Mia Velasquez  0:03  

Hello. My name is Mia Velasquez. I'm a student at Virginia Commonwealth University. I'm interviewing David Rodriguez Quiceno today in Richmond, Virginia. Today is Thursday, October 10th, and the time is 4:17pm. Thank you for being apart of this interview today. 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  0:24  

Of course, it's my pleasure. 

 

Mia Velasquez  0:25  

So we're going to start off with some basic questions about you, your family and your background. So could you start us off by sharing where your family is from, your childhood and how you grew up?

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  0:35  

All right, okay, so can you repeat that again? Just so...

 

Mia Velasquez  0:39  

Yeah, sorry, I kind of went a little fast. 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  0:40  

No, you're good. 

 

Mia Velasquez  0:42  

We're just wanting to know where your family is from, your childhood, and how you grew up. 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  0:47  

All right, okay, so my parents are, you know, I'm Colombian on both sides, both my parents are Colombian, both from Bogota specifically the capital city, and they met each other there, and then, you know, subsequently moved over here as part of a.. um... kind of a professor exchange program. I think it's called VIF, which was like, I forget what the actual acronym is, but it's this, like official exchange program where they go from country to country and but actually, before the United States, my mom did that exchange in Glasgow, Scotland. And so, yeah, she had taught English, you know, forseveral years, but, you know, she made that quick pitstop at Scotland. And so for someone who still was mastering the language, traveling to Scotland to learn English is kind of is a little bit of a challenge, yeah yeah, but she, you know, loved it. But she ended up going to moving to the US for a couple years. And they didn't, they never imagined it to be permanent. But, you know, as time went on, they met, you know, more and more people that they, you know, built that strong connection with in Northern Virginia. You know, they sort of came or went there and never really left. And so theykind of fell in love with the place. They really appreciated the security of it. And they met this lovely couple, one of whichwas, was a Cuban older gentleman, and he had really taken like a, I guess, what's the word? Not a liking. But he felt kindof a sense of like he really wanted to take care of them, because he had actually migrated, or he had actually escaped from communist Cuba during the 60s, at the height of the Fidel Castro regime. And he was actually working at NASA, working with a lot of different so, you know, he kind of saw himself in my parents. And, yeah, they ended up being my godparents. Yeah, yeah. And so, so I realized that was kind of a long tangent, but that was like the context for my, you know, family's story moving here. And so they stayed in NOVA Virginia since 2003 2004 and they had me in 2006 and, yeah, yeah, my parents have both been working in the county as teachers. My mom as an ESOL teacher, working with kids whose first language is not English. And more recently, she's been working just like in the actual, like, administrative, like county position. So I think right now she is the head of the World Languages Department. So yeah, I don't that answered all the questions, but yeah, raised by two, two teachers, and I think they kind of instilled in me, like a love for the Spanish language and culture or Colombian heritage, and also, yeah, that love for learning. I think

 

Mia Velasquez  3:48  

That's beautiful. 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  3:49  

Thank you.

 

Mia Velasquez  3:50  

And there's... you can answer as much as you want so don't feel like you're just going on a tangent

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  3:55  

Okay, I hope, yeah, all right, gotcha

 

Mia Velasquez  3:58  

Alright, did you grow up with religion?

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  4:01  

So growing up, you know, with strong Colombian heritage, the kind of default Colombian like belief is Roman Catholicism. And you know, for the longest time the country was kind of like a monolith in that sense. You know, the default is you assumed that they were Catholic. And so, yeah, not particularly religious. Like, no, like, strong, like, religious zealously. But, you know, we would go to church fairly consistently, although around the time of the pandemic, you know, just given the lockdown and everything, we kind of stopped going regularly. But I was, you know, confirmed. I went through the whole confirmation process. Me and my little brother were baptized. So, yeah, yeah, 

 

Mia Velasquez  4:45  

Okay, do you think that you're still religious? I know, like kind of moving away from home brings a new set of, you know, a new identity, finding you're own, you're coming to your own. Do you still align with that religion? Or is it too early to tell? I mean, you're a freshman so

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  5:01  

Yeah, that's a very good question. So I think that I do believe in a higher power. I choose to believe that there is a higher power in the universe. Because I think, just frankly, it brings me a sense of comfort, just, you know, believing that there is, you know, entity greater than me, that I can sort of like turn to in a time, in a time of need. But I don't know how strictly I would align myself with the Catholic religion, just given like larger social context and the fact that I feel like religion has been used throughout history to excuse or to justify a lot of morally or ethically questionable things and stuff, like how it sort of instilled in in young children, the fact that you need to behave exactly like this and strictly like this, or else you will be going to hell. I think it instills a lot of you know, they even have the term for like, Catholic guilt in a lot of young children. So I believe in a god, but I don't know how strictly Catholic I would identify myself as 

 

Mia Velasquez  6:13  

I understand that. Alright, next set of questions we're going to move on to, do you still have family members that live in Bogota? Do you see them often? Do they really come here often?

 

Speaker 1  6:27  

So, yeah, my family is, you know, almost all of them are still in Colombia or still in Bogota, and we will see them from time to time. The last time my whole family was in Colombia, was the summer of 2019 right before the start of the pandemic. So I guess in a lot of ways, we're really lucky with that. You know, we were able to see them like the calm before the storm and everything. And from time to time, certain family members will visit us. And so because we're so close to Washington, DC, it's also like the excuse for them to be able to see the sites and see the monuments and museums and everything. But, um, we are often considered fairly removed from, you know, the family in Colombia. So we have a couple of relatives in Connecticut, in New England, but that's like, great aunts and uncles, or, like, you know, second cousins and stuff like that. So, you know, we'll also see him from time to time, but not particularly consistent.

 

Mia Velasquez  7:28  

So you said you were traveling right before the pandemic

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  7:30  

Yeah, yeah

 

Mia Velasquez  7:31  

So where were you when the pandemic happened?

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  7:34  

When the pandemic happened? Oh, we were just kind of, I mean, at home, I guess, like lockdown for us, at least in NOVA, was like March, I know our last day of school was Friday, March 13th. I always thought it was very funny that it was a Friday the 13th. But so I'm not particularly superstitious, but that always has stood out to me. And so we were able to get, like, our last sort of traveling done in, like, June/July 2019, and we went back home and everything. And so by March, we were all just at home. And, you know, for obvious reasons, we stayed there for like, you know, a good solid year. There was not a lot of traveling done during the lockdown period. 

 

Mia Velasquez  8:13  

Yeah. So how did you learn about the pandemic? Like, through school, through the news? 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  8:17  

Oh, gosh, I think, like, you know, being able to being four years removed from it. Now, I think it's already kind of like one of those, where were you when this happened kind of thing? And I remember I was in my... in my eighth grade PE class, and, you know, I remember hearing I was right next to the PE teacher, and, you know, from his walkie talkie, hearing like, Oh yeah, you know, they've been talking about how they might shut down the school for a couple days. Looks like we might be out of school for a week. And so, you know, I hear him get that news, and he announces the kids. And everyone's like, Wow, a whole week off of school?! and... and so within our next class was in the computer lab. And so there was kind of like this, like, atmosphere in the room of, like, no one really knows what's gonna happen. It was like this, like hushed excitement, but also like uncertainty. So I wonder what's gonna happen. Then the news broke, it is actually gonna be, like, three weeks of no schools, oh my gosh. And so then everyone heading to the buses. I remember there was, you know, some very excited, like, kids being, oh, it's like an extra month of, like, summer vacation or something like that. It's like a super long spring break. And I do remember that some kids had like that, like hushed quietness about them being like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna be stuck at home for like, three, four weeks. Or, I think some kids did just know "No, this is gonna be way longer than we actually think" And that is what ended up happening. So I remember one of my close friends at the time gave me like this, kind of like sad goodbye. He's like, hey, my man, hope you have a good one. And I just didn't really think much of it, because I was like, Yeah, you know, it'll be a couple weeks, and then we'll see each other again. And then it extended into the rest of that school year. And so that was the last day that we were in person at school, and I didn't even realize it, so I think it was kind of like those, I don't think I grasped how big or how, like, serious this situation was gonna be. So it was... it was interesting. It was very interesting.

 

Mia Velasquez  10:09  

For sure, I think a lot of people took it for granted. I would say I also did take it for granted. Like yeah its only a week nothing too crazy

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  10:16  

Because you'd see it in the news like, oh, COVID hit this country, COVID this country. But I don't think, at least at that time that most people fully grasped and you know this is going to be a worldwide thing. 

 

Mia Velasquez  10:16  

It was quite interesting. How did you and your family as like professors, or in any other manner? How did you guys deal with like, the abrupt changes with like, stay at home orders?

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  10:38  

Right.. Um, so you know, kind of all of my family at that time being involved in education. You know, obviously my little brother and I as students and my parents as educators, we were all in the same house, you know, in different zoom classrooms. But, you know, my brother and I in the classes, and my parents teaching them, and I think that I would always have my camera on during those zoom lessons. And I know that that, you know, really stood out to a lot of the kids in my classroom, because it'd be like maybe four, three kids who had their cameras on, and I was always one of them. And I think a reason why I did that is because I saw my parents on those zoom classes, and none of the kids had their cameras on, and so it was just them trying to do the best that they could, staring at these empty screens, giving them nothing, giving them no energy to bounce off of. They couldn't tell if the kids were grasping the concepts or not. And so I think I sort of felt like a responsibility to be like, I know, like, literally firsthand what the teachers are experiencing from their side. I think least I can do is to try to turn my camera on and show active engagement. But as a family, I... you know, it's four of us, and we are very, very close. We're very close nit, and so I think it was kind of just an excuse or just another reason to, you know, come closer together. And I have to recognize the incredible privilege that I had being, you know, in a home where, you know, there was no real trouble, or there was no real like tumultuousness in the relationships. You know, we stayed close together and, you know, we were always very... we had a very stable household, and I have to recognize how special that is in, you know, for me to be able to say that lockdown was actually kind of one of my favorite periods of time in my life, because I was in my room, you know, being able to draw to my heart's content. I have a full sketchbook from, you know, those days are in lockdown, being able to listen to music with, you know, lights and in my Legos and books, that was really special. But I have to recognize that that was not the case for everyone, you know. So my lockdown experience was very, you know, nice, I'd say, but I almost feel guilty saying that, because just Yeah, I know it wasn't a case for everyone. 

 

Mia Velasquez  13:04  

[unintelligible] Sorry 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  13:08  

No, you're good. 

 

Mia Velasquez  13:05  

Yeah, it was such an interesting time. And I think it was. It really showed, like, different people's points in lives, like some people really enjoyed it, like having that time themselves, or, like you said, others didn't have such a good experience. Were any of your family members directly impacted by COVID during that time? Did you have any members that had COVID?

 

Speaker 1  13:32  

So, yeah, actually, yes, my mom's favorite uncle, so I guess my great uncle passed away very unexpectedly due to COVID. I think around April 2021, and I don't think any of us ever saw that coming, because, to our knowledge, he was inperfectly fine health. He didn't really have anything in particular that would have made him particularly vulnerable or susceptible to COVID. And so when that news hit, I think that was really just kind of like a smack in the face, because it was like, Wow. You know, obviously we knew of the very real consequences, ramifications of the pandemic. When it finally directly impacted us or with a death in the extended family, I think that was when it felt very real. But that being said, I did have COVID. I think I was the first one in my family to have COVID, but like, over a year later, after the actual pandemic, or after the start of the pandemic, it was like January 21 or something like that, and I had next to no symptoms. And so I social, or, yeah, self isolated in my room, but it, for some reason, didn't pass it to any other of my... Yeah, any other members of my family and so, yeah, all things considered. You know, I had it easy. 

 

Mia Velasquez  14:55  

Well, I think you had your age on your side. I know having COVID young is so much easier than having it at an older age. 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  14:55  

It's very true. 

 

Mia Velasquez  15:05  

Yeah, Did you... do you know anybody that's vaccinated? Are you yourself vaccinated? your family?

 

Speaker 1  15:10  

Yeah, I am vaccinated. My whole family was vaccinated. Yeah, yeah. I believe in medical science, and I think it's very important to adhere to that, just for the collective well being of everyone. I think the more people vaccinate themselves and build up that herd immunity, the better it is for everyone involved. 

 

Mia Velasquez  15:37  

For sure, how do you think Latinos were affected by the pandemic and vaccinations? 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  15:42  

I think it's a very interesting question. I think it's very layered, because there's so many different aspects of it to cover. I think just the fact that statistically, the Latino community is in so many more like working class jobs, means that, you know, all there were a lot of different workers who had no choice but to be out there interacting with people being on the kind of, like the front lines of service of the service industry. And so, you know, even though things were shutting down, people still wanted to order food. People still needed to, you know, work on construction sites or this or that or so, and when the industry calls for that, or when there's demand for that, it is usually the you know, minorities or people of color. In this case, you know the Latino community, who answers that call. And so I think that's why we saw that the Latino community was disproportionately affected by COVID, and it just generally hit us harder. And so, yeah, I think it'sreally easy to separate the numbers and just being like, Oh, just for some reason it hit Latinos harder. But you know, just looking at like, the sociological like factors, you know, there's more of us in the workforce. There's more of us with poor working conditions that exacerbates, you know, medical conditions, or pre existing medical conditions causes them, or, you know, just the fact that so many Latino families can't afford to get the health care that they need? Yeah, there's a, for sure, a greater, like systemic reason for that impact, or that greater, heightened impact that it had on us. 

 

Mia Velasquez  15:49  

I definitely agree with you. Great answer. 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  17:30  

Thank you. 

 

Mia Velasquez  17:35  

So what was it like growing up in... you said Manassas or Prince Williams County?

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  17:40  

Um, yeah, I think Prince William County is the county, but Manassas is like the town/city. I don't really know how it works, but sorry, what was the question like?

 

Mia Velasquez  17:49  

I was just gonna ask, how was it growing up in Manassas or Prince Williams County?

 

Speaker 1  17:53  

Um, I think that I had again... I think a recurring theme is gonna be privilege, because I always, my parents always told me to recognize the blessings that we have and the privilege that we have. And, you know, on that topic, I think I had a very privileged upbringing growing up in NOVA Prince William, because I don't think I can say that we ever really struggled, or I know that my parents did have very legitimate, you know, money problems, especially during the recession and everything. At the time of my little brother's birth, around 2010 they were struggling to make ends meet. So they definitely did go through their financial difficulties. But at least through my lens, through my experience, I never once truly felt firsthand, you know, the the struggle or the sensation of poverty. If we were ever were like on that povertyline, I don't think I ever felt it. I was always well fed. We always had a roof over our heads. And, you know, come Christmas time or a birthday, we were always able to get, you know, something special, even if maybe it wasn't as much as maybe one of my more well off friends or something like that. Um... We, in my life, we've been in three different houses, but, like, you've been fairly, you know, close, like, you know, not really far apart at all. And I think I've been able to see firsthand my parents be able to, I guess, improve their their situation, you know, going from a maybe a more rough neighborhood to a more stable one. And that, at least I'm old enough. I don't know if my little brother remembers, but at least I'm old enough to remember or to notice the improvement. But yeah. But that being said, I think we've been incredibly privileged, you know, the fact that we had more than one pair of pants or more than one jacket, you know, for or like a winter jacket and stuff like that. And especially being from Colombia, where, you know, they knew firsthand. You know, my my my dad had eight siblings, I think, and his father passed away when he was seven, and so he knew firsthand the difficulty that so many, you know, Latinos face, you know, in the entire Latin American community, you know he, he had to live through a lot of, you know, tumultuous, hard times, as did, you know, his his mom, of course, and so, you know. He never let us lose sight of the fact of, you know, where he came from, where we came from subsequently. So, yeah, yeah, I think that we've lived a very good life. But yeah 

 

Mia Velasquez  18:16  

Okay, thank you

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  20:29  

Of course

 

Mia Velasquez  21:59  

What has your experience with the Latino community been like in Manassas or Northern Virginia? 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  20:53  

Um, I know that we have been able to find maybe little things here and there, like there's this one Colombian bakery off of Springfield, kind of close to DC, that we absolutely love and that we go to as often as we can. But there's not a particularly strong, specifically Colombian community. We've met a couple, and you know, most of them in more recent times, but I think the Latino community that there is in... in Prince William, and in Virginia. And to you know, great extent, I guess the US is more strongly Central American or or Caribbean Latino, which, you know, I think there is obviously still like a kinship there, you know, Latinos a Latino. But it's still just, you know, removed enough from the Colombian culture where we maybe didn't feel as like, maybe as represented, or as like seen, you know, I could maybe have friends in elementary school or middle school from Honduras or Guatemala. But, you know, while I was talking about arepas, they were talking about pupusas and stuff like that. So, yeah, not a particularly strong external Latino influence. So I actually, you know, I grew up around, I guess, a very diverse, you know, group of friends. It wasn't like purely Latino or purely black, it was, you know, a very, yeah, I guess, well balanced, diverse mix. But I think the Latino identity and upbringing that I have is, I think 95% from my parents at home, we always spoke Spanish. That was their way of like, fortifying the language for us. And outside, we spoke English, and so that was their way. I think, like instilling like, the code switching like in our brains. Um... yeah 

 

Mia Velasquez  22:47  

Would you ever find yourself like... in that solidarity, solidarity of having like other Latinos around you,  would you ever find yourself making bonds or friends that you would speak Spanish with, since you have kind of this you know you're bilingual, you have that ability. Would you ever find yourself like having friends in maybe English or friends in Spanish?

 

Speaker 1  23:06  

I would say so. But funny enough, I think as I got older, I think the communities that I was around, or like the schools thatI was in, elementary school, middle school, they were very diverse, but diverse, kind of in other ways. You know, there was a lot of there were a lot of kids from from Africa or from the Middle East or from Southeast Asia, and not so much Latino. But as I got into high school, I ended up making or establishing with some classmates, the school's first Latino Student Union, yeah. And that was really, really big, because it was a topic that really mattered to me. I felt that that was something that we needed. There was a black student union, there was a Muslim Student Association. Like, there was a precedent for that, but there wasn't one for Latino students, which, you know, second to the white majority, were the biggest, I guess, demographic in the school. And so it was with that where we really went out of our way to start that organization and do all these things, where I really did start to make more Latino friends and that who I could, you know, talk with in Spanish,maybe despite different regional accents or something like that. But it was still so special. And like, I look back on that so fondly, and I'm still close friends with a lot of them to this day. 

 

Mia Velasquez  24:24  

Im glad you could find that community.

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  24:26  

It was very cool

 

Mia Velasquez  24:27  

I do know NOVA is also very diverse, and I think that's such a big difference in coming to Richmond. So finding your community there in a in a diverse crowd is an amazing thing. 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  24:37  

Yeah 100% 

 

Mia Velasquez  24:39  

What is your experience been with those outside of the Latino community?

 

Speaker 1  24:42  

So, um, I've never really thought about it. I I've never had, I think, a particularly negative experience with any particular non Latino community like I, I guess I also have the privilege of saying that I have not been explicitly discriminated against, as in, I've never been told you can't play with us because, you know you speak Spanish or something like that, or you know. I've never had to face that. But I guess you know, being realistic, there have been greater more like invisible lines of maybe discrimination or prejudice, and I know that my mom can attest to that. Because when I was entering Elementary School in first grade, she being an educator, and you know, she's, you know, done courses. She has her master's in education. She is well aware of the signs of a gifted child. And she saw those signs in, you know, in me, with everything that, you know, I was at the rate that I was learning, or at the rate that I was reading at to what level I was reading. And so she tried to, I guess, sign me up, or I, you know, she tried to have me put in the gifted program in elementary and my first grade teacher, who was an older white woman, was, for some reason, very strongly resisting to that motion. And my mom for the life of her, could not figure out why. And you know, I think as more and more time set in. She did realize that this, that this older teacher who was, I guess, more, sent her ways, just didn't really see that happening for for a little Latino boy, she just didn't, I don't know if she just chose not to see it or she actively resisted, but yeah, yeah. But my mom persisted in, you know, having me put into the gifted program. And eventually she was successful. But when I was finally put in, I was notably the only Latino student there. Um, yeah, it was a very, very majority white gifted program. And, you know, being like a child, I don't think I really consciously thought of that, but, you know, looking back on it, like I see like little like yearbook picture, and interesting, interesting. So I guess that is probably one of the most like, straightforward examples that I might have of the way that being Latino has affected me, at least in my education or whatever, but as in, like, you know, maybe obstructing a path that usually would be pretty open for, like, for a white student. And in my AP classes, I have noticed that I'm consistently among the very, very or I say that as in, as if I'm still in high school, I guess, sorry, it's kind of an adjustment. But in my AP classes, I was consistently in the very small Latino minority. And, you know, I guess that did stand out to me. And then seeing the, you know, walking down the hallways and seeing, like, the doors into the regular like, quote, unquote, the regular education classes, those were very much filled with Latino students. And so that's something that within that Latino Student Union we tried to acknowledge, and we ended up developing this mentorship program, which we called Mente a Mente. And the goal was to pair up students who were considering going into an AP class, but they weren't sure if it was the right fit for them, with an older student, with an older upperclassman who had experience in AP as a Latino and was taking one or more AP classes. And that ended up being very successful. So that was a measure that we took to kind of try to tackle or address that maybe systemic bias that we were seeing numbers wise. 

 

Mia Velasquez  28:46  

Yeah, I'm sure your high school so grateful for that program and idea you guys helped create that's really awesome

 

Speaker 1  28:53  

Its.. I.. To this day, it's one of the things that I'm most proud of, and the fact that it's continued after we've left, you know those... it was six of us who started that student union, and we were all class of 24 so when we graduated, like our biggest concern was to make sure that it lived on and it has we found our I guess, like our successors, and it looks like it's still going strong. So I'm very grateful for that. 

 

Mia Velasquez  29:21  

Yeah, you should be so proud. 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  29:23  

Thank you. Thank you

 

Speaker 2  29:25  

What are some of your biggest obstacles that you've encountered? I guess education, things that you mentioned before in Manassas

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  29:33  

Biggest obstacles other than education?

 

Speaker 2  29:35  

I mean, you could say education, but just some of your other biggest obstacles that you've encountered

 

Speaker 1  29:40  

okay, um, I can't think of too many off the top of my head other than that. Like, specific example of, you know, when mymom was trying to put me into gifted... , but that was, you know, like, I guess, as a small child. And I, I can't think of anything in particular that. Just, is it just obstacles in general? 

 

Mia Velasquez  30:02  

Yeah, just obstacles in general

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  30:05  

I don't know 

 

Mia Velasquez  30:06  

We can also skip that question too

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  30:07  

Yeah, I can't really think of anything. 

 

Mia Velasquez  30:09  

Well that a good thing I guess 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  30:11  

Yeah, yeah. That's also a privilege. 

 

Mia Velasquez  30:13  

Yeah. What kind of resources have you been able to find, or what resources have been able to help you with your life?Like nonprofit organization, I know you've made some resources for yourself in high school. It's pretty awesome.

 

Speaker 1  30:31  

Resources, resources, well, I guess you know being in the gifted program is something that not a lot of kids, especially you know, there are a lot of kids who absolutely are qualified to, you know, be within that kind of program, or, you know, would absolutely fit in, or that's the kind of thing that they need in their education. Like, there are a lot of students, just in general, who, like, conventionally, don't do well in their courses, but a lot of the times is because the courses aren't stimulating enough for them, or it's not sort of fit for their kind of learning style. And so I guess being in a gifted class really did feed a lot of my passion and interest for learning. Like I was a bookworm, I used to tear through books. I don't know what happened, but I used to like, I know the librarians hated see me coming. I would tear through those books like it was nothing. And so just instilling that love of of reading and just kind of amassing knowledge, or not so much amassing knowledge, but making connections, I think that's something that I just consistently like, I yeah, it's just something that I love, like, just, and I think that's the reason why I'm trying to do international studies, just because learning or analyzing things at a global scale allows you to, like, see how just everything is interconnected, and this connects to this and this and this and this. You know, reading the history of this country, and reading this with this country, and finding out that there is some overlap, that there was some interaction between that. And I think if it wasn't for those kinds of courses, and you know, to be fair, some very special teachers in my life. I think teachers have been a very big thing for me, teachers that I think have recognized potential, and that have encouraged me to go farther and to dig deeper. I think that has been one of the biggest resources, at least in my like education career.

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  32:32  

Yeah, thank you. 

 

Of course

 

Mia Velasquez  32:34  

How do you think your like sense of belonging has changed from living in Manassas your whole life to now, living in a new, completely new place as a Latino and like a young scholar? This is a big transition.

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  32:34  

Yeah

 

Mia Velasquez  32:35  

How do you feel about that? 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  32:50  

Honestly, I feel good, or at least as of right now. I feel good. Um, I I've never really questioned or as in, I don't feel particularly weird right now, I guess maybe, you know, I could have felt kind of an imposter syndrome or whatever it just it does feel right. I think I was very close to going to William and Mary, because they also have a fantastic international affairs, I think they call it international affairs program. But going to the campus, it was, I think, very dry, you know, it's, it's a very nice college, you know, it's like a brick and Ivy kind of thing. It's old. It's like, I think, the second oldest college, only to Harvard. But it just, it didn't feel as lively as I wanted my college environment to be. And when I got here and I saw, you know, the street art. I love art. So just seeing that constantly in like all around and the bright colors, and it just, I felt so much more of a potent, lively energy here. And it just felt, you know, also take into consideration that the college that I was choosing was not only the educational institution that I was choosing, but it's also like the home that I was choosing, like regardless this is where I would be living for four years. So, yeah, I think you know, just seeing the strong art identity, or the strong art space, or like environment that there is here, I feel.. I felt very welcomed. I felt very encouraged to find a strong creative identity or spark. And yeah, I feel... it's very welcoming. So yeah, does that answer the question? 

 

Mia Velasquez  34:37  

Yeah, it does. Thank you. I agree this one is so much more fun, like living wise city, wise art wise than all the other universities I was thinking about going to. So have you connected with any organizations or individuals, like with, you know, moving to Richmond that have helped you?  

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  34:57  

No big organizations as of right? Now, so I actually did look into the VCU Latino student. Is it alliance or association?

 

Mia Velasquez  35:07  

Association.  

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  35:08  

But I think I might have missed the deadline for maybe this year, or whatever, or I don't know, and so that's still some something that interests me. I think just it's been so much going on at once that I think I did forget to fill that out, so I might have to do that either next semester or next year, however it works, but because I'm sure that's a fantastic way to network. So I'm kind of kicking myself that I haven't done that earlier, but that's in regards to maybe, like, the Latino connections, because I'm sure I do kind of miss that. I miss being able to dance to merengue or bachata or salsa, even ifI'm not the best at it, it's still just so, like, it's so special to me, it's so so near and dear to my heart. So that's something that I really need to do more. But, yeah, I've made, you know, special like connections or friendships, but honestly, not particularly many. But it's not really what I was expecting. I was not expecting to come here and be like, oh, you know, there's so many friends, I guess, because it is, you know, we're living in Richmond. It's basically a city everyone else already has their own rich interpersonal lives. As of right now, I've kind of just been staying in my own lane, because, you know, even without work right now, the class I'm taking are kind of daunting enough. This is already enough on my plate. So, yeah

 

Mia Velasquez  36:30  

I think it's important to focus, especially your first year, on finding your footing in the Richmond space and then education. So I think you're on a good track. 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  36:41  

Okay, that's good to know.

 

Mia Velasquez  36:45  

What do you think about the issue of immigration? Like, how that's talked about in politics, in the general public? 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  36:52  

Yeah, that is obviously a massive, massive topical conversation. Like, that's so much to unpack. I think that immigrants built this country, all the people who literally laid every stone in you know, every, every, every you know, ancient historic building that we have was either brought here against their will, kept here against their will, or came to this country, fleeing from something else, or seeking respite or or refuge, or what's the other word, you know, just seeking a safety that they could not find, that was literally, you know, not there in maybe wherever else they came from. And so I think that politicians now trying to negate that as an inherent part of American history is nothing short of ignorant, and that you know the way of, you know, modern day politicians to say, to protect, you know, they argue that they're trying to protect American jobs is just, you know, like an implicit dog whistle for keeping immigrants out, and, more specifically, keeping undesirable immigrants out. A lot of you know, most of the time includes us or implies us. So I believe that immigration is an inherent part of the specific American identity that like is undeniable. But that being said, I think ideally immigrants should try to go through the legal process, and I recognize that there are moments of geopolitical crisis that require sometimes there just is not the time to have to go through that, you know, very intense, very like, purposefully grueling bureaucratic process of citizenship and, you know, residence and everything. So you know things are going to happen in the world that the US can't control. And you know, when immigrants are looking for a life of stability, they're going to want to go to a place where that is at least supposedly protected in constitutional rights. And so I just... Yeah, immigration is part of America as an ideal, as you know... I just don't get how politicians, or, you know, what's the word, like pundits, yeah, how pundits will talk about, you know, or romanticize like the immigrants who came to the US through Ellis Island and stuff like that in the 1800s who were equally, you know, seeking refuge and everything, and then dismiss or turn away the the people of Mexico or Guatemala or Honduras who were seeking it and are in just as much in need of it as those people were. It's very tricky to multifaceted question. Um, and there's a lot of, you know, humanitarian stuff that needs to be answered. Yeah, immigrants have been historically demonized for way too long, and immigration as as an issue, as a political issue, has been racialized in a way that um is very tricky to unpack, and that, you know, immigration being brought up in a political debate is conflated with, what are we going to do about Latinos, which is wild. So it's very tricky. It's very, very tricky.

 

Speaker 2  40:31  

It is very complex, 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  40:34  

Very

 

Mia Velasquez  40:35  

What would you like these politicians to really take into consideration? I know you touched a bit of that but...

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  40:42  

Yeah, I think just the fact that 99% of immigrants are good people. And we see so many talking points of Republicans right now saying that or generalizing, making Yes, sweeping generalizations and absolute said, these are thieves and rapists and murderers and burglars that they're going to break into homes and do this and that. And you know, with themost recent debate that eating like household pets, it's just it's a level of xenophobia that, to be fair, has always been there, but is now being that is now... trying to be made like acceptable that, you know, there have always been people with these bigoted beliefs, but now, like the radical politicians on the right, are trying to normalize that bigotry and that hatred and disdain by just going out there and saying it, you know, saying stuff that, you know, no one used to say, but now it's like, oh, are we far?... Like, are we saying this now? and stuff like that. So I guess what I'd like to see out of politicians is just the humanization of immigrants, not making sweeping generalizations, that they are all criminals, that they're all, you know, lock up your houses and this and that, because we have seen that to not be true. We've seen that American born citizens are more likely to commit violent crime than immigrants like you know, if they want to talk numbers, bring up the actual numbers. And, you know, with that, I mean, there's a lot of tricky stuff. I can denounce the current policies, but not be entirely sure of exactly what I would do myself. You know, I do know that what's going on or what is, you know, trying to be implemented is very bad. I just... ideally, humanization, you know, a lot of tolerance, a lot of you know humanity. I think that's just what we need. You know, not keeping people or detaining people in cages or cells. 

 

Mia Velasquez  43:01  

That goes into your point earlier, like there needs to be a sense of appreciation that immigrants did build this country 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  43:06  

Absolutely

 

Mia Velasquez  43:07  

that could be added along to humanity

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  43:09  

Yeah, yeah. So I don't know exactly what I do. I think you know, that's why I'm here learning, because I want to figure out what is the most humane and ethical way to deal with these very tough topics while still being, you know, realistic orplausible, I don't know, but it's something that I'm looking forward to learning about and unpacking. 

 

Mia Velasquez  43:33  

Yeah, Thank you. What would you like the public to know from your life story? 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  43:39  

Ooh, um, I guess that would maybe kind of vary on what it is that I end up doing, because as of right now, like, I'm very happy with my major. I don't think I'd change it for the world. I think this is exactly the kind of stuff that I want to be learning about. But what I want to actively do, I think, is maybe a little bit more in question for me, because I think that the path that I'm going on now something probably something with the Department of State, something with Department of Cultural Affairs, or working in an embassy as a as an ambassador or a diplomat, something along those lines, I think feels kind of right up my alley. Or being like, really ambitious, something like, I let's say, like Secretary of State, or something could be really cool. Or something with the UN... So I guess going that route, I would want to emphasize the importance of opportunity in education, and more importantly, like you know with that, the importance of access, that if children are given the access to information to.. um, resources that encourage the desire to learn, and, you know, access, access to educators, that they are given the resources to to, that they are equipped to teach children.Um, because with that, I think that that would just empower so many like it would empower generations. I think that it's very interesting that some of the most you know, renowned people in the world have been children of educators like youknow. I think there have been several US presidents. Have been several civil rights activists that whose parents were, to some extent, involved in education, because I think that shows a mindset that's passed down generationally, that I think we've seen historically has been, you know, incredibly important, incredibly important. So just that access and resource and instilling the love of learning, and I say not knowledge, but learning, because knowledge is just like dry retention of information. Learning is the act of growth from that knowledge. Um, yeah, yeah. So if I were to have a platform that is absolutely something that I want to emphasize, the fact that you know, what am I trying to say that treating children or with the respect that they deserve, the fact you know that they aren't just children. These are small human beings with an equal capacity to absorb information. Just yeah, these are intelligent human beings, and we need to foster and nurture and encourage that level of learning, because their potential is unheard of. 

 

Mia Velasquez  47:00  

Yeah. Great answer. 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  47:04  

Thank you. Thank you. 

 

Mia Velasquez  47:04  

You're very eloquent the way you speak. 

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  47:06  

I appreciate that.

 

Mia Velasquez  47:08  

Of course, that was pretty much all the questions I had for you today. 

 

Okay

 

Is there anything else you'd want to add that maybe we haven't talked about? 

 

Speaker 1  47:19  

Nothing comes to mind right now. I don't know. Is there anything that you feel that would be relevant? 

 

Mia Velasquez  47:27  

I think we've covered a lot of it

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  47:30  

Okay 

 

Mia Velasquez  47:30  

But I was really glad to interview you.

 

David Rodriguez-Quiceno  47:32  

Thank you. No, it was my absolute pleasure. 

 

Mia Velasquez  47:34  

Thank you so much. I'll end the recording now.