Wildcat Shoutout of the Week: Diana Robles

Student Shoutout: Diana Robles

Written by Emely A. Otsuka, ASO’s Chief Newsletter Senator

Happy Thanksgiving, Wildcats!

This week we’re launching a new project here at Wild West Newsletter: our very own Student Shoutout. Every once in a while, one student will be interviewed by the Newsletter staff to talk about their experience as a West LA College student. If you want to be featured, be on the lookout for a form that will be posted here and on our Instagram page, or send us an email at wildcatsatwest@gmail.com.

To start off this project, we have brought to you an exciting profile on Diana Robles, our current Community Relations Senator here at ASO.

[This interview was lightly edited to fit the written format.]

Diana Robles' picture.

Emely A. Otsuka: How has the online transition been for you with everything that happened? Was it easy or hard?

Diana Robles: The pandemic was out of nowhere. I was part of the Puente Program and my professor had prepared us for when we would be online but we didn’t know that that day was our last day. I did struggle a bit because I had a professor who was a little old-fashioned, I guess we could say, and had to learn how to use Zoom meetings, create passcodes, and do all the links. I would have trouble signing in.

From there, I was taking English and Counseling and it was easy because it was for Puente, so we continued reading books for that class. But for the other class, [with the old fashioned professor], I didn’t get the passcode. I would email her like four times telling her I’m trying to join. Everyone pretty much bailed on her. Like, I was the only student in the zoom meeting and we used to have 25 students in the class before.

E: Oh, My!

D: It was pretty hard for her to learn everything and then it was pretty hard for me, on my end, to be online and do everything on my own. You know, with time management. But luckily, I’m used to it.

E: Yeah, when I’m at home I think I have a lot of time to do my homework. But then you see the time and it's like “Oh my God, it’s due three hours!”

E: Okay, so what's your major?

D: My major is English.

E: Which school do you wanna transfer to?

D: Cal State Los Angeles or Cal State Northridge because I heard that their English program is really good. In high school, I went on field trips to colleges and I really liked those two campuses.

E: Do you wanna be a teacher after you graduate?

D: Yes, a teacher. I wanna teach abroad in Japan, France, Korea to teach English.

E: This Semester, how are your classes? Do you think now everybody is more organized compared to the last one?

D: In this semester I do believe everyone is more organized. By now, everyone knows what they need to focus on. As for the professors, I feel that they’re providing a little too much work because they’re trying to compensate for the 16 weeks that we’d have on campus. But my professors are really nice, they provide office hours every two weeks. So I’ve been talking to them and they have been really nice.

E: Now tell me about your experience with ASO. Why did you decide to join us? How did you find out about ASO? expensive. So, like, what, why did you decide to join us. How did you find out?

D - So basically I found out about ASO through Irene [our ASO Health Senator]. We’re both in the Puente Program and in it we have mentors assigned to us. Her mentor was your former ASO advisor, Susi, who told her about the student government and encouraged her to reach out to others who wanted to join. So Irene reached out to me.

In the beginning, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to join because she knows that I’m really shy and don’t like meeting new people. But she told me to do it and that I would love it. I said, “Okay, but there’s no way they’re gonna accept me.” So one day I see president Franly’s email, which said “Hey Diana, welcome to the team!” I was like “Irene, I got accepted. Thank you, thank you!”

E -. Why did you choose your position as a Community Relations Senator?.

Diana Robles: The position really spoke out to me because in high school, in order for us to graduate, we had to do 50 hours of community service. My friends joined a program called Big Citizen Hug where you would meet downtown, and they would take you to a gardening place or we would help the homeless. We would go to government places to learn behind the scenes. There were a lot of people in the program and we did things in a group.

Another thing that did was, on Martin Luther King Day, we had to do a lot of plants and flowers. I also got my first experience in the Women’s Right to March. That’s where I started to like helping my community.

After this program was completed, I joined my school’s National Honors Society, where we did fundraisers and we would sell food. That was my favorite part, selling food. We always would sell food for Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving. Our advisor was from Vietnam and would cook a lot of food and students would buy them a lot. We also sold them to professors.

Because of these experiences, I really like working with my community. I still need a lot of push, so when Irene told me about ASO and the roles of the positions, I thought “I want this position. It calls to me”

E - Why do you think it’s important to join campus organizations such as ASO, clubs, or Puente?

D: I feel like it’s important because students should be able to experience the campus, not just the classes. West LA College has so many opportunities to join [organizations], and I believe students should try just one or two to get that experience. My teachers in High School always told us to join clubs and different things that sparked our interests to get the full recognition of what the college is trying to do for us. It is important because you get to meet new people and you get to build up social networking skills. Essentially, in Puente, I met a lot of people and I had a good relationship with my professors. I also met Irene and some of my friends. So I feel it's good because you get to meet new people and get that [college] experience.

E: Alright, so now let’s talk about Diana outside of classes and college. Tell us anything that you like to do in your free time, your favorite movies or bands.

D: I love K-pop and I like to paint. I’m almost done with the paint by the numbers coloring book. That’s what I do in my free time. I’m a big Disney and Harry Potter fan, so I rewatch the movies all the time.

E: My last question is what is your advice for students?

D: Let's see. One piece of advice that I wanted someone to give me is to not put so much pressure on yourself and not stress yourself out. I would stress myself out much and I would cry almost every week because I was so overwhelmed. So I would have liked someone to tell me that it’s okay to go to Community College right after high school because that’s not a failure. You shouldn’t be upset because you’re saving money due to the Promise Program, and you will be at the same level as a four-year university. I wish I had someone to tell me to be my own person and not to be negative, to take it easy and slow. But at the same time, you deserve to be here, so don't be afraid. Where you are right now, you deserve it, so work hard and succeed.