This summer, 11th Grade Dean Dr. Carlos Castellanos graduated from the UCLA Educational Leadership Program, earning his doctorate in Education. Specifically, he studied educational leadership and focused on Latinx families in his dissertation. After three years of hard work, Castellanos earned his EdD to better serve the Campbell Hall community.
Castellanos chose the UCLA program for its focus on social justice and providing a voice for marginalized students in educational capacities. This immediately attracted him because of his teachings at a wide variety of educational institutions like private colleges, public colleges, and private high schools. He hoped to use his dissertation to provide a voice for marginalized communities.
“Honing in on a particular problem was hard for me, because I care a lot about a lot of different issues and had never really thought about how many different aspects of education there are,” Castellanos said. “The more we started reading other people’s dissertations, I realized that the scope of what could be studied was so large, and that terrified me. I feel like that made me grow outside of my dissertation because it made me hyper aware of all these issues.”
One reason that drew him to the Latinx family was because he identifies as Latinx. Through getting to know Latinx students through Latinos Unidos, La Familia or just casual conversations on campus, he noticed many of his students had similar experiences to his own 20 years ago. His dissertation focused on the Latinx family and first generation, lower income Latinx student experience.
“For me, to get a doctorate on a personal level is my way of thanking my ancestors for all of their struggle to immigrate to this country,” Castellanos said. “My grandma believed heavily in the value of education and the power that education can have on your life and she instilled that in me from a very young age. So, getting this doctorate is a thank you to her and her struggle and her sacrifice. This is also a thank you to my mom and my Latinx community for all their work and sacrifice.”
Earning his doctorate and finishing his dissertation was not an easy task for Castellanos. Over the course of three years, the Educational Leadership Program demanded a lot from Castellanos, while still maintaining being a father and teacher. However along the way, Castellanos had much support from his peers in his program who would share notes and information if he missed a class.
“The biggest challenge was how much time the program demanded,” Castellanos said. “I’m not just talking about Thursday evenings and Saturdays all day. I’m talking about staying up late, doing the work. There was a lot of reading and essays that took a lot of time away from my family, it was hard not being as present for things. Especially year one it was difficult, because at the end of my first year, we got a call–my husband and I–to see if we wanted to foster a baby girl, which was our dream.”
Although it was an extremely busy three years, it all paid off for Castellanos. He gained a perspective of what some of his own students at Campbell Hall were juggling, while also learning how to help them. Past the title of “Doctor,” this accomplishment meant so much for him.
“To me, this doctorate is everything,” Castellanos said. “It’s not just for me–it was really [about] how I can be a part of this community and how I can make myself better to be in service for other people. This doctorate means that I have acquired every degree that this country has to offer, and, for an immigrant family, that’s really special to say that I have done that.”
