Hispanic Heritage Month Conversation Series – Episode 4
In our newest Conversation Series, we highlight and celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Between September 15 and October 15, we will share conversations with a selection of Region IV members who identify as Hispanic.
Episode 4
In Episode 4, we chat with Victoria Lopez-Herrera, Senior Associate Director with Campus Recreation at the University of Texas-San Antonio. Victoria shares her pathway to her current position, one that didn’t start in collegiate recreation. Victoria talks about her identity as a Chicanista and what that means, and how she celebrates and honors her heritage year round.
Throughout the conversation, she emphasizes the importance of continuous learning – about culture, about history, about tradition and ancestry, about identities. Finally, Victoria shares two really inciteful pieces of advice:
(Identify) your talents and investing in them so they become strengths. Take the time to figure out what you are good at, get better at it, and then do that all the time.
Spend time to explore who you are and what your voice is, because as we explore our voice, and we discover our own power, especially as people of color or other marginalized identities, our lived experience matters.
You can connect with Victoria via e-mail at Victoria.Lopez-Herrera@utsa.edu.
About Hispanic Heritage Month
Hispanic Heritage Month began in the late 1960s as a celebration of American citizens whose ancestry can be traced back to Spain, Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean (What is Hispanic Heritage Month, Time Magazine, 2017). Initially only a week long, it expanded to a full month in the late 1980s.
Instead of starting at the beginning of a month, the start date has significance. September 15th marks the independence day for five Latin American countries – Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatamala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The independence day for Mexico (16th), Honduras (18th) and Belize (21st) are close the 15th as well.
According to the official website for National Hispanic Heritage Month, Hispanic Heritage Month “pays tribute to the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society.”
