Iris Rivera- González

I attribute my success to my mom. My mom did not go to school - I think she just finished second grade because she was one of the oldest and had to stay home to take care of the younger ones. I remember growing up, she would tell all of us, because I have 4 sisters, and mostly to us, she would tell us, you need to go to school. You need to go to school, you need to finish, you need to have a career. I didn't understand why until I finished my degree, I got married, and then I got divorced. That's when I understood why she was so consistent for all of us to go to school and have a degree. In my mind, I understood, now that I'm older, that if she had the opportunity to study, she wouldn't stay with my dad. That's how I see it now. She didn't have those opportunities, and she wanted to make sure that she instilled in me and my siblings to go after those opportunities that are there for us. I remember coming from school in third grade and she telling me, remember that you need to do well in school. She changed the whole trajectory of our family. Being the oldest and the first one going to college, going to grad school, completing all the things that I've done, I was an example for my sisters, because all my sisters, they have degrees now, as well.

The best career advice I ever received was not to be afraid of changes. I was so comfortable teaching that when the idea of doing something else came to be, I was really scared. I remember my supervisor at that time told me, don't be afraid of it. You're good at what you do, you're going to learn new skills, and you will excel on it, so don't worry about it. Of course, thinking that I'm much older than most of my colleagues, that was scary. But that was the best advice: don't be afraid, don't be scared, you can do it.

They need to network, and do good networking. Let themselves be seen by others. Let them be seen as capable professional persons that whatever she wants to do, she can do it if she puts her mind on it. But networking is one of the best tools, or weapons, for at this moment, at this time in history, for anyone if she wants to be in this industry.

Right now, it's really difficult to move up. Taking into account the economy, it's hard to move laterally on my field, or up. It's especially hard to get more money for that move. You can take on more responsibilities all day long, but they don't want to pay us more for what we do. Since we, my group, there are 3 of us, we are excellent at what we do. Sometimes we feel that we are like a rubber dough that everyone is pulling from different areas, because we are the only ones in our group that know everything that goes in the other areas. I've seen situations where someone with years of experience and high salary retires, and the college hires multiple people at much lower pay grades to replace them. They got away with it and saved money while they were at it. I'm pretty sure it's happening everywhere, not just in academia.

My work ethic is really strong, and I pride myself on it. I'm really honest. I'm very punctual. I don't like things or tasks half done, or half completed - that's a big no-no for me. At home is totally different, because it's my house, so I can be more lenient with things at home. If I need to do chores, I can do that later, but at work, I'm very strong in my work ethic.