MEDFORD, Ore. – Luis Berrios-Hayden \u2013 an SOU Environmental Science & Policy major, director of the Student Sustainability Center and McNair Scholar \u2013 has received the Northwest Association of Educational Opportunity Program\u2019s Scholastic Achievement Award.<\/p>\n
The NAEOP Scholastic Achievement Award is a $1,500 scholarship given annually to students in the federal TRIO programs who exhibit outstanding scholastic achievement while overcoming barriers to educational success. TRIO is a collection of federal programs that serve students from disadvantaged backgrounds, including low-income, first-generation and those who are otherwise disenfranchised.<\/p>\n
Coming from a low-income background as a first-generation college student and a second-generation U.S. citizen, Berrios-Hayden ticks many of TRIO\u2019s boxes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up speaking Spanish at home and English everywhere else, and so I\u2019ve had a lot of barriers in terms of just not having college be normalized in my world, in my upbringing,\u201d Berrios-Hayden said. \u201cI didn\u2019t have anyone to tell me this is what to expect, this is what you should do.\u201d<\/p>\n
He first went to school at the University of Buffalo in New York, but had to stop his studies part-way through to deal with personal matters. Berrios-Hayden then went to a cooking school and got a degree in culinary arts. After working as a chef for several years, he realized he wanted to go back to college and get a bachelor\u2019s degree, eventually landing at SOU.<\/p>\n
He started his SOU journey as an interdisciplinary major \u2013 incorporating sociology, outdoor adventure leadership and communication \u2013 but transitioned fully into the Environmental Science and Policy degree program after a particularly noteworthy Raider Alternative Break.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went to Cascade Head (in Tillamook County) to help with trail maintenance in order to help establish and regenerate the habitat for the\u00a0silver-spotted butterfly,\u201d Berrios-Hayden said. \u201cWhile I was on that trip I realized that everyone I was there with I had no connection to in terms of identity and background \u2013 we were all super different, from race to sexuality to actual ability to neural diversity \u2013 they were all very different.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was on that trip that I realized it wasn\u2019t necessary for us to talk about our differences for us to feel like a unit, to feel like a team, to feel like a cohesion. All we needed was a common goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The social justice aspect of SOU\u2019s\u00a0Environmental Science and Policy program\u00a0curriculum wasn\u2019t initially apparent to\u00a0 Berrios-Hayden, but he was able to satisfy his passions for both sustainability and social justice by expanding his reach. He joined the\u00a0Student Sustainability Center\u00a0\u2013 then called ECOS \u2013 as a civic engagement coordinator, connecting students with community service opportunities in Ashland and the Rogue Valley. He put on workshops that focused on social justice issues relevant to the Rogue Valley, including an experiential sleep-out event designed to teach students about homelessness. Now the Sustainability Center\u2019s student director, he runs equity round-tables, creating opportunities for the community to come together and discuss sustainability and social justice issues.<\/p>\n
Berrios-Hayden threw himself into his work both with the Sustainability Center and in the classroom. Vincent Smith, an associate professor and chair of the Environmental Science and Policy program, is particularly impressed with Berrios-Hayden\u2019s work.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuis is one of the most active class participants I have ever met,\u201d Smith said. \u201cHe refuses to leave a topic or discussion without a stronger understanding of the topic. His questions demonstrate a remarkable capacity for critical thinking and a complete unwillingness to settle for no answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuis is going to find a way to contribute to a better future, regardless of how much effort will be required to accomplish that task,\u201d Smith said. \u201cLike so many of our students at SOU, Luis does not yet know his potential.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Environmental Science and Policy program teaches students about the complexity of natural systems, natural resource use and sustainability, enabling them to appreciate and solve dynamic environmental issues. Students research and address issues such as climate change, water resource management, energy use, sustainable development and the conservation of biodiversity.<\/p>\n
Berrios-Hayden was accepted into the\u00a0McNair Achievement Program, a TRIO program that helps students from underrepresented communities prepare for graduate school. Through McNair, he was able to do two summer internships. The first was an experiment with mycoremediation \u2013 the process by which fungi-based technology can decontaminate an environment. Berrios-Hayden\u2019s interest was sparked when he learned that mycorrhizal fungi can aid in the growth of plants, pushing him to do a literature review on fungi remediation for his second internship.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned a lot about (mycoremediation) and it augmented my interest in the science component of sustainability and environmental science,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I\u2019m hoping that\u2019s the direction that my career goes in. I\u2019m interested in regenerative ecology and restorative ecology.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite his academic and extracurricular success, Berrios-Hayden still deals with the consequences of how the world treats him.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably the biggest struggle that I have is self-doubt,\u201d he said. \u201cThe images that I\u2019ve grown up with of people that look like me are of thieves and thugs and rapists, and so a lot of that unfortunately really penetrates into our psyche.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s pretty normal for individuals from marginalized populations to struggle with self-doubt and self-deprecation and not know their worth. Having faculty and friends reflect back the potential that they saw in me was really supportive and helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MEDFORD, Ore. – Luis Berrios-Hayden \u2013 an SOU Environmental Science & Policy major, director of the Student Sustainability Center and McNair Scholar \u2013 has received the Northwest Association of Educational Opportunity Program\u2019s Scholastic Achievement Award. The NAEOP Scholastic Achievement Award is a $1,500 scholarship given annually to students in the federal TRIO programs who exhibit outstanding scholastic achievement while overcoming barriers to educational success. TRIO is a collection of federal programs that serve students from disadvantaged backgrounds, including low-income, first-generation and those who are otherwise disenfranchised. Coming from a low-income background as a first-generation college student and a second-generation U.S. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3430,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n