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Academica Por Vida

@academicaporvida

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🇲🇽 🇮🇹 Latina
📖 4th year PhD candidate
mama x4
💉 substance use, harm reduction, Med Soci researcher 👩🏽‍🔬
👩🏽‍🏫 Profe

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

👋🏽 I’m Shayna, I started my academic journey in the early 2000’s when I enrolled in community college. This was so long ago you had to stand in line with a school catalog to register for your classes and they only accepted cash or check. Anywho, I was living on my own at the age of 18 and working my butt off while I was attempting to be a student. I failed my classes.

💜 The following academic year I enrolled at Mount San Antonio College and the rest was history. I struggled to be a “good” student because I was dealing with life’s terms. I had 2 premature baby boys, survived a domestically abusive relationship, and worked multiple jobs to make ends meet. Despite these challenges, I graduated with 3 associates degrees and a million certificates (as you do in the CC system). I am more proud of these degrees than I will ever be of my Doctorate.

👩🏽‍🎓 I found my passion as a student and pursued it at CSUF for my undergrad. I was lucky enough to be apart of the Ronald E. Mcnair Scholars Program. Eventually I was accepted in a PhD program at UCR where I studied sociology. Recently, I graduated from that program with my masters and am restarting a Joint Doctoral Program at SDSU/UCSD in Interdisciplinary Research in Substance Use.

👩🏽‍🏫 Currently, I am teaching at CSUF and truly loving every second of it. I know it will be well worth it when I finish my program and can teach full-time in a secured tenured position.

💉My research focuses on equitably distributing harm reduction tools (like naloxone & drug testing kits) to people who inject drugs to prevent overdoses and overdose mortality. I am pursuing a community-based participatory approach because of the collaborative way I can work in the community.

#phdstudent #Latinagradstudent #studentparent #socalcollege #professora #academicaporvida #collegestudent #undergrad #highered #latinaphd #firstgen #firstgeneration #communitycollege by @academicaporvida

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4 years ago

✨Monday Motivation✨

Many of us are here for La comunidad and it all makes sense. We’re paving the way for La familia near and far and they’re watching!

Whether you have children or not you are making sacrifices to be where you are, lighting the way for others to follow.

I wouldn’t be on this journey if I didn’t become a mother. Something ignited to spark a fire that won’t ever burn out. I can’t wait to see what they are going to do because I showed them what’s possible 💅

#mondaymotivation #mondaymood #graduation #graduationphotoshoot #phd #phdlife #latina #latinaphd #latinaphdstudent #studentlife #studentparent #studentparentsuccess #mama #community #communitycollege #graduateschool #graduatestudent #lacommunidad by @academicaporvida

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4 years ago

1st day of my PhD program 💜

🧘🏽‍♀️woke up early to make time for myself

📚 read during my public transportation experience (nice way of saying “lost as hell”)

💜 felt like I was in the right place at the right time though

🗣️ meaningful conversations in my classes

🍓the sweetest gift from my roommate and her gatito 🐈‍⬛

🪴 ready for round 2 and enjoying the
process

🌱For those of you on semesters how has it been going?

#phdlife #phdstudent #phdlatina #sdsu #ucsd #gradschool #gradstudent #gradstudentlife #gradstudentproblems #studentlife #studentmentalhealth #socal #sandiego #sd #doctoralstudent #doctorallife #doctora by @academicaporvida

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4 years ago

Trail Fridays

I look forward to getting outside with baby boy all week. After classes, office hours, and being at home all week, this is my favorite part of my self-care.

A nice clear head, beautiful views, and a hot girl walk with the newest family member. ☀️ by @academicaporvida

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3 days ago

🪩first week of summer break and still moving my body in the 3rd trimester. Always a scholar mama but definitely a mama athlete.

#academicaporvida #phdlife #studentparent #phd #graduateschool

This was a challenging academic year! I worked full time as interim assistant director for a program at a CSU, while teaching.

I found out I was pregnant with my 4th little Bebe 🐻 in the fall and everything still had to move forward. So I plowed through it all and made it to this week 🥀

I advocated for myself in my PhD program and made sure my needs were heard in regards to my milestones. Which included:
-accountability from my department for giving me my 2nd comprehensive exam results a YEAR later.
-defending my dissertation proposal(the first layer to working on my dissertation)
-officially becoming All But Dissertation(ABD) in my 4th year(gives you a raise as a lecturer)
-submitting IRB so I can hopefully start collecting data this summer 😊🥹

Although, my work in academic affairs was not everything I imagined or hoped it would be, I survived and gained a new experience to light my way to faculty.

I will begin applying to faculty jobs this summer/fall and graduate spring 2027 👩‍🎓

Cheers to the end of this ride with a new Bebe here for the ride 🩷🩷 by @academicaporvida

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5 months ago

💗🌸💓💞
weekend reset
🍂 ⛅️ 🤎🟤

Every weekend I put so much effort into a reset so I can zoom through the week 😆 this weekend we had no races, no performances, no work events, no nothing! It’s been magical!

I got to hike with my bff and boys 🥾 and I went to hot yoga 🧘‍♀️ with a beautiful sound bath during shavasana. I haven’t really focused on chakras in sometime but today I was able to relax 😌

Our October is about to be a whirlwind but I’m not worried about that today.

It’s so easy to get absorbed into your academic goals. Those deadlines will be there when you return to them. Your focus requires rest.

#phd #phding #phdstudentlife #phdstudentsofinstagram #gradschoolstudent #study #academic #academicaporvida by @academicaporvida

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a year ago

What a time to be alive. Just constantly in a state of rationalization for choosing academia.

The acetaminophen incident reminds of Finding Nemo…sea anemoneeeee, sea anemone 🪸 🐟 🌊 just less cutesy.

Shout out to the researchers trying to survive and the programs trying to stay open. WE SEE YOU!✌️

#academicaporvida #phdlife #phdstudent #college #gradstudent #graduateschool #phd #studywithme #firstgen #highered #csuf by @academicaporvida

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a year ago

Some noise for these mentors for the last decade! 📣📣📣 surrounded by amazing women of color pushing me! 💜💜

🌟I am lucky to still have them!

🌟mentors are usually not a one stop shop. Each mentor you choose will have a different quality, method of training, and knowledge than the other.

🌟choose your mentors wisely. First look for someone with a range of similar interests or knowledge you’re looking to gain.

🌟set up an informational interview to ask them questions about their work, their mentorship style, previous mentees, and share your interests/ goals.

🌟be sure you understand your needs as a mentee*do you need more hands on? Hand off? What stage in your career, academia, and life are you in?

🌟after you meet, send a thank you, and recap of your meeting 📅 if you liked the information and got good vibes ask for more info about becoming their mentee. If you want to pursue another route, just thank them for their time.

🌟at the end of the day its about you building your experience and career. You want people in your corner when it gets hard. AND IT GETS HARD 😭🥹 Life be lifin’ and their are amazing mentors out there to support you. (There’s also bad ones 🥱) we won’t touch on that now🤣)

#academicaporvida #phd #phdstudentlife #phdhack #mentor #academia #latinaphdstudent #mcnairscholars #highereducation by @academicaporvida

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a year ago

Tough days to be a Mcnerdy in the land of scholars.

Currently, the McNair Scholars program is not set to receive its promised funding from the department of education because of the presidential decision to end the program.

I’ve talked about the impact of McNair in my life and so many others. I’ve built my career on the foundations of this program and have never looked back. I never could have imagined it being so close to ending. I envisioned myself as a director of this program. I rarely envision something that doesn’t come to fruition and this is dissipating in front of me. This PhD is full of blood, sweat, and tears with lessons of resilience channeled from my McNair program at CSUF. The scholars deserve better during these times.

Nationally, McNair folx fought back today. We are in a huge lobbying push trying to get anyone and everyone to contact their congress people.

Please take a moment to visit the COE protect McNair website and contact your government officials. You can email, it auto populates, or call and leave a message. Every point of contact matters at this moment.

No matter the outcome, I know that McNair folx and our partners are going to support the current and new scholars as they continue to embark on their paths to graduate school.

Sad days for continued growth of DIVERSE communities in academia.

💔 🚀

#savemcnair #savetrio #trio #trioworks #phdstudentlife #phdstudentsofinstagram #phdlife #mcnairscholars #hsi #academicaporvida #csuf #csufmcnairscholars by @academicaporvida

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a year ago

So MUCH to share. Been 🦗 crickets because of my comprehensive exams process. Last post was about preparing for them😭🥲 more to share in that news 🗞️ in another post.

For now I’m sharing happy news 📰! A few months ago my OG undergrad mentor reached out to me to tell me she had a job for me 🥲 (which I absolutely needed as per normal summer as a PhDer🤪)
I’ve stepped into the role of Interim Assistant Director for University Learning at CSUF and it’s been an amazing ride so far! This is the first week of the semester and it’s off to a busy start!! 🐝 top 3 fav things about this position:
-working with my mentor for the last decade 🥰
-providing services for students to succeed in their coursework ✏️📝
-my office is in the library and I’m surrounded by books and studying 📚

The importance of networking runs so deep in my career in academia. I have set these seeds as an undergrad and they’re constantly blooming when I least expect it 🌼

After training our staff for the new semester I ran into the department chair for my major during undergrad, Human Services. I’ve been telling him the past 2 YEARS, whenever I see him: “don’t forget my application is in!, don’t forget I’m available whenever you need me! Don’t forget CSUF is my end game!” He remembered and needed someone to teach a class this Fall. 🥲 I’m in!

I walked into the building I spent SO much time in as an undergrad, up to the floor I spent SO many hours on, and ran into a few of the professors that have inspired me along the way. Now we’re colleagues ✨😭 I love them. A family I’ve known since 2014.

Every interaction you have is important and can determine your trajectory. So grateful for the people at CSUF consistently supporting me.

#phd #academicaporvida #csuf #semester #inspirational #highereducation #graduateschool #graduatestudent taken in California State University, Fullerton by @academicaporvida

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a year ago

Time blocking for my qual exam so I can try and lessen my stress.

As a very busy mom of 3 I will need to “block” time and communicate this with the folks in my house who can comprehend. As for the big baby BOSS, he doesn’t care 😖😩🤣

To create my time block schedule I thought about my days ahead, how I could maximize my hours, and organize the day as efficiently as possible.

I set a YouTube “study with me” with lofi and rain sounds and downloaded a weekly time blocking to my iPad.

I ended up with 9 total hours working, 8 scattered from 6am-3 & 1 hour after the baby goes down. My day will start at 4:30 am and end at 10pm.

Some of the tasks included in my designated hours include lit review, read/notes, write. Does this 1st week of my qual I plan to read at least 4 hours and write at least 3. I will be adjusting daily if need be and def adjusting for the following week.

To me scheduling helps, there’s a sense of calm knowing that it’s planned and ready to go. This applies to other parts of my life as well, including family things, working out, social life. I have spontaneity sprinkled in of course and I’m not so rigid that I’m not open to changing the plans when they don’t work. It’s about going with the flow as well and understanding that yes you can be planned and well prepared but life happens too. 🥂

Example schedule Monday:
4:30am: wake up
5:15 am: coffee & journal
6am: lit review
7am: write
9am:write
10am:read
12pm: baby
@least 2 hours read/write in day
8:45 pm: write
9:45pm plan next day
10pm: bed

#phdstudent #Latinagradstudent #studentparent #socalcollege #professora #academicaporvida #collegestudent #undergrad #highered #latinaphd #firstgen #firstgeneration #student #studywithme #motivation #highered #academicaporvida #college #phdstudent #gradstudent #graduateschool by @academicaporvida

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2 years ago

Most PhD programs have specific exams for you to progress. They are sometimes called comprehensive exams or qualifying exams.

They can include different modalities that may include a big paper(15-30 pages), that answers questions focused on your training. This might include theory, methodology, or discipline focused. There may be two exam or one depending on prgrams.

The time allotment to complete exams also varies. Could be a week, 2 weeks, a month, or a quarter. You figure out a program's policies through your graduate handbook, by asking questions and keeping in touch with the cohorts ahead of you.

I completed my 1st round 2 summers ago, and it included an exam for each of the main courses that we took in our first year. I prepped by having study sessions with my cohort mates and sharing and reviewing course notes, and writing.

NOW, my 2nd and last round of exams is happening Nov 4th. This is exam is writing an NIH R21 Grant to a prompt I am given that morning. I have 2 weeks to complete it.

I am wrapping my head around getting ready by:

✨ collecting at least 5 articles a day and recording them in Zotero.

✨ creating a lit review matrix in Google Sheets with columns that include a rationale for picking the articles and how they relate to topics I think may be given to me.

✨ I am also taking notes on my process so I can keep my mind from getting overwhelmed with how much is happening around me at home with a house full of boys and a baby.

✨ I am also flooding my mind with my research topics by listening to podcasts on the topics. I still have to travel to teach, and I still need to move my body, so at least I am still listening during those times.

✨ I am also communicating with family about the pressures that go along with this and how important it is for me to focus right now. I am having to say NO to some things.

#phdstudent #Latinagradstudent #studentparent #socalcollege #professora #academicaporvida #collegestudent #undergrad #highered #latinaphd #firstgen #firstgeneration #student #studywithme #motivation #highered #academicaporvida #college #phdstudent #gradstudent #graduateschool #mcnairalumni #qualexam by @academicaporvida

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2 years ago