124: Personal Updates as a Chicana Academic Coach Living Abroad

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Welcome back, everyone to the Grad School Femtoring podcast. Today I have a solo episode for you. It's actually a shorter episode, a quick update, on life in Portugal- my life as a Chicana, academic coach living abroad. Why am I talking about this? Because recently in my coaching meetings, consultation meetings, and even meetings doing recordings with guests, I'm realizing that there's a good part of the people connecting with me- via social media and email and other sources- who are new and don't know as much about my background. And they find it so interesting and sometimes even jaw dropping to hear that I moved my family abroad to Portugal. It's not a common story that you hear among the first gen student of color spaces.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

So I myself, a first generation woman of color, Chicana academic, mother, scholar- I went to college wanting, desiring a good career, financial stability, to help others. I went from college, not surprisingly, then on to grad school, thought I was going to become a professor. Then changed my mind, decided to stay in higher ed and do good work there as a staff member. And then decided to risk a lot to leave my job, start my own business and move my family abroad in pursuit of a better life. My story is not unique in that this is the story of migration. These are the migration stories that you hear- folks moving, desiring something better.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

That was the case for me as someone with a chronic illness, with two kids, someone who wanted to have a slower pace, wanted to have affordable access to health care. I found a country that checked off all of the boxes, and we moved sight unseen and risked so much to do this. And how am I doing? The overwhelming answer and feeling that I get is that I'm doing well, and that I feel peaceful. Does that mean that everything is great? No. Does that mean that Portugal is perfect? No. Definitely not. But I'm in a much better spot.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Why? Because I'm living in a country with a slower pace of life. It's not the end of the world if you're late. It's not the end of the world if something takes longer than a few days to get done. I'm also living in a country where people overall- not everybody, but overall- people tend to be nice. I guess I forgot what that was like. But there's not this sense of entitlement. There's not this sense of hostility that I would encounter in different parts of California. I'm living in a place where I'm constantly humbled, because I don't know the primary or the dominant language. I am learning Portuguese. Esto aprendiendo Portuguese. But I'm not fluent. That's humbling to me to become a student again, and it just reminds me of my own parents' journeys moving to another country, not knowing much about it, but with the hope of better opportunities.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

And it is because of my parents and their sacrifices- especially my mom, as a single mom. My dad passed away when I was really young unexpectedly, and my mom then became a single mom to six kids and was able to provide for us because she had her own business. She has her own Botanica or religious articles store, spiritual store. To have grown up with a single mom who had her own business, who sacrificed so much to move to another country, and then myself go on a parallel path- not the same. I definitely have different circumstances, adifferent set of privileges than she does- thanks to her and her sacrifices. But a parallel path of moving abroad in pursuit of something better, risking so much, starting all over, and with the hope of providing better opportunities for my children as well.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

It's not just for me, but it's also for our family that we moved here. It's to have more time together. There's a lower cost of living here, so I don't have to work as much. In fact, I have not replaced my former income with my business. My business is doing okay in that I am surviving. But I'm hopeful that with enough time- because it takes time for things to grow- that I will have a thriving business, not just a business that's surviving. I just wanted to share with you because thinking about my former self, that shy little girl who didn't know how to speak English when she started school, who grew up so sheltered and had no idea that there was this entire world outside of that's small city that she's from. There's a whole world outside of the state and the country that she's from. If you had told me that this would be my life, I would not believe you.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

I want to share this update to let you know that overwhelmingly, I'm doing well. Things are not perfect, but I'm doing well. And I'm glad that I listened to my body. I'm glad that I listened to that - it sounds silly. But that intuition. It was like my ancestors were calling me to move to migrate, to transform. And I'm here and it's happening, and I cannot believe it. I still struggle. I still have my fluctuations when it comes to my mental health, when it comes to my physical health. But I'm in a much better space. And I can feel myself just every day, every week, things are getting better.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Hopefully, this is kind of a word of hope- just to remind you, as a listener, that your life can change completely in not that long of a period of time. I mean, I recorded an episode before on planting seeds, and kind of everything that led to me starting GSF, the Grad School Femtoring podcast, and then in turn, Grad School Femtoring as an LLC. But to now be in the space where I'm regularly coaching. I'm hosting workshops. I've got an organizing and budgeting 101 workshop that I'm doing tomorrow. I'm super excited about it. It's two full hours. It's two workshops in one. But it's everything that I wish that someone had taught me about budgeting and setting money goals and spending in a way that's aligned with your values and how to keep track and all those things.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

And then- organizing setting up work systems. How do you do that? I'm a big fan of the how. I hear a lot of people say - just do this or just do that, as if things are easy. But things have never been that easy for me. I'm always asking how, how, how? Show me. Show me the template. Show me the how to video. Show me how you navigate that website. As a first gen student and child of immigrants, the how is so important to me. The method, the way in which you do things, is something that I have this personal investment, obsession, whatever you want to call it. So that's what I teach others. I show them the how, because it's the how that empowered me.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

It's not just go do this. It's no- can you actually show me? That's what I do in my coaching sessions, and I think that's why they've gone overwhelmingly positive, at least up to this point. People say, oh my goodness, that was so helpful. Oh my goodness, I had no idea. Whatever it is that I'm showing them, it's the how that matters to me. But anyway, I'm rambling a little bit more. But I wanted to say that. My life now consists of working from home, coaching, working on workshops, podcasting, and writing. I am writing a book proposal right now, and hopefully will be writing a book soon. Grad School Femtoring guid- again, all about the how, the how to apply to grad school. What we're calling it is the book for the 99%. The book for the folks who don't have perfect GPAs, for the folks who don't have all the research experience, the folks who have taken time off, the folks who have a life outside of academia.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

It's for students of color, the first gen students, for disabled students. It's for students who have not felt that they have been seen or heard or felt or represented in some way shape or form with the big books- the grad school app books that you see that are coming from Kaplan, or from Princeton Review, or the big name people who have published. I want to write the book for the folks who have not seen themselves reflected, and teach them how to apply and get into grad school and navigate it because it's not the easiest process. It's not always a supportive space. So I want you to feel empowered in your decisions that you make to help you with your career and with ultimately pursuing a life that you've always wanted, a life that is sustainable, that is value aligned. A life that brings you joy.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

That's it. That's my short episode this week. Hope you found this helpful, and I will talk to you all next week.