Jasmin Espinoza, graduating with a sociology major, comes all the way from California to the amazing 10,000 lakes of Minnesota! Jasmin’s biggest involvement at St. Kate’s has been LSA (Latinx Student Association). Through this club, I was able to meet Jasmin and have her as someone I could call a ‘mom’. Jasmin’s position as the President of Latinx Student Association, brought her to bring young women, who identify as Latinx, to come into a tighter family circle this year. Through LSA I was able to have my favorite Mexican cultural food, thanks to Jasmin’s amazing cooking skills! It’s going to be sad to see Jasmin, my ‘mom’, go but I am so proud for what Jasmin has accomplished and proud that she will be graduating from St. Kate’s and starting her ‘adult’ life! Jasmin answered a few questions for us and here is what she has to say.
Q: You’ve made it to the last few days of your senior year. What’s the feeling like?
Jasmin: It is an overwhelming feeling. There is still some work that needs to get done, and I have been getting increasingly excited for commencement day. I have been at St. Kate’s for almost five years and I was beginning to feel as if graduation day was never going to come for me.
Q: What’s your favorite place on campus?
Jasmin: I have two places that I enjoy from time to time and one of those places is the MIPS office. The MIPS office is one of my favorite places because it is one of the few places on campus that made me feel at home. Being surrounded by a diverse group of staff that understood me as a college student of color was beneficial to me. The staff also served as a support system that was present in Minnesota while my family was in California. In one word to describe the MIPS staff woudl be, irreplaceable. My second favorite place on campus is the chapel. It took me a while to get used to the stone walls and darkness within the chapel, but as I spent more time inside the chapel I found that it is the perfect place to reflect and practice my Catholic faith. The chapel became a safe place for me when I found myself to be down on my luck or questioning my abilities of being both a student, creating a path of my own and being the daughter of immigrants that only want the best for me.
Q: That is an amazing answer Jasmin! How about an interesting question about the faculty and staff at our univeristy. If you could choose a faculty/staff to give a shoutout to, who would that be and what would you say?
Jasmin: I would like to give a shout out to Kimberly Munoz and this is what I would say to her:
“Kim, thank you for everything. I am happy that I met you my first year and that you have been here for my entire undergraduate career. With your help and your advice I am finally graduating. You are a great club advisor for LSA and after working with you for three years as an executive board member I know that the future board of LSA will have some ease with transitioning for the following year. I was lucky to work with you and you taught me how to improve my leadership skills and taught me some new Leaderships skills as well. LSA is lucky to have you as an advisor.”
Jasmin you are going to be missed, especially in the LSA community at St. Kate’s! Be super proud on graduation because ‘GIRL YOU MADE IT’! Thanks for accepting to be on our Special Senior Spotlight; you very much deserve it!