- All right. So this is Rachel Atcheson. I am an interviewer for the Iowa State University special collections and university archives oral history project entitled voices in color. Today is I believe Tuesday April 16th the year 2019. The time is two thirty five p.m. I am interviewing could you go ahead and say your name. Yeah. My name is Somer Castillo. All right. And could you go ahead and give us the spelling for that. Yeah. So first name is Somer S U M M E R OK. And then for my last name Castillo it's C A S T I L L O. Awesome. Thank you so much. Sometimes the information can get separated from the recording so it's always a good idea to to have the spelling right in there. OK. So our first question is gonna be kind of broad so can you tell me a little bit about yourself. You know I think we were saying with those job interviews. So I mean things like where are you from. Why did you decide to attend. Yes you. Yeah. So I'm originally from Rockford Illinois. OK. As near the Chicagoland area for people who don't know a Rockford is a. I was looking for schools in Illinois. But I wanted to branch out kind of get away from my parents you know and kind of see things further than you know the state border. So I looked into Iowa State University and at first I was like I don't know I don't even know where Iowa is like you know do I really want to go there. But after looking into it and it was more it was cheaper to go to I was state than it was to stay in-state and commute to school in Illinois. I was like OK now that's number two like that sounds pretty good. But then eventually like maybe a week before we were supposed to accept our offers I came for a visit and I was state and when I came for a visit I instantly fell in love with the campus. How nice everyone was how I would say it was so into making sure that you succeed academically they have things in place to help you. And I just didn't see that from the other schools that I had visited. And so yeah it's kind of why I came to you know I really like their Ag program and I felt at home here. OK you're an AG Major. Yeah. OK. And like what are you going. So I'm a senior in Animal Science. Oh OK. Yeah. So I'll be graduating in May which is exciting. Yeah. Congratulations. Thank you. So for a second question just like again sort of really broadly speaking how would you say the campus climate is you know for you for your sisters for the greater Latin community right. So for me there isn't really an effect because I am white passing so I obviously gain privilege from that and many people don't even know my last name so they they have no indicators that I'm Latin X but for my sisters it's definitely tent full of tension because there's obviously been those past occurrences of like white supremacy posters and things like that like I've walked down well with my sisters before and had people shout at us to go back to Mexico and things of that sort. But overall like we do have our support system here. We do feel welcome here and we make sure that other people in our community feel welcome here as well because we're here to stand and you know make our voice known like make sure that like everyone here's what we have to say whether they like it or not you know if we have to listen to you you definitely have to listen to us. Let's see the greater Latin community. Well that's still again very tension full of so many important people that I know and that are important to my sisters and their families and things like that are affected by the current administration and those things and like just like the whole at any moment their residency could be revoked or something and they could lose their family and all of those things and making sure that you know they have parents to go home to a home to go home to sometimes is really scary. And I really think that there should be something done about it like they shouldn't have to worry if they come home to a mom or dad or not like I don't have to worry about that. So neither should they in that sense. But I definitely think like we could move in a more positive direction than we are right now. We're definitely going backwards. But I'm hoping it gets better. Are there any sort of positive moves that you think I guess you in particular could or should be making. I mean there's there's a few things that like they have done in the past that makes us feel welcome. Like when I think it was everyone from like MSA and like other departments. Right after the election they had a huge discussion and we all came together and we're allowed to like speak our minds speak our truth and those things and really talk about it. Also you know allowing us to like you know use our freedom of speech and protests here on campus and those things I think are stuff that I should still continue to see in a positive manner. Obviously you know like we're young and we want our voices heard because we are the future and what's going to be impacted the most. And so I think that I guess you should continue to allow that to happen in a safe environment and making sure that it is happening in a safe environment. Obviously some people do feel uncomfortable here on campus and things of that sort. And so really looking towards making campus feel more acceptable and like home like I want everyone to feel I assume is their home like I do. Good good. Let's see our next question here. Are you or have you ever been involved in any other student groups or organizations on campus. If so Like which ones for how long. Yeah so I got really busy my freshman year and I was like I'm going to do with all of these different clubs and really just have a go at it. So my my freshman year it was Fall 2015 to spring 2016 while low so I joined a block and bridal club on campus that was only for a semester. It wasn't quite for me but it was still an experience I still liked it. It's more of an animal science kind of organization. And then I also joined the conservation club here and I would say and I was a member for two semesters so spring 2016 to fall 2017. So I was part of that. And then in spring 2016 I also joined Alpha Phi Omega the coed service fraternity here on campus. I absolutely love that organization. I encourage people to join an organization. It was kind of my step towards Greek life you know having that community and those people to lift you up was was nice. And also I'm a huge advocate for community service. I love community service. So when I heard about this organization and it was coed I was like say no more like this is what I want to do. So the first semester I couldn't do it because the the times that they had for their education classes conflicted with one of my classes. So I had to wait a semester. Otherwise I would have been almost a year and a half of a member but now I'm considered an alumni with that organization. And I really like the org. It's definitely a gateway into figuring it out like if you want to go Greek and whether or not you know giving back to the community and community service is something you're passionate about which I definitely say was like a confirmed you know kind of feeling that that's what I like to do. It's my favorite thing. It's something that helps me feel fulfilled. And so I really like that they made that opportunity to do it with other people and to impact other things besides like you know just ice campus we did stuff like cleanup highway. We worked with Boy Scouts for a merit badge University. All those things so we're helping not only just IAC community but the Ames community as well and further outside of that sometimes. Yeah. So I think that's a besides Lambda Theta Alpha. I've been a member now for two years which is crazy but hopefully many more years to go. But let me say it alpha is also another one that's written near and dear to my heart. I love all of my sisters and I don't know they helped lift me up and reaffirmed that this is where I'm supposed to be. It's really fantastic. Yeah sounds like you've had quite the full schedule. Oh yeah. I don't know what the meaning of no means to slow down. So how how did you first learn about end of theta Alpha. What piqued your interest about it. So when I was looking into Greek life I looked at the traditional sororities and nothing really seemed to like stick out to me. I didn't feel like that that was my community and that I really fit into their picture in a sense you know if I couldn't see myself in the picture that's something I just didn't want to do. So then I was telling my my best friend at the time that I was really interested in Greek life and that I wanted to find my here I will stay in. I didn't really know where to look. So then she told me about my mislaid Alpha LTA and I was I was immediately intrigued. I was like wow like you know there's a whole group like dedicated to empowering women on campus. Like their principles were unity love and respect. And I was like those are the ones that like I live by and that that's something that really resonated with me. So I went to their informational and the more I went to their events and like their informational things I just fell more in love with it and I was like This is what I want to be a part of I could see myself here in there a little chapter picture I could see myself being in that chapter picture and things of that sort so I was like wow like this is this is what I want to do. That's awesome. So when exactly did you make the decision to join and what drove that decision. Yeah. So it was a spring of sixteen no's fall of sixteen. My bad my bad. So is that you're those deciding. Yeah I was my junior year okay. So I started my junior year. Now as we started my sophomore year. Oh OK. Yeah yeah. I started my sophomore year. I was like OK. Like I'm gonna start looking into it too. I went to a club first I went to their events the more I got to know the sisters especially because at the time the chapter was still kind of on the smaller side. I was able to get to know each and every one of them. And like have my moment my heartfelt moment with each of them. And then when I got to know them and the organization and why it meant so much to them I really I was like This is what I want to do. Like. I'm going to as soon as they tell us we can apply. I'm going to apply. So I start gathering all the materials I was going to need. So then like when they said the application was due like I could just turn it in basically. So yeah I was Fall 2016. I decided that that's why I was gonna do that. Good for you. So which aspects of the sorority have you been most active in. So with our type of organization and because our numbers are we're we're big but small. I've you know I've been a part of almost everything. So you know I've been in leadership positions I've helped do fundraisers I've helped do what they call the philanthropy events recruitment events like you name it. I've done at least one of them. I was recruitment and retention chair for a semester and then I was also a community service chair for a semester so my two those are my two leadership positions. I really like them. I like getting to meet new girls and explain to them why this organization is such a great one and that like I explain to them why we're so passionate about it and then obviously like I mentioned before community service is like my thing. I love going back to the community and I love when organizations take that responsibility and want to help you know because it shows that you care because you know without that without a community yet it would have been so much harder for you to grow up and all of those things because they literally say it takes a village to raise a child and whether you know it or not there was a village behind you and so giving back to that community is is heartwarming and fulfilling. And yes. So yeah I've been a part of pretty much everything I've attended all pretty much all the events since I've been active this semester. I'm not active just due to many personal reasons. Sure sure. But I still try to attend when I can. I always give support to my sisters and I hope our chapter continues to grow. So you mentioned that when you were recruiting you would talk to people about you know what what you were really passionate about in this organization. What what would you say to the people you were recruiting. You know you kind of touched on this a little ride but so again I would say that not only was it the unity love and respect our principles but it was much more than that that you know each of these sisters were working towards empowering me whether I was going to join this organization or not. There was that true friendship that I didn't know I needed until it kind of stumbled upon was stumbled upon it and having all those people to lift me up and push me outside of my comfort zone and say like hey no you need to do this. Like like I don't McNair scholar and without sisters I would have never applied I wouldn't have taken that leap of faith and just tried to do something outside outside of my comfort zone and just trying to do something to help me. And so they were always there to try and benefit me and help me and make sure that not only was it the friendship of scholarship and doing well in classes and like if you need help they said like love let us know someone has taken at least one of these classes so we can help you. Any way we can you know in that genuine wanting to help and all of those things were what was really so amazing to me that these people that didn't know me that well wanted to help me. They wanted. They wanted to make our community better. And that's ultimately it. Like why I was so passionate about it why I'm still passionate about it and why I think you know if someone were to join. That's one of the great benefits that comes from it. That's awesome. So what would you say is your number one most memorable story. It just hit. While there's so many we can do top two or three if you have trouble choosing going to say so. Probably my most memorable would be we had. So right after I became a sister it was pretty much the end of the semester. So when we came back in the fall we had a sisterhood retreat. And so it was just to get prepared for the school year but also a way to get together with sisters we did bonding activities and team building activities and those things and we did this one where we had to unravel ourselves like you know into a big circle. And so that was fun because you know we had to work together and it was we were just laughing all day. You know we fell over a couple of times trying to fix each other and all that stuff. But those team building exercises like I really feel like helped us connect better and like bond and then we also do like these talks we do talk. Basically we're just just be as honest as you want. You can tell us whatever is going on and things of that sort and really like allowing that safe space to like bare your soul and be like hey this is what I'm going through. So if I'm acting a certain way or these things you know then this is why in those things so allowing ourselves to like keep everyone in the loop especially because these people care about you. And so having those deep conversations was really nice and it really solidified that bond that I know like we'll be for a lifetime in a sense. So I'd have to say like ours our sisterhood our sisterhood bonding and stuff like that those retreats on the weekends were really good. That's fantastic. Yeah. So what would you say. And again I know you've you've talked about this a little bit but what are some of the most positive or or significant impacts that being involved in Lambda Theta Alpha has had on you or your your college experience. Yes. So obviously like I mentioned there's been so many positive impacts. You know this was pushing me to do better. They were there for me when I lost my mother and all those things and so having that emotional connection to was really good having that kind of support when I felt like I didn't have it was amazing. And besides that it was more of sisters always reminding me that like it's OK to stop and smell the roses once in a while like you work hard like relax for a second. And also that like they always remind me that it's not a race like we're talking about previously you know it's a marathon. Yes. And everyone does everything in their own pace. I was very time anxious so I have this perfect little timeline in my head that has to be a certain way. And after a while when it wasn't going that way I was lost in a sense. And so I'm just reminding me like hey it's OK if you're stopping to smell the roses it's fine like you know everyone goes at their own pace and just help me realize that like there's so much more to life than what I have planned. In a sense yeah. So what would you say is your hope or advice for future LTA sisters. So some advice would be Don't push yourself too hard. Burnout is real and it's happened more than once. But just remember to keep the sisterhood aspect there. Don't ever lose it. Sometimes it can get lost in the clouds when we're working hard and trying to you know be a positive influence on this campus and do events and do all of these things. But you do have to stop and smell the roses. You have to remember why you're here it's not just you know school or these events like the sisterhood and there's there's people that care about you that you care about that maybe you're just not in touch anymore because of all the things that are going on. So just remember to always keep that sisterhood in your heart and in your mind and to remember to ask ask a sister you know are you doing OK. Like how's everything going you know and making sure that like you up with them and those times that they really need someone so can be as Sister. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Just really just be there. You know sometimes all you gotta do is be there sit in the room. So are there any other questions that you know we didn't get a chance to ask that you that you wish. I would have asked or any other you know just general thoughts or no not really. I think we kind of covered it all. Well thank you so much. Summer has been delightful. Yeah.