Interview with Josselin Chun

By Rebecca Cutter

December 16, 2020

Josselin Chun received a scholarship from The Garden’s Edge when she was in middle school and high school. She later moved to New Mexico to learn English and to study at the University of New Mexico. The following interview was conducted in November 2020, one month before Josselin graduated from UNM with a bachelor’s degree in communications.

Your grandfather was one of the founders of the Asociation Qachuu Aloom. Tell us more about him, and what drew him to do this work?

My grandfather, Virgilio Chun Tum, was from the community of Xeabaj, in Rabinal Baja Verapaz, Guatemala. He was the president of the COCODE (A group of leaders in the community) for many years. As part of his responsibilities, he maintained the path to the community spring, where the water came from the mountain, and he kept the spring clean. This way everyone was able to get water to their faucet. People loved him for his leadership and his love for the community. Virgilio also looked for projects that would benefit the community, like looking for funds, together with other people, to build a new school in the village. He also hosted people in his house, like volunteers and tourists.

Virgilio became a founder of Qachuu Aloom because he always loved working on his farm and always loved working with people and participating in different organizations. He was always protecting the natural resources in the community. One of his biggest strengths was saving his own seeds. He planted a lot of pigeon peas, coffee, oranges, and corn on his land. Virgilio also worked a lot with labranza minima (minimal tillage) in his field. Virgilio did many things in his lifetime, including working with fish and raising honey bees.

He was also a religious leader in his community, providing premarital counseling to couples. He was really funny, and he always made people laugh and inspired them to work in their communities! Two lessons I learned from my grandfather are: always be humble, and always take care of the most vulnerable.

You received a scholarship for middle and high school from The Garden’s Edge in Guatemala.  What was that experience like for you?

For me, having this scholarship was such a blessing! Sometimes parents dream of providing their children with an education, but this is not always possible due to the lack of resources. Scholarships like the one the Garden’s Edge offered me, really helped take a burden off my parent’s shoulders. I liked that at the time, many other girls also had the same scholarship!  

My parents always encouraged me to do my best and study, but I also knew that they could not entirely afford to give me an education. On the other hand, I was lucky to have parents who never discouraged me from pursuing an education, and this has always really helped me. But I know that this is not the case for every single girl in Guatemala, especially in rural areas, where young women are often discouraged from pursuing an education. For multiple reasons, culturally women are less likely to pursue education, and most of the time they do not study because they cannot afford it. This is slowly changing, as more young women are able to pay for school with the help of scholarships and the people in the culture are starting to realize the value of education for both boys and girls. Over the years, I have learned that it is not enough just having the motivation to go to school, being able to afford notebooks, books, uniforms, and tuition is also crucial. So your support for me, as well as the support of others, is greatly appreciated because it has helped me achieve a big part of my educational goals! 

What was it like coming to the US to study? 

Coming to the US to study has been a unique experience for me. One of the most interesting things was learning about the diverse people who live in the United States. One of the things I appreciate about living in New Mexico is that it allowed me to be exposed to different cultures within New Mexico. I loved that there are a lot of Native languages because we also have a lot of Mayan languages in Guatemala. I liked that there are a lot of people who speak Spanish in New Mexico too, this was great especially when I did not know English!  When I started understanding English speakers, it really helped me understand the American culture even more and this was exciting. I have always been very curious about things and I feel like this curiosity helped me learn to navigate the culture! 

What support did you receive in New Mexico to further your studies?

I finished high school in Guatemala and then came to the United States for an Intercultural Exchange. I did not know English, so with The help of Sarah Montgomery’s family, I went to the Center for English Language and American Culture (CELAC) for 4 semesters to learn English. After I passed the TOEFL, I was able to start taking college classes At Valencia Campus.

After two years of being in a community college, I decided that I wanted to pursue a college degree. In my family, nobody has ever gone to college, so this was a different path that I was taking. Being a first-generation college student was both exciting and challenging. I had to learn English while taking college classes, and this was not easy. With the support of people like Sarah’s family and a scholarship from The International Amigo Scholarship, I was able to get a bachelor’s degree in Communications with a minor in Spanish.

As an international student being in college in the US, it was difficult to meet the academic standards. Thankfully, UNM, has really good resources for International students, like the Center for Language and Writing and this helped me a lot.

Can you tell us what drew you to studying communications? 

I took many classes at The University of New Mexico including sociology, psychology, and history, but I was not sure where I actually wanted to go with that. It was not so easy to decide what to study for me. I saw a career counselor at my school to guide me and find something I wanted to study. They ask you a lot of questions and give you assessments and things like that to help you explore your interest, skills, and personality. I also received a tremendous amount of support from Sarah Montgomery, she would talk with me and listen to my dilemma of not knowing what to study. Thank God she had the patience to listen to all of it!

After a while, I found myself taking a course called, Introduction to Communication, and I was fascinated by it. I realized the importance of effective communication in relationships, organizations, and businesses and this inspired me to pursue a career in this area. After this, I decided to declare my major in Communications. Making this choice, made it easy to choose my concentration, which is organizational communication. I was really inspired by the idea that we can all learn how to communicate effectively. Also, a big part of what motivated me to study organizational communication was my hope that I would be able to learn the skills I need, in order to work with a diverse group of people anywhere in the world. 

What are your interests moving forward? 

My interest moving forward is to work in collaboration with people who are motivated and committed to making a change in the world and the lives of others. I am also really looking forward to exploring the different areas in which I can work and learn using the different skills I have. One of my biggest areas of interest in communication is mediation, so I would be looking for opportunities to explore this area in my career.

Any thoughts or recommendations for other foreign students?

First of all, learning English is fun! Second of all, one of the things that really helped me while pursuing an education was to use the school’s resources. Many times, we do not know about these resources, so it is important to ask and use them because they really help. I also think that building relationships is crucial! Especially in college, I found that instructors and professors really value working with students and helping them succeed in every area of their career.  Also, sometimes, it is better to study with a friend than alone. Study groups really helped me understand the classes I was taking. Building relationships with people just makes life so much easier in college! 

If you are in New Mexico go to White Sands! Go to the Balloon Fiesta! Go to the Sandia Mountains! Try local foods! And ask a lot of questions about culture, language, and people.