Interview with Sofia Villalobos, February 19, 2019

Partial Transcript: My name is Blake Johnson and I'm here with Sofia Villalobos.

Segment Synopsis: Villalobos states that she is currently a sophomore at UK. She goes on to explain how she was born and raised in Costa Rica. Her parents got married when she was 9 years old, and they proceeded to move to Georgia for 1 year, California for 6 years, Georgia again for 4 years, and her parents finally moved to New Mexico while she began her college career at UK. They mainly moved around because her father worked for the federal government in the wildlife sector, so they were not able to say no to the offers given by the government because of the amazing benefits. The rest of her family includes her older brother, whom she is very close with, and her three dogs.

Keywords: Benefits; Brothers; California; College sophomores; Costa Rica; Dogs; Family; Federal government; Georgia; Marriage; Moving; UK

Subjects: College students--Conduct of life.; Families.; Family, religion, and culture; Federal government--United States; Migration & integration; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: So, is it just you guys? Like, can you talk about your extended family a little bit?

Segment Synopsis: Villalobos mentions that her extended family all live in Costa Rica. Her dad moved their family to the United States because he wanted to give Villalobos and her brother a better education and more educational opportunities. She then chose to attend UK because her dad initially gave her the idea, and then she noticed that her major would get in-state tuition (her major is marginalizing apparels and textiles).

Keywords: College majors; Costa Rica; Dads; Education; Extended family; Family; Fathers; In-state tuition; Opportunities; Textiles

Subjects: College choice; College students--Conduct of life.; Education--United States; Families.; Family, religion, and culture; Federal government--United States; Migration & integration; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: What is your major?

Segment Synopsis: Villalobos explains how she is a merchandising, apparel, and textiles major, with a minor in political science and WRD. She explains that the reason for this is because she had always been interested in the fashion industry. However, she also wants to do law, so she is currently pre-law and wants to be a lawyer in the fashion industry studying corporate law. She chose pre-law because growing up she was always interested in subjects that pertained to it, such as political science, history, etc. She initially entered UK being a business major and wanting to go to business school, but she switched to pre-law and wants to go to Duke Law.

Keywords: Apparel; Business; College majors; Duke University; Fashion; Law; Marginalized; Political science; Subjects; Textiles; Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies (WRD)

Subjects: College choice; College students--Conduct of life.; Education--United States; Universities and colleges.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: So you kind of mentioned this already a little bit, but what have been some of your favorite classes you took at UK?

Segment Synopsis: Villalobos mentions that her favorite classes right now include WRD, history, political science, and all of her fashion classes.

Keywords: Classes; Fashion; Favorite classes; History; Political science; Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies (WRD)

Subjects: College choice; College students--Conduct of life.; Education--United States; Universities and colleges.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: So, as like a, uh, bigger picture question for UK, what has been your general experience at UK?

Segment Synopsis: Villalobos describes her experience at UK. She explains how most of the places she lived in Georgia and California had a majority non-white population. When she came to UK, she felt like a minority for the first time in her life. She then found a multicultural sorority that she became a part of and also used the Latino Student Union to find her place on campus. She also says that she loves meeting people on campus from Central America because she feels like she has a special bond with them. She then goes on to claim that she feels as if she is getting the best education out of all of her friends.

Keywords: Bonds; California; Campus; Central America; Experiences; Friends; Georgia; Minorities; Minority; Multicultural; Population; UK

Subjects: College environment; College students--Attitudes.; College students--Conduct of life.; College students--Social conditions; Education--United States; Greek letter societies.; Minorities in higher education; Universities and colleges.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: So you kind of mentioned kind of like a little bit like maybe a culture shock coming to UK?

Segment Synopsis: Villalobos talks about her experience of being a Latina woman on UK's campus. She explains how people always assume that she is white, but as soon as she starts talking and people hear her accent, they ask where she is from. She finds this disrespectful because they seem to not ask out of curiosity, but more because they are not sure why she is different. Because of experiences like these, she states that UK forces you to find people like yourself.

Keywords: Accents; Assumptions; Curiosity; Different; Disrespect; Experiences; Latina; Latino; Latinx; Talking

Subjects: Americans.; College environment; College students--Attitudes.; College students--Conduct of life.; College students--Social conditions; Culture & Civilization; Education--United States; Kentucky; Latino and Latin American profiles; Minorities in higher education; Universities and colleges.; University of Kentucky; Women.

Partial Transcript: So you mentioned a little bit earlier that you have an internship?

Segment Synopsis: Villalobos talks about the internship that she is currently a part of. She is a Diversity Scholar intern, and she heard about this from her "big" in her sorority. She also attended an event that they hosted, and she really wanted to be a part of organizing the event. She works at all library locations on campus, including the Little Library, the Special Collections Research Center, and William T. Young. At the Little Library, she made a display for the Day of the Dead. At Willy T., she learned about textiles and appreciated them more. At the SCRC, she worked with Ruth Bryan in the archive on a collection pertaining to UK athletics.

Keywords: Athletics; Day of the Dead; Diversity; Diversity and Inclusivity Interns; Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity at UK Libraries; Event organizing; Internships; Library; Lucille Caudill Little Fine Arts Library; Ruth Bryan; Sorority; Special Collections Research Center (SCRC); Textiles; UK; UK Libraries; Undergraduate Diversity Scholar Program Internship; William T. Young Library

Subjects: Athletics--America; College environment; College students--Attitudes.; College students--Conduct of life.; College students--Social conditions; Day of the Dead. Spanish; Diversity and aging; Education--United States; Minorities in higher education; Organization & public management; Sorority sisters, College; Universities and colleges.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: So, obviously, you know, it's a diversity internship in the libraries, so what has your been--but what has been your experience with diversity in UK's library system and even libraries as a whole?

Segment Synopsis: Villalobos says that she wants to see more diversity within the library system. She loves interning with Peter and learning more about her field. She talks about the Human Library event, working with "human books" who have conversations with strangers and teach them more about their lives. She then goes on to explain the relationship between the book and the reader.

Keywords: Diversity; Diversity and Inclusivity Interns; Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity at UK Libraries; Event organizing; Human Library; Human books; Interning; Internships; Learning; Library; Readers; Relationships; UK Libraries; Undergraduate Diversity Scholar Program Internship; William T. Young Library

Subjects: College environment; College students--Attitudes.; College students--Conduct of life.; College students--Social conditions; Diversity and aging; Education--United States; Minorities in higher education; Universities and colleges.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: So, looking a little bit farther out, what do you kind of hope to gain from the internship and what do you think you are going to gain?

Segment Synopsis: Villalobos talks about what she wants to gain from her internship. She says that she hopes to gain a lot of work experience, as well as understanding what goes into the libraries in regards to the staff, themes, etc. She also states how she loves working with her boss and how nice he is, so she wants to be able to have a boss that is as understanding and caring as her current one is.

Keywords: Bosses; Caring; Diversity and Inclusivity Interns; Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity at UK Libraries; Experience; Gain; Internships; Love; Nice; Staff; Supervisors; Themes; UK Libraries; Undergraduate Diversity Scholar Program Internship; Understanding; Work

Subjects: College environment; College students--Attitudes.; College students--Conduct of life.; College students--Social conditions; Education--United States; Internship programs.; Library use studies.; Minorities in higher education; Student.; Understanding; Universities and colleges.; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: So, kind of speaking about future career, uh, just as a wrap up thing, is there anything that you've learned during this internship that maybe you want to apply to your future career, whatever that may be?

Segment Synopsis: Villalobos states that she wants to apply many things from her current internship to her future as a lawyer. However, the most important one will be how much she reads, which will be important when she is a lawyer.

Keywords: Applying; Current; Diversity and Inclusivity Interns; Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity at UK Libraries; Important; Internships; Lawyers; Reading; Reads; UK Libraries; Undergraduate Diversity Scholar Program Internship

Subjects: College environment; College students--Attitudes.; College students--Conduct of life.; College students--Social conditions; Education--United States; Internship programs.; Law.; Lawyer and citizen; Minorities in higher education; Universities and colleges.; University of Kentucky