Eduardo Munoz

What is your major and what you plan to do with it?

I am an Urban and Public Affairs (UPA) major, from the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs.  With the UPA degree, there are many fields that I can target for example, transportation, community development, work with nonprofits, urban landscape, policy and government.  I plan to get into the government sector, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be exact. However, to get to my goal I must have my master’s degree and possibly a PhD. After I work with the government for a while, I plan to work with low-moderate income communities to meet their needs environmentally. It is well known that most sections in cities with low income families are most affected environmentally.

What are some of your long term goals?

To become an administrator for the EPA or IL, senator as a career. However, personally I plan to re-unite with my parents whom live in Mexico. Last time I saw them was 6 years ago. I hope that by 2015 I am able to see them.

 Who is your role model?

I have a lot! I would say my father, mother, older brother, and community organizer Yesenia Sanchez.

Do you belong to any groups at UIC? Any outside of UIC?

Within UIC I belong to:

HACE@UIC(PRESIDENT)- Hispanic Allience for Career Enhancement student chapter

MeSA [Mexica Students de Aztlan (member)- http://www2.uic.edu/stud_orgs/…

SUPA [Student of Urban and Public Affairs] (member part of the Community Development Committee, and working with the new Heritage Garden committee through SUPA)

CHANCE- Scholar http://www.uic.edu/depts/oaa/s…

LARES-Scholar

 Outside of UIC:

Nuestra Voz Youth Council

PASO Community Organization (Projecto de Accion de los Suburbios del Oeste)

What have you accomplished since first attending UIC?

I have raised my GPA! Unfortunately, when I transferred to UIC my GPA dropped. This occurred because some of my credits did not transfer from my previous college. As a result I started UIC with a 2.75 gpa. My goal was to increase it to a 3.5 gpa. I am now in my second to last semester and my current GPA is a 3.37.  I have not reached my goal yet, but I will.  

I am also currently the President for the student Organization HACE. Last semester, through HACE@UIC we were able to host 12 events in leadership development and career enhancement for UIC students, staff and faculty. The majority that attended were students. At the end of the year, we held a retreat for HACE members to develop spring 2013 calendar and potential calendar for fall 2013. The retreat took place in a retreat house in Michigan.

In the Spring 2012 I had the opportunity to be an intern at the Latino Cultural Center and successfully completed an assessment. This assessment was conducted by the UIC Latino Cultural Center (LCC, Center) . It was centered around UIC Latino student organizations as a response to concerns voiced by students who visit the LCC and members of the LCC Ambassador Group. At the heart of these concerns was the question of how the LCC could help expand the capacity of these organizations to sustain and improve their efforts.

Link: http://latinocultural.uic.edu/…

Furthermore, since starting UIC (Spring 2011), I said to myself that I wanted to take full advantage of what UIC has to offer. Ever since, I have had the opportunity to attend to 30 + events that campus programs, Latino Cultural Center, CUPPA, LARES, AACC, IPCE, CHANCE have offered throughout the years. I can say that I have surpassed the UIC EXPERICENCE.

Which was your favorite accomplishment and why?

All of my accomplishments were my favorite; however the one that I liked the most was the retreat at Michigan because it involved a lot of planning and member engagement. It reminded me that I wanted to continue my education on a higher level and at some point, possibly come back and teach at UIC.

What motivates you to get involved? When first arriving at UIC, did you plan on getting so involved?

I always have been eager to learn and expand my knowledge. I have come to realize that UIC/professors teach us theory good for problem solving, analyzing and engaging with society and, although this might sound silly, I like to put my learning into practice. The process of learning is what motivates me to get involved, and the challenges that I might face and being able to find a solution is my motivation. I did plan to participate in some events that campus programs offers, but never did I plan to get so involved with other programs such as CHANCE, LARES, intern at the LATINO CULTURAL CENTER, intern for the Office of Sustainability and be part of three student organizations.

My colleagues and I are working on developing a paid internship program for the new Urban Heritage Garden, located on Taylor and Halsted. We were one of the 1st recipients to get funding from Green fee proposal from the Office of Sustainability. If anyone would like more information please ask!

Tell me about your latest project and why it was so important to do.

I am currently working on the largest project. It is the paid internship program for the Urban Heritage Garden. This program will start in the summer and will continue through the fall of this year. Aside from developing what the interns will be doing at the Heritage Garden, we will be working in collaboration with the 6 Centers for Diversity. This program will be more than an internship; it will serve as an educational component for urban agriculture, cultural education, and civic engagement as well as give UIC EXPERIENCE. We hope that the program will be self-sustainable within a 2 year period.

How do you manage work, school, and extracurricular activities?

Good question, I really do not know. I typically spend about 35hrs working at the hotel in a two week period. The other time I spend doing homework and extracurricular activities. I believe what has helped me is that I am an independent person. I do not interact with my family as much because they live in Mexico and I do not need to spend “family time” since I am on my own, for now. I just send them an email or give them a call once a week to let them know that I am fine and continue to do well in school. I do not sleep “the 8 recommended hours,” I get about 6- 7 hours. I learned to manage and organize my time effectively by keeping a tight schedule and calendar next to me at all times. Thanks to technology and Google calendar, I can keep track of school events, work, internships, and activities in my community.

Any advice you can offer to incoming freshman or those who want to participate in extracurricular activities but have not managed to get around to it?

Time management!!!

Set priorities all the time (homework comes first). Make sure that all of your assignments are turned in on time. Take advantage of what UIC has to offer and sit down with a professor once in a while. Become a student leader at a student organization. Try not to have a full time job if you don’t have too. The most important thing is to have fun and do not fall behind. Engage with your peers and the 6 centers for diversity along with campus programs. If you miss an event that you wanted to attend, don’t worry there is always another event that might be similar. UIC can shape your future career, you just need to commit and enhance your college experience.