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Alright, these are not the actual lyrics to the Fonseca song \u2018Vida sagrada\u2019, they\u2019re a weak English translation to the Spanish lyrics. Fonseca is a Colombian singer, and \u2018Vida sagrada\u2019 is a song about war, conflict, income inequality, and environmentalism. And, despite such heavy subject matter, it will make you want to get up and dance, just as Alejandra Botia said it would. If there\u2019s one thing Alejandra knows (besides psychology) it\u2019s salsa dancing.<\/p>\n
Alejandra has only recently begun to reconnect with her Colombian roots (like salsa dancing, and Fonseca). She and her family moved to Canada when she was 12 years old, and she began quickly to detach from her country\u2019s culture. She stopped listening to Spanish music, she started focusing entirely on the English language, and becoming integrated into Canadian culture. She became a competitive swimmer, and started the journey of lifelong learning that led her to psychology.<\/p>\n
Alejandra is currently pursuing her PhD in Counselling Psychology at UBC. She is the Chair-Elect of the Student Section of the CPA, and she is the Student Representative on the CPA Board of Directors and will be for the duration of her term as Chair-Elect, Chair, and then Past Chair of the section. As is the custom. The way of a student in psychology is long, and does not necessarily have an end to it \u2013 but Alejandra says the experiences along the way are invaluable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main reason that I wanted to become chair-elect, and be on the board, is that throughout my experiences as a student I\u2019ve become really passionate about student engagement and professional development. It\u2019s all about the opportunities that come up along the way that make our educational experience that much more rewarding than if you\u2019re just going through courses and doing what you have<\/em> to do.\u201d<\/p>\n What is the psychological concept that blew you away when you first heard it?<\/strong> Favourite book?<\/strong> Favourite quote?<\/strong> If you could spend a day in someone else\u2019s shoes who would it be and why?<\/strong> If you could become an expert at something outside psychology, what would it be?<\/strong> Alejandra chose psychology because she wanted to learn how to help people by facilitating their work toward accomplishing their goals and experience higher levels of wellbeing. Over many years of study, she has become passionate about the intersection of psychology and areas of social justice. She\u2019s extremely interested in how psychology can influence change at the societal level. Being a CPA board member has helped in this pursuit, not only as an inspiration but as an affirmation of those passions.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the ways being part of these initiatives, and being on the board, has really helped me is that I can take that passion and learn how to transform it in a practical way. I\u2019m learning how to take action, how to communicate with the rest of my team, brainstorming ideas so we can best benefit the Student Section. But also it\u2019s teaching me to speak up, and learning that it\u2019s okay to speak up. Bringing forward new initiatives and new ideas where there are people who will hear you, and who will support you. That\u2019s what has made this a really wonderful experience already.\u201d<\/p>\n Alejandra is not simply content with making the most of the opportunities afforded her as the Chair-Elect of the Student Section or the Student Representative on the CPA Board. She is also keenly invested in breaking new ground. For example, she and her cohort recently created the Counseling Psychology Student Association. She is proud of what her team, including Katie McCloskey , Syler Hayes, Sarah Woolgar, and Christopher Cook has accomplished in a short time. As Chair-Elect, she coordinates the mentorship program and contributes to newsletters, the adjudication of student grants, and to the annual conference by helping with the organization of the student section events.<\/p>\n Along with some teammates, she will soon be leading a workshop on equity, diversity, and inclusion. Alejandra\u2019s main job, of course, is to work in collaboration with the Executive Team, continuously reflecting on how they can better serve our student community. All this while pursuing her other passions in the field of psychology – women\u2019s leadership, vocational growth, and factors related to resilience in eating disorders. So what inspired her to take on even more on top of all this, to become as involved as she has in the future of Canadian psychology?<\/p>\n \u201cI think one thing that drew me to it is that I\u2019m becoming more and more involved in understanding matters relating to the intersection of psychology and social justice. So learning how to come prepared, how to be ready to speak about it, and stand by it without fear of what might happen, was a major part of what I hoped to gain by getting involved. And I have!\u201d<\/p>\n Some time ago, Alejandra gave up competitive swimming and started to focus on salsa dancing. Despite the pandemic, she\u2019s able to keep up with her lessons \u2013 she met her partner salsa dancing, and so the two of them can get some dancing in at home, in those fleeting downtimes where there is no school, and there are no executive duties, to which she must attend.<\/p>\n Re-connecting with her Colombian roots has been transformational for Alejandra. As Fonseca sings, she is finding in her roots the answer to an undeciphered story. It\u2019s a story she\u2019s currently writing, in a project she has tentatively called \u2018Letters to Stella\u2019. Stella was Alejandra\u2019s grandmother, with whom she was very close. Stella would sometimes visit from Colombia, and Alejandra would sometimes go there to visit Stella. Sometimes, when she\u2019s feeling down or overwhelmed, she thinks about Stella and what she would say to her in those moments. So she had this book idea where she\u2019d be writing letters to Stella.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was always cheering me on and just so curious about my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Were Stella alive today, there is no doubt she would be fascinated, and proud, of Alejandra\u2019s life. She is pursuing her dream, she is re-connecting with Colombia, she\u2019s dancing away in her apartment, confined by COVID with her partner. But of course, this is just the beginning of Alejandra\u2019s life, and her journey. As Fonseca says;<\/p>\n \u201cThe way grows long, and does not end.\u201d<\/p>\n Except that Fonseca, like Alejandra, says it in Spanish.<\/p>\n Alejandra Botia is the Chair-Elect of the Student Section of the CPA, and the Student Representative on the CPA Board of Directors. She is also a competitive swimmer and a salsa dancer.<\/p>\n\nTAKE FIVE WITH ALEJANDRA BOTIA<\/h4>\n
\nThe concept of bystander apathy blew my mind in a way. It was a simple way to understand something that always seemed complex in my mind. It always seemed odd that people could see others in need of help, and yet their actions were not helpful. I was trying to understand what happened in those situations, where people just kind of froze. A better understanding of this allows me to act differently in a situation where someone needs help.
\nI was at a restaurant at my sister\u2019s birthday dinner, and there was a car that crashed straight into the store across the street. Thankfully it was late at night and it was closed, so no one was inside. I remember the sound was so loud, everybody came out of the restaurant and they were standing, assessing what had happened and I think assessing whether someone needed help. But I noticed that it wasn\u2019t everyone who got closer to see if that person needed help, and not everybody was picking up their phones to call 911. It was only a few people who were doing that, while everyone else was kind of standing still. That was a situation where I thought about bystander apathy, and how it affects our ability to help someone who might be in need.<\/p>\n
\nOne of my favourites I\u2019ve read recently is Untamed, by Glennon Doyle. It just speaks to so many issues that I feel passionate about. It touches on body image and eating disorders, and also on the idea of gender \u2013 becoming a woman. How much of that process in the world we think is natural, but really a lot of it is learned.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cBreathe, let go, and remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure\u201d \u2013 Oprah Winfrey
\nI think COVID has some influence over why that\u2019s my favourite quote right now, and also going through this PhD process where there are so many moving parts that demand my attention. I need to remember that if I don\u2019t find ways to stay present and mindful, that time just goes by. And it goes by quite quickly.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019ve been following Alexandria Ocasio Cortez for a while now. I would love to be in her brain for a day. I find her so confident, and eloquent, and strong. I think what I admire the most about her is how she doesn\u2019t allow what others think of her to stop her from taking a stand on what she believes. <\/p>\n
\nI\u2019d have to say the ocean. When I was little I wanted to be a marine biologist. I think that\u2019s because when I was five, I thought that meant you would just get to play with dolphins all the time. But I\u2019m still fascinated by it now, and I think if I could be an expert in ocean matters, that would be amazing.<\/div>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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