Hector Quijano: Meaning through Mentorship

Hector Quijano | he/him | CLAS ‘19

B.A. in Economics and Global Development Studies

Hector Quijano, a first-generation student from Stafford, Virginia, started his journey with a google search of “top schools in Virginia” his sophomore year of high school. This simple search would put UVA on his radar, but when Quijano came to tour the University, he found an inaccessibility to tours due to the absence of them being given in Spanish. The only option in this instance was paying at least $100 for an interpreter, leading him to interpret his own tour for his mother who was accompanying him. Even after this experience, the security of UVA being only two hours away and no other school feeling as right as when he was here on Grounds, led to getting into UVA becoming a goal of his. After receiving early action admission, things like his interest in business, UVA meeting 100% demonstrated need, and its rich history led him to eventually matriculate. 

 Being involved in UVA was something he knew he wanted to do as he wanted to be challenged both inside and outside the classroom. Involvements in his first year like the University Guide Service, The Peer Mentoring Program, and Research Experimental Lab through the Batten School provided ample room for growth and informative experiences for Quijano.  These seedling activities helped launch his involvement with other groups on grounds later in his university career.

“It definitely felt like the start of a brand new life, I was about to experience a whole bunch of things I never had access to before or that my family had access to before, so I was excited but also kind of nervous. ``I wanted to make sure that I never forgot where I came from.``My life at UVA is my life but it wasn’t my only life.”

UGS Meet the- A group of Latinx guides pose for a group picture at an event held each semester introducing new and old members of the guide service to their semesterly big guiding groups.

Members of the Peer Mentoring Program posing at retreat

When Quijano’s second year rolled around, he began seeking something more social and activity based. This led him to join the university’s salsa club as another outlet to meet people while also learning more dances and improving his current dancing skills in Bachata, Salsa, and Cha Cha. In salsa he met some of his best friends there, some of whom he still sees regularly. He also joined Second Year Council and learned how the larger class is served by the university on an administrative level, a type of leadership he valued and participated in during high school.

“Third year I felt I had learned so much and experienced so much throughout my time that I wanted to find a way to give that back to students.”

Quijano pictured with his dance partner and friends from Salsa club

During his first year while attending an LSA general body meeting, the guide service sent two people to encourage Latinx individuals to try out for guides. Already a member at this time, Quijano noticed how indifferent the speakers were toward presenting this information which led to overall feelings of disconnection. Quijano then went back to friends within guides and discussed how Latinx students have a hard time placing themselves in certain clubs and environments at the university due to there being lack a space where they can feel valued and qualified for in a way that didn’t feel like they are being tokenized. This inspired Quijano to run for recruitment co-chair in guides to combat this issue.

Knowing that this was not just unique to guides, Hector then sought to find out why many Latinx students felt this way in various spheres and involvements on Grounds. This eventually led to his third year where Quijano and some other friends involved in the Latinx community, came together, and developed the Latinx Leadership Institute (LLI). An organization meant to help Latinx students focus on themselves and the development of their identities that would more adequately allow them to take up space at UVA and learn of many of the opportunities that are available to students at UVA. LLI provided a space for students to discover what they wanted to do rather than fall into the traditional stress came from these areas at UVA. To build the curriculum, Hector and the other founders reached out to and recruited help from alumni, professors, workers, current students, and community members. LLI became Quijano’s passion project while at UVA and he was able to be LLI Director both his 3rd and 4th year.

During his first and second year, Quijano felt the Latinx community was very strong, however it felt very much situated in the Latinx identity instead of the greater university. What he had to realize with time is that his upbringing allowed for him to be successful in a space like UVA while another Latinx student may not be as prepared to enter the dynamics that pervade a predominantly white institution.

Slowly during his 4 years, the Latinx population grew from 3 to 5 percent, this surge which Quijano thinks stemmed from advocacy and demands for more resources and faculty. By the time he reached his 3rd and 4th year, the various Latinx organizations seemed to work more cohesively together to make collaborative change. Some organizations ended up taking a more radical approach while some took a more intuitional path, but both contributed to a better UVA.

“How do we not just strengthen the latinx community within the latinx community but how do we strengthen our community throughout the whole university to really make us feel like that this university is all of ours. It’s not 3% ours, It’s the entire university that can be accessible to us. This was the mission of LLI but also the mission of a lot of organizations in the community.”  

The first cohort of students and founders of the Latinx Leadership Institute

Despite Hector putting in tremendous effort during his time here to aid in accessibility and Latinx development at UVA, there were many things that were still missing on an institutional level. Quijano was uncertain of many things in the college process as a first-generation student, and things like translation of documents still added unnecessary stress to incoming Latinx students.  More resources dedicated to students and families who wanted to know more about financial aid packages, how to get involved with the university, or a network for parents that allows for the ability to connect about these things through means other than just a brochure was definitively missing from his university career. During his time at UVA, Hector also only had two Latinx professors, one of which being a visiting professor. Carmen Llamas, the permanent professor on grounds, ended up being one of Hector’s biggest mentors at UVA that he kept in contact with. Quijano remembers her creating and teaching so many classes with subjects that she may not have been the most educated about in order to meet the student demand, showing that the university needed to prioritize finding more faculty to grow the Latinx studies program.

During his time at UVA, Quijano was able to find ways to be more reflective of who he was and what it meant to be Latino and Latinx in other spaces. Although he never hid who he was throughout his life, it wasn’t something that he very openly expressed in detail. Coming to UVA gave him space to be present and open in a lot of spaces while also being Latino. During his 2nd year, Quijano came out as gay to friends and family. He contributes the decision to come out to his communities that provided constant support, love, and trust. The realization and authenticity he found in himself it came to his identity inspired him to help others with theirs.

“Those 4 years were kind of this oasis for me, away from family for a little bit, from other obligations, and other responsibilities to really focus on myself, and now post college I feel so much more aware and confident of who I am.”

As Quijano’s prepared to leave UVA in his 4th year, things like serving as Director of LLI for the last time, mentoring young students, and walking the lawn for graduation, became some of his favorite things to look back on. Advice he learned at UVA like not limiting yourself or making assumptions, understanding everyone has something to offer, that you are not going to be able to please everyone, learning to move on, making connections with people and professors, and aspiring to being a good mentor, are core lessons he learned during his time that he will carry with him throughout his life.