A L U M N A E S P O T L I G H T
CULTIVATING KNOWLEDGE : AMPLIFYING MIGRANT
COLLEGE STUDENT EXPERIENCES
b y A m a n d a F l o r e s | B e t a C h a p t e r A l u m a n d R h o C h a p t e r A l u m
Amanda Flores , PhD ( Beta Chapter ) and Lesley Hernandez ( Rho Chapter ) presented their research work on migrant / seasonal farm-working college students at the Association for the Study of Higher Education ( ASHE ) in Las Vegas , Nevada on November 16-19 , 2022 . Their work was part of a selfdesigned paper session titled , Understanding Farmworking College Student Experiences : 50 Years of the College Assistance Migrant Program .
Their paper session consisted of three papers . Reyna Flores , doctoral candidate at the University of Texas - Austin presented A Half-Century Harvest : A Systematic Review of the College Assistance Migrant Program . Amanda Flores , senior director of DEI at WKAR at Michigan State University presented her dissertation work titled Farmwork , College , and Money : A Participatory Action Research Study with College Assistance Migrant Program Students . And , Lesley Hernandez , a doctoral student at the University of Texas - Austin , presented her master ' s thesis titled Farmworker Students & the College Assistance Migrant Program : Stories of Strength , Persistence , and Success .
We met through our network in higher education and remained connected because of our shared interests in amplifying the migrant / seasonal farmworking college student experience in higher education . ASHE is an academic organization committed to higher education as a field of study and we felt it was the perfect home to share our scholarship with scholars and practitioners of higher education .
We would like to share this experience because it reflects the power of mentorship , empowerment , and sisterhood . We met weekly to work on our proposal and our papers . In these meetings we mentored each other in our work and consistently reminded each other about the importance of this research being presented at the national level . This opportunity also helped us share sage advice about the doctoral journey and reflect on how far we had come as children of migrant / seasonal farmworking parents .
Further , as a result of our work together , we have had the opportunity to connect with other sisters who work in higher education as scholars and practitioners . These connections help us realize that we are not alone and that our sisterhood spans borders , both figuratively and literally
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