Latina Identity, Heritage, and Culture
Defining a personal and professional brand
Beat
College By Sofia Ciro
Ph.D. Student
Culture, Literacy and Language
The University of Texas at San Antonio
Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies
Active Duty Officer, U.S. Air Force
Sofia and her children, Emily and Cannon,
accompanied her to UTSA graduate
orientation prior starting her Ph.D. The
University of Texas in San Antonio
(Campus), 2019.
professional branding by capitalizing on my heritage,
my Latina identity flourished.
My cultural and language skills continuously
play a rewarding function leading and mentoring
Sofia posing with a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle.
diverse young men and women serving and aspiring
Kyrgyzstan, Manas international airport, 2010.
Ato join the military. Placing myself as Latina at
s a Latina in the U.S., I have developed
changed is that there are slightly more women in
the core of my personal and professional branding
a unique identity and broaden my
service, and more Latinos in the military.
led me to an opportunity I did not plan, nor I aspired.
perspectives. However, it was when I
Nevertheless, I still find myself to be the
As I approached retirement eligibility, I was
decided to polish my personal and professional
only Latina in the room. For a number of years, I
unexpectedly, yet highly competitively selected as an
branding, by capitalizing on my heritage, that I
witnessed how military women, more often than our
Air Force Institute of Technology military-sponsored
realized that marketing my culture, language skills,
military male counterparts, transition into civilian life
student. It was an opportunity I could not pass.
and myself as Latina, has a significant value towards
as a way to not only pursue an education, but to also
Today, I am pursuing a Ph.D. in Culture, Literacy,
the way I pursue an education and professional
mitigate raising a family without having to bear the
and Language at the University of Texas in San
opportunities.
additional demands associated with fulfilling
Antonio. After completing my Ph.D., I will join the U.S.
I was born in Colombia; both my mother and
rigorous military commitments. For these reasons, I
Air Force Academy faculty as a Spanish language
father have dual citizenship U.S. and Colombian. I
became even more determined to counter these
professor. I share this to illustrate how I found unique
spent my childhood in Colombia, and at age 14, my
challenges by pursuing an education, not as a way to
opportunities that resulted from placing my Latina
family and I permanently relocated to Miami Florida.
be more competitive, but as a way to capitalize on my
identity at the heart of my personal and professional
After graduating from high school, I joined the U.S. Air
heritage. Therefore, I asked myself, how can the U.S.
branding. As Latinas, our personal and professional
Force. During my early years of military service, I
Air Force benefit from my heritage, culture, language
branding has a tremendous value. Our branding
found myself either being the only woman in the
skills, and essentially from me being Latina. I looked
showcases our heritage, culture, and commitment
room or the only Latina amongst the small groups of
for all available options that the military offered. I was
to cultivate opportunities and empower generations
servicewomen. After my first four years in the
confident that I would stand out and be recognized as
of Latina leaders in our families, communities, and
enlisted corps, I was awarded an academic
Latina. I was determined to exploit my culture and
our nation. LS
scholarship to commission in the officer corps.
language skills towards growing the U.S. Air Force’s
Want to comment or have any
As I continue to serve, and after 20 years of
Language, Regional Expertise, and Culture
questions on this article? Email us
military service, the only thing that has noticeably
enterprise. The moment I built my personal and
at info@latinastyle.com
44 www.latinastyle.com LATINAStyle Vol. 26, No. 6, 2020
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