Episode 25 - Karina Mora: Season 3 Intro
Hola! Welcome back to Season 3! I’m Karina host of Elevating la Cultura podcast. Even though I was on a break from releasing podcasts, our community on instagram has been growing and the conversations there have been amazing! I’m so proud of the work we’re all doing in our own lives to elevate our cultures, and empower the next generation.
I’ve been reflecting since starting this podcast season, about how I’ve gotten to this place in my life. That’s kinda what you have to do when you want to educate others or even your own kids about the realities of this world. You have to do a lot of reflection on what you were taught, and how you might want to do things differently based on what you went through.
So I’m thinking through all of this as I prepare for this next season on education. And I’m like it’s really wild! I’m Mexican-American. I’m a business owner, married, and now homeschooling my two kids. I mean like WHAT? What is my life?
So I know there are many factors that have gotten me here, but I have to attribute a little bit in part to the experiences I had in my education. Let me start by saying that I really enjoyed going to school. My personality was perfect for the education system. I was very studious and would spend most evenings studying and doing homework so that I could get good grades. I was very thankful to my father who invested in my education after high school which allowed me to attend a 4 year university. Going to college was a huge priority for my family and it was pretty much what I worked for. I didn’t let anything distract my educational goals and did what was required so I could keep my scholarships and graduate.
Sometimes, when you’re just focused on getting through something like years of schooling, you don’t really know what’s going on and you just want to get to that finish line. At least that’s how I felt. I got through my four years so that I could get that diploma which would translate, hopefully, to a “good job”.
However I didn’t really know what I wanted at that age. I was simply following the only path I saw. And as I was going through the motions during my last year in college, I realized that I didn’t want to go into the profession I was getting my degree in.
Now I’m going to get a little personal but this is my story and I’ve come to reconcile with it. And I share because there might be someone else with similar thoughts or in a similar situation.
I went to a small liberal arts Christian university. My father had hopes of me getting an MBA but at the time I was involved in church ministry and I wanted to go into a creative field. My degree is a bachelors in worship arts with a focus on Leadership. During my time I studied in religion classes. I took music classes as well as music lessons. I actually know how to play piano and guitar, was trained vocally, and even took a little bit of drum lessons. This is all something I haven’t really shared publically pero aquí estamos.
I also studied radio broadcasting, video production, film photography, graphic design, and plenty of communications classes. I almost switched to a communications degree and almost had enough credits to make it a minor. But I didn’t want to stay in college longer than I had to. Haha.
Anyway at the end of my four years I did not want to work at a church which is essentially what my studies prepared me for but thankfully I had enough insight to take a variety of classes that would give me the foundation to pursue any creative craft.
I share this because a lot of our experiences in high school or college influence the rest of our adult life. For example, many people meet their spouse in college and get married like I did. People might decide to continue their education to get their Master’s or Doctorate because they’re clearer on the path they want to pursue.
However, after college I was a little lost. I knew pursuing a creative field wasn’t going to be easy. It didn’t have a clear roadmap like I was used to.
I also ended up having kids pretty soon after getting married which shifted things for me. Especially in the way that I wanted to create a home/life/work balance.
Let’s go back to looking at my foundation. My mom was a stay at home mom. My father was an entrepreneur and still is. This man always valued learning whenever he got the chance and now in his 60s he has gotten his real estate license and is in the process of selling his first house! I mean he’s literally showing us that there’s no wrong age to shift and pivot and start something new.
Anyway I knew I wanted to work for myself but I also saw the value of my mom being present in our lives which is something I also wanted too. So I decided I wanted to try homeschooling my kids. I loved the flexibility, creativity, and the fact that I could be with them and they could just do life alongside me.
And once I started I’ve just continued and found there needed to be more representation in this space since homeschooling is predominantly a white space. And I wanted other Latine families to see it being done.
The first year I started homeschooling my daughter was the one where I really had to think through the things I knew about my education life and start deconstructing them. The hardest part wasn’t going through an actual curriculum, but working on my own mindset and ingrained ideas around education. I have a Type A personality which is probably why I love going to school and getting good grades. I took pride in getting recognition and doing a good job. It became my identity…but when I started homeschooling it turned everything I had thought about school on its head. There are no “grades,” there’s no “right way to homeschool”, there’s no one telling ME I’m doing a good job, I had to start shifting the way I thought about education in general, and how I wanted to construct this space for my kids.
Now I know this is a privilege. I work for myself which allows me to homeschool. My husband also works full time allowing us to have a steady income. We have made many sacrifices to have this lifestyle work because it was a value for our family. I also am not someone who sees homeschooling as the best option. I just see it as an option, and something that is working for us in this season.
I’ve been able to dream and plan ahead for my kids futures and help other Latine families see that homeschooling, while unconventional, is possible and they have a friend in me to help them through it if they want. This was especially true in the year 2020 when everyone had to shift the way their kid’s schooling looked like. I was happy to be a support for those who needed it.
With this season I want to elevate Latinas in the education space because I know education is the foundation for our kids and can really be influential for the rest of their lives. I want to help listeners hear stories and have hope that there are people advocating for our kids, doing all they can for the next generation, and inspiring parents to do the same for their own kids.
There are so many of us who are trying to make changes in the education space even among the youngest ages. I’m so proud to know each of my guests and to learn alongside you as we are encouraged by their stories so that we can come alongside our kids to provide a safe space for them as they go on to figure out life.
I’m so excited for this Season. It’s going to be great! So subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss when an episode goes life. You can also watch on YouTube to see our the passion behind our conversations. I also encourage you to share with others because the more people we have talking about education in the Latine community the easier it will be to make a collective change for a better future.
There will be a new episode every Tuesday, so after you listen feel free to take a screenshot to post on IG and tag @elevatinglacultura or send me a DM. You can also comment on our YouTube video if you’re watching online. I always like to hear from people and how they resonate with the stories I share. SO leave a review on apple podcasts so we can get more ears listening to these stories and we can continue elevating la cultura. Alright, enjoy the rest of the day/afternoon/evening whenever you’re listening, y nos vemos next week.
