Photo Elicitation Board (Text Only) by Jocelyn Boudreau

Brief Bio

jboudreau6 — 2023-11-01 23:55:57 UTC

Misa Tran is the Assistant Director of Boston College’s Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center (see description below). In November, she will celebrate her one year anniversary in this role! She received her Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Boston University, and then went on to work in the Asian American Center at Northeastern University where she began her career in student affairs. Prior to getting her Master’s, Misa worked for non-profits based in Boston that serve the AAPI, particularly the Vietnamese-American, community through education, financial literacy support, and other advocacy work.

Description of SA Sector + Direct Quote

jboudreau6 — 2023-11-01 23:56:19 UTC

Misa works in the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center (BAIC) which is Boston College’s primary multicultural affairs office. The mission statement of the BAIC reads: “The Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center strives to provide community, support and resources for all Boston College students with a focus on students of color, LGBTQ+, and historically marginalized students, [and] educate faculty, staff, and students on how to build a community of belonging by celebrating identity and culture, building relationships, and fostering mentorship” (About - Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center - Boston College, n.d.). The BAIC integrates social and academic programming to support students of color, first generation students, international students, and most recently, LGBTQ+ students. Programming includes scholarship cohorts, research courses, identity and culture-based clubs, leadership groups, and more. In Misa’s view, the mission statement “For me, the celebration part was really important for me to add on to our mission statement at the BAIC just because we do so much work trying to build students up and trying to create resources and give them the advising piece…but at the end of the day we’re just really celebrating all these students and all the staff and faculty that come into our spaces.” She believes that the celebration piece can be unintentionally buried by student affairs professionals trying to build supportive programming—but it was a priority for her to include in the mission statement so students prioritize it themselves, too.

Challenges & rewards

jboudreau6 — 2023-11-01 23:56:37 UTC

Misa’s personal values guide her through the work she does, and each job she has held focuses on building community, supporting individuals of diverse backgrounds, and educating to empower people with marginalized identities. This passion for building others up is a strong guiding principle for her, and it makes for both rewarding and challenging work in her day-to-day job. One thing Misa finds rewarding about her position as Assistant Director at the BAIC is reaching students of diverse salient identities. Most of Misa’s career has been centered on the needs of AAPI, and more specifically Vietnamese-American, communities. Because she spent much of her time working in the same community she grew up in, Misa told me she started feeling siloed, and so it is energizing for her to work with students of other identities and backgrounds. Challenges with her position tend to center around power dynamics, she tells me. As an assistant director, Misa feels that many conversations brought to her by her supervisor are already-made decisions passed down from senior leadership, rather than true conversations. She struggles at times to understand how to balance her personal values with the broader workings of the university. She is still learning when to push back, when to compromise, and when to accept what comes from difficult conversations. Her priority remains the students’ wellbeing and safety, so she tries to understand more than anything else—understand why certain decisions are made, understand how to adapt her practice according to these decisions, and understand where she fits into the equation as a student affairs professional.

How Misa's story informs my career interests

jboudreau6 — 2023-11-01 23:57:03 UTC

One takeaway from my conversation with Misa is the importance of grounding yourself in your values before taking on a position. Based on our conversation, I see that Misa is someone who knows where she comes from and what to prioritize in her position and life in general. This is something that stuck with me because it led me to see how different my career interests are from Misa’s, and yet how similar they are, too. I had not considered multicultural affairs as a career path for myself, and I honestly do not think that my mind is changed by our conversation. Multicultural affairs is something important to Misa, and that was very clear from the interview. I myself have not felt very drawn to it as a career option, and seeing how passionately Misa spoke about being in a multicultural space I realized that is something I lack. Our interview pushed me a little further towards the units I feel more called to, namely campus ministry, admissions, or student formation. I absolutely see the value of multicultural affairs and am glad to know someone like Misa is working to create that community of care at my alma mater. My interests and talents, I think, will take me elsewhere, but still to a place where I can be uplifting students, caring for their whole person, and setting them up for a successful future.

Reading Quote #1

jboudreau6 — 2023-11-01 23:57:25 UTC

“The placement of student affairs on the organization chart and the functional areas comprising the division are important. Much more important, however, is the commitment, dedication, and skills of student affairs professionals throughout the campus who develop strong relationships with students, advocate for them as important decisions are made, and design programs and services to promote their learning and development” (Wilson, 2017, p. 305).

Reading Quote #2

jboudreau6 — 2023-11-01 23:57:41 UTC

“Responsible leadership in student affairs mandates sustained efforts at prejudice reduction and antiracist professional development…Student affairs educators can be catalysts for this work, armed with our knowledge of how students grow and develop and capable of creating learning environments in a variety of settings” (Rue, 2019, p. 13).