Punching holes in imposter syndrome
But Salinas’ confidence hasn’t always run so high. Shecredits her mentors in the Oklahoma LSAMP alliance with
helping build her up to a place where presenting her
research to an international audience seemed normal.
As someone who was born in the United States, butraised in rural Mexico, Salinas keenly felt like she didn’t
fit in as a student researcher. “It felt like I should be
working in the agricultural fields or in fast food. I didn’t
see people like me in research,” she says. But OK-LSAMP
directors Brenda Morales and Jason Kirksey, who is also
vice president for institutional diversity at Oklahoma State
University, flipped her perspective. “They made me see
the significance of my contributions to research.”
For Salinas, getting to Saudi Arabia on her own wouldhave been out of the question, but the experience helped
her overcome her doubts and her imposter syndrome.
“The idea of going to college seemed not doable. Then
I didn’t believe I was capable of finishing a degree,
especially not one in biochemistry and molecular biology,”
she says. “Even on my way to KAUST, I was thinking, ‘I’m
so lucky!’ But I missed an important point: I’ve actually
worked for this.”High cultural exchange rates
Of course, cultural exchanges happen beyond
laboratory walls too. Fox and Keyes both traveled
extensively through Europe and developed friendships
with other student researchers that carried forward into
graduate school.
The students from the All Nations LSAMP alliance who
traveled with Blevins to Costa Rica had a chance to visit
with the indigenous Boruca community to learn about
their history, see their dyed-fabric arts, and share a meal.
The visit left a deep impression on Blevins. “Sometimes
the issue of tribal lands rights feels victimizing, as if you
are the only tribe fighting these issues,” she says. “It was
mind-blowing to hear about another tribe’s land-rights
struggles in a dif ferent countr y.”
Salinas came away with unforgettable memories:
“You don’t really understand other cultures until you
immerse yourself in them and are fully surrounded by the
environment,” she says. Salinas shared a late-night Arabian
coffee chat with two Saudi Arabian students exploring the
region’s views on women, culture, and religion.Louis Stokes Alliances for
Minority Participation (LSAMP)
Across the United States, the 57 Louis Stokes
Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP)
provide professional development and
academic and financial support for both
undergraduate and graduate students from
historically underrepresented minority groups
in science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Created
in 2018, the Louis Stokes Regional NSF
International Center of Excellence (LSAMP-
NICE) is specifically charged with broadening
underrepresented student participation in
international collaborative research. LSAMP-
NICE is a collaboration of four institutions:
Salish Kootenai College, a tribal college in
Pablo, Montana (Steve Dupuis, LSAMP-NICE
PI); Jackson State University, a historically black
university in Jackson, Mississippi (Glake Hill and
Martha Mondoa-Tchounwou, co-PIs); Louisiana
State University, an R1, or research-intensive,
institution in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Zakiya
Wilson-Kennedy, co-PI); and the University
of Illinois at Chicago, an R1 and Hispanic-
serving institution (Denise Yates, co-PI). All
LSAMP projects are funded through the NSF
Broadening Participation initiative.Advertorial
“The idea of going to
college seemed not doable.
Then I didn’t believe I
was capable of finishing
a degree, especially not
one in biochemistry and
molecular biology... even
on my way to KAUST, I was
thinking, ‘I’m so lucky!’
But I missed an important
point: I’ve actually worked
for this.”
— Casandra Salinas
PHOTO: PROVIDED BY LSAMP