Summary:
In my interview with my mentor: Karla Centeno, we went over so many questions. My interview with her was about an hour long with many laughs and lessons throughout it. We went through topics of where she went to school, where she lived, her high school experience and much more. Karla is a very open person which made the interview with her go so much smoother. She is also very energetic which made the interview very fun and enjoyable. “In high school I was a dancer” Karla says as talking about her high school experience and some memorable things about it. Karla went very into it with the questions that she was asked. She would not give simple answers, she would take lot’s of time answering questions and really elaborate on them to give us a better understanding for them. A key moment from the interview was when she told us her goals for the future. Karla plans to go to graduate school to get a PhD because she wants to become a professor at a university and teach art history, she says “After that it is PhD and my goal is to be a professor at a university”. That moment was highlighted because it was something no one expected and everyone was very fascinated by it. Towards the end of the interview, Karla began sharing many lessons to be taught with us from her whole life and career experience right now. She gave us high school advice and college advice. She told us the regrets she had and how not doing things like partying and stuff could have moved her up more and gotten her closer to reaching her goal. She told us to always do what you love because it will make you much more successful to be happy in doing what you love rather than just doing it because you’re making a lot of money but not enjoying it. The interview was a very valuable experience and will be remembered for the future.
Transcript (Highlighted moment only):
{24:42} Eleena: What is your biggest achievement in your career?
Karla: I think, I think, I think in general it's getting this position because its a directors position and I feel very proud of being able to do this but i'm also grateful of all the opportunities I was given from the beginning, you know I wouldn't be here if I you know didn't have, you know if my old boss wouldn't hire me. I think being here now especially since I only have my BA and you know I will work on getting my PhD but you know as of right now here is where I am at, I think that that's a really big accomplishment and it kind of reflects on all of the work that I have done has been leading up to this, so this is kind of like I am at that step now. In terms of individual successes I was a arts teacher doing arts integration at a title one school which I have mentioned title one. I did arts integration with them for about a year and at the end of it we curated a beautiful show for the students and that show that I did with them was probably the most rewarding thing that I have done. Even though unfortunately one student showed up to the show, the fact that we did it showed all of the work that we did showing arts integration and the fact that it was a beautiful show and it was so beautifully curated was just like, it touched my heart.
Nicholas: Where do you want to get your PhD from?
Karla: Good question, I am doing research right now. As you guys may or may not know, upper division degrees are really expensive so youre looking at $30000 a year per if you want to get your masters it would be 60, thats 30 per, that's not even including cost of living and you can't really work. After that it is PhD and my goal is to be a professor at a university and there is no way I can do it with just a masters, I need a PhD so I have been looking at a program in mexico city at a university called UNAM, are you guys familiar?
Nicholas: Yeah
Karla: So because I have dual citizenship I can go there for free and get my PhD there
Carlos: And work here?
Karla: And work here. So that's the other thing, when you get your masters or when you go to school, it really matters where you go. It sounds kind of lame but it really does you know if you go to a certain university it may not be as prestigious as another university right so it depends on what you want to study and what you want to do but definitely in the academic world it matters where you go so if I were to get my PhD at UNAM I have to make sure that colleges would, it's transferable so that they see it and they recognize it as a good program because I could easily say "Oh I want to go get my PhD in europe at whatever university where it's super cheap" but that doesn't mean that people are going to recognize that degree so that's some of the homework that I am doing right now but if I were to do it then that would mean living five years in mexico city. {28:08}
Karla: I think, I think, I think in general it's getting this position because its a directors position and I feel very proud of being able to do this but i'm also grateful of all the opportunities I was given from the beginning, you know I wouldn't be here if I you know didn't have, you know if my old boss wouldn't hire me. I think being here now especially since I only have my BA and you know I will work on getting my PhD but you know as of right now here is where I am at, I think that that's a really big accomplishment and it kind of reflects on all of the work that I have done has been leading up to this, so this is kind of like I am at that step now. In terms of individual successes I was a arts teacher doing arts integration at a title one school which I have mentioned title one. I did arts integration with them for about a year and at the end of it we curated a beautiful show for the students and that show that I did with them was probably the most rewarding thing that I have done. Even though unfortunately one student showed up to the show, the fact that we did it showed all of the work that we did showing arts integration and the fact that it was a beautiful show and it was so beautifully curated was just like, it touched my heart.
Nicholas: Where do you want to get your PhD from?
Karla: Good question, I am doing research right now. As you guys may or may not know, upper division degrees are really expensive so youre looking at $30000 a year per if you want to get your masters it would be 60, thats 30 per, that's not even including cost of living and you can't really work. After that it is PhD and my goal is to be a professor at a university and there is no way I can do it with just a masters, I need a PhD so I have been looking at a program in mexico city at a university called UNAM, are you guys familiar?
Nicholas: Yeah
Karla: So because I have dual citizenship I can go there for free and get my PhD there
Carlos: And work here?
Karla: And work here. So that's the other thing, when you get your masters or when you go to school, it really matters where you go. It sounds kind of lame but it really does you know if you go to a certain university it may not be as prestigious as another university right so it depends on what you want to study and what you want to do but definitely in the academic world it matters where you go so if I were to get my PhD at UNAM I have to make sure that colleges would, it's transferable so that they see it and they recognize it as a good program because I could easily say "Oh I want to go get my PhD in europe at whatever university where it's super cheap" but that doesn't mean that people are going to recognize that degree so that's some of the homework that I am doing right now but if I were to do it then that would mean living five years in mexico city. {28:08}
Link to the audio of my mentor interview:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FHi5joCVueHhlxBaKX19yfn3ghPeX41K/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FHi5joCVueHhlxBaKX19yfn3ghPeX41K/view?usp=sharing