Interview with Mary Kay De Guzman
Transcription of interview with Mary Kay De Guzman
PTSP Chairperson 2014-2015
Date of interview: March 13, 2019
Location: Los Angeles, CA 90024
Interviewer: Michaela Serafica
- 2018-2019 Chairperson of the Pilipino Transfer Student Partnership
- Pilipino Transfer Student Partnership = PTSP
- Mary Kay De Guzman = MK
- Michaela Serafica = MS
- Samahang Pilipino = SP; Samahang Pilipino Education and Retention = SPEAR; Samahang Pilipino Advancing Community Empowerment = SPACE
- MOU = Memorandum of Understanding
MS: Could you tell me about what the state of the Pilipino Transfer Student Partnership was at during time? So, for example, how did you plan your events, or how did you measure what the community needs were at the time?
MK: Well we tried to put a lot of things in place because we didn’t have a lot to work with when we started our terms. So, um, like, we gathered evidence, like the Google drive was pretty much the only thing that was passed along. Uh, e did have some binders from previous years that had some information but our year was the first one to actually pass down our full Google drive so that everything we had worked on, everything we had created could be passed down to the next year. Um, like I still have access to drive because it’s the same drive that you guys are using right now. Um, but, we wanted to start research further into what exactly Pilipino transfers needed for the most part. What we went off of was our own experiences and what was nice about, you know, our board, was that we did have vastly different experiences throughout the board because, um, part of our board members were not necessarily super involved the year previous. And so they were involved in other things and so therefore had a different transfer experience than, you know, some of the other board members. We were also well connected to the other organizations because of the involvements that our board members had previously. Um, one of the things that we really saw was disconnection to the whole community. Uh, when we came into PTSP, um, and our board experienced a very small club, a very tight knit, a very secluded club. And, there was a lot of, uh, what’s the word, uh, well it’s close to hostility. It’s really hostility because well it’s not that far but uh PTSP did not necessarily um get along well with the other Pilipino organizations, in the [ways?] we were very connected. And so that was one of the things that we wanted to make sure that we brought in because one of the things that transfers, like we have a hard time building relationships because there’s only two years that we have necessarily, or three years. And so one of the things we wanted to build was uh, transfer experience within the organization and outside of the organization, being well connected. So we tried to build, good bridges with Samahang and building good bridges with the [Transfer Leadership Coalition] and um, being a large presence in [the Transfer Center] and also making sure that we passed that along to our members and really focused on building our membership because our board had experienced having maybe five to ten people total in general membership. And only half of them were really involved throughout the year. So, we really wanted to make sure that the organization was more of an organization, had more members, had more variety, had more experiences you know, so that you know the connections could be built. And we also wanted to focus on making sure that our our members knew the importance of giving back and reaching out to people that are at like ElCo, like being part of Bayanihan and everything that it entails and hopes to accomplish. Because the other thing that we know is that the transfer experience can be lonely, and the transfer experience can be difficult, so being able to guide people that want to get to our position and be able to transfer and finish their college career was really important to us to make sure that we built that bridge, too, with SPACE and with the ElCo site.
MS: Thank you for that. I do have a follow up question. So, it sounds like when you stepped up into board, PTSP was sort of at a very different state. Could you speak to what was going on in the years before your board stepped up? … I just wanna know what happened between the time it was founded and now .. it sounds like PTSP kind drifted away from the original message it was founded on. Could you speak to that a little bit?
MK: From what our board understood, PTSP was founded because the transfer experience wasn’t fully met and it wasn’t fully focused on and the needs of the transfer community were not being emphasized because it is different from the traditional students’ [experience]. And so instead of making that something that we could build on, I feel like throughout the years it was more of an alienating experience which caused a drift. Because when you look at other, like it’s nice that we have our own organization, that transfers have our specific organization within the Pilpino community. Because when you look out at all the other colleges, like transfers go seamlessly into their Pilipino organizations too. So, for us it didn’t make sense, but then to see like I guess the different ideologies, with like Samahang it tends, you know, they’re very ingrained with different things at UCLA that transfers might not necessarily understand, or really have a good ground in or want to have a good ground in because there’s only so things that transfers can focus on at once. Because you know there’s only so much time for us to complete you know not only our education but also whatever opportunities there are to prepare us for our future careers. And, I feel like a lot of the different goals that transfers have opposed to traditional students’ [goals] within UCLA and the Pilipino community really kept a difference between them. And so, um, instead of having a place where things could get focused on. Yeah the transfer experience was focused on but only by transfer students, as opposed to every student. Um, and, and because we were surrounded by only ourselves, then only our mindset, only our thoughts, only our ideologies of what was the transfer experience was what was amplified, as opposed to different perspectives and different experiences, that kind of thing. And, you know, because we’re such a niche organization too, that can deter some people from being part of it or being a large part of the organization. And with the turnover from year to year, a lot of the ideas and like intentions of like previous can get lost throughout every year. And so, you know, we can only imitate what we say. And if we only get a portion of the year before, and only see mostly our current year or the year before us, then we’ll amplify whatever we’ve seen previously. And I think when my board came into PTSP, um, it was very much moreso a social environment as opposed to, you know, really relying on the three pillars that PTSP was founded on. Like the three R’s, like we focused much more on recruitment, but even then, like, it was hit or miss. And a lot of that too is because, again, we’re transfer students we have two years to complete what we need to do and we can only focus on so much at a time.
MS: I think we only have time for one more question if that’s alright. So, could you name specifically, maybe, two or three specific ways that your board kind of changed or addressed the structure of PTSP?
I think mainly for us, in building the relationship with Samahang, uh, one was we attempted to finalize the MOU between SPACE, SP, and PTSP. Uh, to make sure that you know … because the MOU was not signed, then our partnership isn’t necessarily solidified. And we thought that was weird because if we had this partnership, at any time, because SPACE is really Samahang’s organizations underneath it. They could do whatever they want without us. And that’s what it felt was happening. And so we wanted to make sure we honored the MOU and made sure that was being honored by because it was signed between the two organizations. And, part of that, we experienced a lot of negativity between PTSP and Samahang in that there was a lot of ill will spoken and that’s just because people didn’t agree with other people, not necessarily the organizations didn’t agree with the organizations. But the people we ... to didn’t necessarily want to be a part of Samahang. And so, what our board did was one, shut up about being negative and being as positive as we can. Especially in speaking with our general membership as well being involved as much as we can in Samahang, like being present at general meetings for Samahang, being involved in their programming, supporting SPEAR and SPACE, making sure everyone had a counselor, promoting Bayanihan so that SPACE could get the support of PTSP, being present at site as much as we possibly could, and really being present in the internship, and encouraging our transfers to be part of the internship. So, uh, we just wanted to make sure that Samahang was another resource for our transfers. Because Samahang is our mother organization, in the end, they’re the largest Pilipino organization that has influence and has clout within, you know, all of the organizations within UCLA. So, they have better reach to resources and can have more say in what happens in, you know, the different programs we are a part of. So being a presence makes sure our needs are shown. And that’s what we really wanted to make sure, that we weren’t just a social organization. That we were emphasizing all three R’s and not just one or the other.
