Sam del Castillo is finishing up their second year of graduate school in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology and spoke to us about their passion for advocating for the mental health of LGBTQ and Latinx communities. This year, they co-founded the Queer & Trans Graduate Student Union which aims to provide community, mentorship, advocacy, and professional development to LGBTQIA+ graduate students at UCSB. del Castillo was named a 2018 recipient of the Dixon-Levy Graduate Student Association Service Award for this work. Read more about Sam’s research here.
GGSE: Tell us a little bit about your research interests.
Del Castillo: Broadly, I am interested in topics related to LGBTQ and Latinx mental health. More specifically, my pre-dissertation project looks at gender expression and parental acceptance of LGB Latinx youth. For this project, I am interested in examining whether a child’s gender expression affected whether their parents accept them or not, and the study focuses on Latinx populations.
GGSE: You recently co-founded a Queer & Trans Graduate Student Union on campus. Can you tell us more about this new organization and its goals and objectives?
Del Castillo: After coming to UCSB in 2016, I noticed how isolating the graduate experience can be, especially for LGBTQ students. I looked around to try to find community, but most of the organizations and events available were catered specifically to undergrad students. I decided to look into starting my own organization specifically for grad students. In 2017, with the help of History grad student Nora Kassner, we began the process of starting the Queer & Trans Grad Student Union, which aims to provide community, mentorship, advocacy, and professional development to LGBTQIA+ graduate students at UCSB. We have had great success with the QT GSU and have now reached over 80 members.
GGSE: What has been a source of motivation or drive for you in your graduate studies?
Del Castillo: A great source of motivation and drive for me has been serving both my LGBTQ and Latinx communities. As a Mexican immigrant and a member of the LGBTQ community, I have had to struggle and overcome a lot of barriers in my life, which I want to eliminate for the current and future generations. I am very passionate about mental healthcare and that fuels me to make it more accessible and provide better care for all. Also, as a first generation student, I am motivated to pursue my education and be the first in my family to earn a Ph.D.
GGSE: Do you have hobbies or take part in other non-academic activities?
Del Castillo: As far as hobbies go, I am very busy with community work and service, which I also consider a hobby because it is something that I enjoy doing. Other than that, I enjoy taking my dog to the beach, going to museums, or visiting different places in California.