S-Stem Scholar Jaira Munoz Zavala's Blog

Something that I learn about cultural intelligence and cultural responsiveness is to first have cultural openness and cultural awareness. From what I understood one has to be open to learn about other people's culture with an open mind. However, this doesn't mean to be invasive or assume somebody's cultural background.  I like the definition of  Business professors P. Christopher Earley and Elaine Mosakowski about cultural intelligence. They define it as “an outsider’s seemingly natural ability to interpret someone’s unfamiliar and ambiguous gestures the way that person’s compatriots would.”  This means to have the ability to relate to people from other cultures by empathizing and actively working to understand customs and norms of other cultures besides our own  ( What Is Cultural Intelligence and Why Is It Key to Business? – Nationwide , n.d.). Now, according to the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCREST), “cultural responsiveness is the ab

   TRAIN MIXER, AND ASU OPPORTUNITIES This semester there were not many transfer train students at ASU. I was sitting on the Forensics table with Dr. Weidner and a classmate. I believe only three or so students were transferring. Thus, I didn't have the opportunity to talk to them. The only person I talked with, who was planning to be a TRAIN student, was a computer major. When I attended this meeting and was a community college student, there were other students interested in forensics science. I was surprised there were none this time. Back then, I was nervous about finding a professor to work with. When I first enrolled at ASU, I was an Arts student in Tempe. I saw how competitive it was just to be noticed in a normal class. I was overwhelmed, and believed that it would be impossible to get an opportunity--for anything. At ASU West, it is way easier to receive the help you need, and it is easier to approach professors.  For people interested in working in research, in Forensics,

SPRING 2023, FINALLY A SENIOR! I've been an undergraduate for a looong time. When I first decided to do two majors, I thought time would fly, but now I feel anxious. I want to graduate already! This semester, I'm taking too many classes (+18 credits). Two of them are studio classes: Foundry and Art & Science. I enrolled in Foundry to work on my honors thesis. Some of the pieces that I'll be presenting will be made out of metal. Also, I needed to pay the fee to use the studio during this semester. The second class focuses in science communication. We will be sculpting the research of some professors.  In West campus, I'm taking required classes for Forensics. The one I'm excited about is Forensic Toxicology. Even though I hate Chemistry, I find Forensic Toxicology really interesting. I'm also taking a DNA typing class. This one is not required, but I will be learning the material taught in Molecular Biology. Now, I'm not enroll in "Forensic Science S

Databases Before I started this class I believed that a database was the same as a spreadsheet. Like many people I used the term interchangeably. Spreadsheet is  data stored in a cells, so technically it is an organized collection of information. However, they are static documents (excel) while databases can be relational.  Databases are flexible and they can contain "relation data" which is data that can be connected across more than one table.  At the beginning of this class we learned some functions in excel. We learned functions like if, countif, vlookup,  named ranges; also, we learned to used for  multiple worksheets in one workbook. From there, we moved on to learn how r elational databases and how they differ from spreadsheets. We learned about attributes and primary keys. From there, we started working in our ER diagram. We obtain our clean data from a website called CORGIS. We had to find the entities, attributes, primary keys and relationships. The last part of the

End of Spring 2022   For my Mental and Physical Health: From this semester, I learned to leave one day of the week for myself—either for cleaning, resting, reorganize, or do something for myself. I didn’t do that in this semester, and that took a hit on my grades. I have to learn to say no. If it affects my health, it is not worth it. For my career goals: Now that I’m close to finishing my two majors, I noticed that I haven’t work in what I originally wanted. I started to keep an agenda (an actual book). In cases where I don’t finish items of one day, I work on them the next day. I’m keeping a note to remember to make time for: –        Practicing sculpting faces –        Studying for the MCAT –        Look for opportunities about Forensic Anthropology. I will continue working in the Forensic Entomology lab because I like it, but I’m aware that it is not my end goal. However, having experience in research will be helpful. Advice: I believe what helped me to continue i

 Factors influencing participation of underrepresented students in STEM fields (and my own influences) According to the article, there are multiple factors that affect the participation of students in the STEM field. These can be intrinsic psychological and external environmental variables. The article, focuses in the intrinsic psychological factors. It mentions that the academic mindset are keys beliefs of a student. For instance, it was already discussed before the different between a growth mindset and fixed mindset. A student with a fixed mindset will most likely fail to achieve the goal because they will fail to try after failing once. On the other hand, a student with growth mindset will continue trying, and learning from mistakes. Another factor is the feeling of belonging in STEM. Having this feeling will have a positive impact on academic achievement and retention in STEM . I believe that my identity affected my mindset. My parents always reminded that they work hard so that