Graduate Division welcomes new Diversity Peer Advisor

The Graduate Division is excited to welcome our new ​​Diversity Peer Advisor, ​​Sam del Castillo. ​They will be working with staff and students all across campus to make UCSB's graduate student body even more diverse, representative, and ​supportive. Read on to find out more about ​​Sam!

	​THEIR STORY I grew up in various parts of Mexico, including Guadalajara and Tampico. I immigrated to the Houston, TX, area and completed high school and college there. After graduating from the University of Houston, I worked at various jobs including a nonprofit organization serving the Latinx community and as a Center Coordinator at a cancer prevention research center in the medical center. After a few years of working, I decided that I wanted to pursue a graduate education in Counseling Psychology. UCSB was my top-choice school because of the location and research conducted in the Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology department.
	THEIR RESEARCH Broadly, I am interested in Queer and Trans Latinx mental health. My latest project examined the relationship between gender nonconformity and parental acceptance-rejection of Latinx queer youth.
	FUN FACTS I enjoy spending time with my dog, Maddie - taking her to the beach, playing with frisbees, etc. I love being outdoors, going camping, going to the beach, watching terrible reality television, eating ice cream, and spending time with friends. I am also the current President and Co-Founder of the Queer and Trans Graduate Student Union (QTGSU). I enjoy planning fun events for the QTGSU like trivia, drag brunch, and tea parties.
	THEIR ​ROLE AS A PEER I am really excited to get to know more graduate students, including the incoming cohort. I am looking forward to supporting people who have been marginalized and excluded from academia and hope to help them create community and feel more at home at UCSB.

Welcome, ​​​​Sam!