguez Aguado ’24, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences"},"content":{"rendered":"

As an undocumented and first-generation student, Valentina Rodriguez Aguado \u201924 (CLAS) spent a lot of time learning how to navigate the college environment. Now, she\u2019s graduating with a bachelor\u2019s degree in sociology, a minor in Africana studies, and a home and community at UConn.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why did you choose to go to UConn?<\/strong>
\n<\/span>I received a lot of financial aid from scholarships and it\u2019s close to home so that helped a lot.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

What drew you to your field of study?<\/strong>
\n<\/span>I think both fields intertwine with each other. I took intro courses in both sociology and Africana studies, and I fell in love with them. I enjoy unraveling the threats of social injustice and delving into readings which dissect racial and social systems.<\/span><\/p>\n

Did you have a favorite professor or class?<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Surprisingly, my organic chemistry class, although it was a difficult time, helped me learn time management and a couple studying habits.<\/span><\/p>\n

What activities were you involved in as a student?\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>
\nI first got involved with Project Fashion, and then I got involved with the Academic Achievement Center. At first, I was a mentee because I was on academic probation, but I worked my way up from mentee to mentor to master coach. I was also in Undocu-huskies, which is a fairly new club on campus that I helped co-found and was president of for a couple semesters. I was also a part of the<\/span> CLAS Women\u2019s Leadership Collective<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s one thing that surprised you about UConn?\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>
\nI came into college without having any prior knowledge because I am a first-gen student, and on top of that, English is not my first language. So, I was surprised to find a home here \u2014 it doesn\u2019t matter how you identify, you will find other people that you can call family or home.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

What was it like starting college during the pandemic?\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>
\nIt was not the best thing ever. I stayed home the fall semester of my freshman year and then I wanted to come to campus for the college experience. Being first-gen, I was so eager to know what this whole world was, so I came here in the spring semester of my freshman year, and it was nothing like I thought it was going to be. There was no one around. It was shocking, but I was also surprised that there was still a lot of help and resources around. I still found ways to talk to my professors and go to office hours.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

How has UConn prepared you for the next chapter in life?\u00a0<\/strong> <\/span>
\nI learned a lot about myself through my years here. I also learned how to be a professional, and as silly as it sounds, even just about English as a language. For my next chapter, I feel like I\u2019ll be well adept because UConn has helped me a lot with making connections, being on my own, and finding a way to navigate life by myself.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Any advice for incoming students?\u00a0 <\/strong>
\nI would say reach out and say \u2018yes\u2019 to a lot of things. When I first started, I kept to myself, but when I started getting involved, that’s when everything changed. <\/span>Getting involved is a way to make friends and build your resume or connections, but it\u2019s also a way to learn about yourself as well.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s one thing everyone should do during their time at UConn?\u00a0<\/strong> <\/span>
\nI would say attending sporting events \u2014 the school spirit is unbeatable.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

What will always make you think of UConn?\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>
\nHonestly, there\u2019s a lot of things. Friends, events, classes, and even professors \u2014 it\u2019s the whole experience. I had a pretty good time at UConn, and I can\u2019t complain about anything other than the weather.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

How has being a student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences impacted your UConn experience?\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>
\nThe CLAS community is big here. I was always able to find a sociology friend in my classes. It creates a community in which we can all relate to each other because the humanities are important.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Valentina Rodriguez Aguado reflects on her time at UConn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":212589,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2226,2431],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2610],"class_list":["post-212762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clas","category-sociology"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 13:52:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212762"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213370,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212762\/revisions\/213370"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/212589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212762"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=212762"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=212762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}