Recent NCU School of Education graduate Dr. Danny Chavez discusses his doctoral journey, providing supportive advice for current as well as potential NCU students to realize their dream of earning a doctorate. Dr. Chavez provides many helpful tips, from receiving support from the writing coaches in the Academic Support Center to utilizing the online librarians when completing the dissertation. He also explains how he was able to keep himself motivated, organized, and emotionally healthy throughout his entire experience at NCU. But perhaps most importantly, Dr. Chavez describes what earning a doctorate has done for him personally and professionally, in his quest to fulfill his dream as well as to be a role model for other Hispanics.
Recent NCU School of Education graduate Dr. Danny Chavez discusses his doctoral journey, providing supportive advice for current as well as potential NCU students to realize their dream of earning a doctorate. Dr. Chavez provides many helpful tips, from receiving support from the writing coaches in the Academic Support Center to utilizing the online librarians when completing the dissertation. He also explains how he was able to keep himself motivated, organized, and emotionally healthy throughout his entire experience at NCU. But perhaps most importantly, Dr. Chavez describes what earning a doctorate has done for him personally and professionally, in his quest to fulfill his dream as well as to be a role model for other Hispanics.
Hello, everyone and welcome to emerging trends in higher ed. My name is Samantha Wilcox, and I am your host for today's podcast. Thank you for joining us for this special podcast entitled a doctoral student success story reflections for current doctoral students.
Today we are meeting with Dr. Danny Chavez, who recently earned his doctorate of education in sports management from MCU. I am also with Andy Riggle, Dean of the School of Education, a frequent guest of the podcast. Hello to you both.
And thank you so much for joining us today, we want to share a little bit about Dr. Chavez, his journey as an MCU doctoral student, particularly focusing on his reflections of what helped him to successfully earned his doctorate. But before we get started, congratulations again, Dr. Chavez for the completion of your doctorate. As I know, this was a huge accomplishment for you.
00:54
Thank you. Thank you very much.
00:56
Absolutely. So let's get started. Dr. Riggle, I believe you have a few questions for Dr. Travis today.
01:03
Oh, Sam. Thanks. I certainly do have some some questions for guests. So let's just get started. Dr. Chavez, hello. And, again, and thank you for your willingness to share some of your reflections today about earning your doctorate at NC U. So glad you're here.
01:22
Thank you for having me. Very excited to do this. Any any, you know, anytime I could share, or talk, I'm all for it.
01:33
It is certainly my hope. Dr. Chavez, his reflections will assist other students in the school of education to earn their doctorate. As I know, being a doctoral student, can be challenging, even frightening, I can certainly remember feeling many uneasy feelings when I was completing my doctorate. So Danny, let's just get started a few questions for you. Looking back, what particular ncu resources or other types of supports assisted you with completing your doctorate at NC U.
02:07
First off, Dr. Riggle, sponsee, thank you for having me, it's, uh, you know, I'm very excited to do this. And I was very happy that you reached out. Because, you know, you're my, you're my chair. You know, during during my process, and it wasn't easy, as you stated it, it's never easy. But, you know, when you were my chair, I mean, you just made it, you just made me feel comfortable. And, you know, I knew I had somebody that I could, you know, really, you don't trust and fall back on. And, you know, what was going to be there to sort of ask me and support me through the process.
And that, in itself may, you know, was, you know, was one of the greatest resources of all, it's just having somebody that is, you know, that you could have, you could relate to, and you could talk to, that's not always the case. So, um, you know, any, you know, any, I think the biggest support is having that, that, that chair, that person that that's invested in, in the process. Um, you know, that's, that's invaluable. So I think that's the biggest thing. As far as resources, at my time in NC u, I felt the library was off, you know, was an invaluable resource. I know, that's always the case. You know, in any, in any kind of university or college setting, as a student, you know, that's, that's one of the priorities as a student is heading to their library and seen it, you know, all that it has to offer and ncu didn't, you know, it didn't let me down, you know, it had, you know, I got most not all my research journals from the, from the databases, I utilized, actually, the librarian, I would have never done before. You know, I think, you know, you go in that mentality, you can do it by yourself, and you're all by yourself, and then later, you sort of learn that you need help from others, you know, and the librarians, you know, I in two occasions, I did reach out as it was virtual.
And I think one time, we did actually have a conversation, and they were very instrumental in sort of guiding me towards, you know, research guides, and live guides and things that were, that I found very useful. As I was trying to, especially build my literature review, you know, I know that the academic service, a Academic Success Center was was good. I know, a couple of my intro classes. They sort of had some assignments that then made me utilize it. And I used, for example, to sit like the writing synthesis matrices are very, very useful and I wouldn't even known what those were or anything had not some of the courses and it's sort of help, you know, sort of Put everything in perspective. And so just to recap in the comments was good for me the library was up was awesome. And just the resources that the Academic Success Center had.
And again, I wouldn't have used a lot of these if my, you know, so my course course, courses didn't, you know, guide me to those places. Right, right. Well, that's some excellent information. Danny, I, I did hear you, you say a couple, maybe three really important points, I think you kind of started off with that relationship with your chair, which just happened to be me. So thank you very much for those kudos, I do try. But I will tell you it is in alignment with NC us one to one teaching model. And we really foster that kind of support for students, particularly during the dissertation phase, where you really try to develop or the instructor really tries to develop that, that working relationship with students. And again, it's how much that student wants to embrace that relationship. But our instructors are really trained, really encouraged to develop those relationships with students rather than just somebody who critiques their work. I know, a lot of the dissertation work was me telling you, okay, I think you need to improve here and here. But I also want to give you a sense that you were doing some things, right, and here's some ways you can improve.
So it really helps to build your, you know, your energy to keep doing this and building that relationship with chairs. So I was happy to hear that about me. But certainly it is the model that we really try to facilitate. You know, came to appreciate the relationship aspect, because I had to I mean, it was, you know, I saw both, you know, I was sort of stuck in middle and you're very instrumental and trying not to, you know, you know, okay, I'm going to do it this way now. And you're gonna have to start all over because this, you know, I think this is better for you. And so that was very helpful. And in that openness, yes, good.
The other thing I heard you say to was the online librarians and and one of the things which you took advantage of is we encourage students to develop a working sort of a working relationship with our librarians, they literally can help guide students to find applicable research for their dissertation, as you mentioned, that literature review can be a daunting task, trying to collect all those research articles, doing analysis, which is finding them understanding them, and then turning into some sort of synthesis called your lit review. And it's very difficult to try to hone down or find those resources, and our librarians really work with students to help them I wouldn't say streamline, but help them to really identify those resources easier, because you have to identify a lot of those resources. So I was happy to hear the piece about the librarians. So I've got another question for you. What did you think, perhaps on a regular basis, you found to be particularly helpful? Maybe I'll put you on the spot here. What was that one thing during your dissertation journey? That ncu, you found to be the most helpful? And that might be a tough question.
08:17
So what did I do on a regular basis, that interview that helped me be successful?
08:21
On what resource or what? what particular entity service relationship, you name it? What would you say if you had to say, Dr. Chavez? What was the thing? The key piece? Looking back that really helped you successfully complete your dissertation? And it could have been before the dissertation coursework?
08:46
Right, right. Um, I mean, I had to the dissertation was just a beast in itself, something I wasn't mentally prepared for. Right. So it was just a work in progress. You know, I had to really develop good habits, you know, I had to learn how to research everyday, you know, pretty much, you know, it was just, you know, just on a regular basis, just not be complacent with return articles I had. And I was very surprised, you know, as I thought I had to comb through all of the literature on this topic. And, you know, I, there's more, you know, there's this other and it just no, so just based researching, which is something that I, in my head to learn how to do accurately and how to be effective on it.
You know, that was a, you know, just learn how to research and just by trial and error and, and, you know, it's developing those those good early habits and time manage time management was crazy, you know, and you notice developing a consistent schedule, you know, I mean, that sort of, you know, just, you know, it was just part of my routine for a long time. I use a lot of time. managers, you know, type of deals, I had to, like I said, I had to learn how to use technology to my advantage. I'm one note, you know, to Google Drive, one of my professors, you know, say, Hey, this is a terrorism terrorism rate, for record keeping and annotating and things like that. And so, things I did on a regular basis, you know, just to help me, you know, talk things up and get through. So I don't know that I could pinpoint just one retort, it was a, you know, combination of things that that I did regularly to help me, you know, get through my coursework, and especially the dissertation.
10:36
So I think you hit on a very important comment here topic, in that it wasn't just one thing, it was a series of important things that were somehow related that you engaged in on a persistent or consistent basis, you just kept at it, which was, was excellent. So you've given a lot of practical advice about time management, some other things, some reflections, what about some emotional advice for students, or potential students who are listening to this podcast.
11:08
Um, like I said, we're gonna have peaks and valleys, it's gonna be a roller coaster ride, you know, of, if anyone says was easy, I, they're lying, you know, is never easy. And it's a long journey, you know, and I know, they try to, you know, a, it's, I don't know, some programs, three years, you know, trying to get it, you know, for below, you know, it is really a marathon, and you have to have that lie, you have to have that motivation. You have to know, I will say, what's your why, you know, why? When it gets tough? Like, why are you doing this, you know, like, you have to have that moment to let what you're going to, you're going to sort of hang your hat and say, doing it for this reason, you know, I mean, and for me, my motivation was where my kids, you know, my kids were my biggest motivation, you know, I read you, I was, only one of my family was your, you know, who, who has a doctorate, I have three older sisters, that comes my Hispanic background, and don't have don't have graduate degrees, you know, they went to University of Texas, move them on with universal Pinto Pashto. And so it wasn't like I was the first to, you know, to graduate from college, but you know, what, I'm very, very competitive.
And if I was going to do one thing, I was going to be the first one to earn that doctorate. And so I was gonna, you know, so, again, it's a combination, I had to find different motivators, to get motivated. So it was that, you know, sticking into my sister's, I'm going to first doctor and normal kids, you know, I set out to do this, and I'm going to do it, I'm going to set that example. And, you know, you know, so that was, you know, on an emotional, you know, level. I mean, other advice, I guess, just be flexible. No, you have to learn how to be flexible, you can be so rigid, you know, what might mean journey, you might have this vision of what your study is going to be, and at the end, it's probably gonna look nothing like that, you're gonna have to be able to, you know, go to be flex, want to learn, you know, from the process from the subject matter expert, you guys that, you know, that are that are guiding me that, you know, I learned how to just not put any restrictions on myself and sometimes just, you know, just just write, you know, I mean, just write some times and I had a small case study, I did a athletic director, Chip, you know, with Hispanics, and I was like, you know, what, I'm gonna do it for division one athletic tool, when you really think about it, there's very few Hispanics in you know, in Division One management positions, you know, such as athletic directors, presidents, things like that, you know, the field of play, you find all these minorities, but when you get to the upper echelons of of managerial positions and athletic directors, there's very few, so I was like, should I do this? Because there's not many and I started kind of, like, okay, that's fine. I said, this, how am I gonna, you know, and some of these are at constant at UCLA, you know, at some top university, like, how am I going to do that, you know, how am I going to get him to participate in my study?
And so, you know, I said, You know what, I'm gonna do it, you know, I'm not put any say I'm gonna go back to school, they don't later and I lose some time and so be it, but you know what, I'm gonna I'm gonna go at it. 100% just like I try and do everything. And you know, what's that thing you shoot for the, you know, for the stars, or the moon, you you fall in the stars or whatever the thing is, um, luckily it worked out for me, but you does not put any restriction at all. And I guess, I guess the last thing as far as emotionally, he's got to take some breaks, you know, you got to take some breaks, it's, you know, it's an arduous process, and you got to take care of yourself, you know, I mean, you take care yourself, because stress can eat you alive. And I've seen it. And I think the comments are a good reflection of that. So, you know, that just that emotional support of advice, I guess, is just when those are keys, just take care of yourself, you know, just take a step back sometimes, you know, find that why find that motivation piece for you, you know, and just, you know, just hold back, you know, I mean, you know, just go at it, you know, the best, you know, how and things have a way to fall in place. And that, you know, it worked well, for me in that in that sense, super, you've touched on a lot of very important pieces that, that we've really tried to reinforce from students that perspiration that are that persistence, that taking breaks, being flexible, there's going to be ups and downs, don't give up and find that, that that piece inside you that really drives you to finish it.
And I heard something about sticking it to your sisters, I think that was kind of a driving piece. I think I think, Danny, maybe also you want to do it for perhaps other Hispanic students and Hispanic Hispanics who want to get into collegiate leadership positions. So I think it was it was it was more than just your sisters. I think it was also for you and your background and trying to help you know, others that have not been in leadership positions in collegiate sports, to be able to have that opportunity. And I just happened to know all about your dissertation because I felt like I was right there with you, me and me and this me, but but it's really about, you know, how did they climb this ladder to get into those positions? What worked for them, what didn't work for them, and I remembered some things, they just didn't give up? They persevered, too, and they kept trying so. So that kind of leads me into maybe my last kind of question here. How do you plan on using what you learned during your dissertation journey? It may be the results, but it may be also aligned with the process that you you kind of, you know, you would go through when you did your dissertation? How can you use what you've learned, to perhaps take that knowledge, that experience those information, and make a better world or perhaps help Hispanics to get into these kind of leadership positions? You know, that's that's a great question. You know, I know, Hispanic Latinos, you know, Spanish, like, you know, students represent, you know, the fastest growing demographic, you know, I think, I mean, I'm putting me on there, but I believe so, you know,
17:47
I believe it. So I think, yeah, that's fine.
17:49
Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, we're growing numbers, but, you know, it's multifaceted. It's not, it's not just getting students to those positions, or getting students to roll that into your any kind of university, Hispanic students, but it's, you know, the really question is that that's not enough. How do you, how do you get them to the finish line? How do you get them to graduate? How do you get them to, to get those positions and so forth? And so that's, that's the real dilemma for me. And so it's just, you know, it's, it's sort of a conundrum because no, we have, I don't very smart Hispanics, minority students overall, that, you know, they, I grew up in a nominal pasal, in, you know, West Texas, we border to the bottom of the state of Chihuahua, and we're predominantly Hispanic.
And I work in a, you know, setting where I, I, you know, I interact with students all the time. And know, they, most of them don't have any kind of role models. I was very fortunate because my family, my dad was from, from budongo, in, in the state of Bronwyn, Mexico, my mom will turn to that Polish Chihuahua. They were immigrants, they came to El Paso, and, you know, they really, really struggled. And, you know, I don't know how they did or how they instilled, you know, education because my, my dad had a sixth grade education. And my mom didn't finish didn't finish school. I mean, he was a mechanic. He worked with his hands and he always told me you know, what, I'm want this life for you know, I don't want I don't want you to be working with your hands like an honorable prayed. No, but I want better for you and heal and some still those principles. And I was referred to like I said, my sisters were, you know, I think I was an accident. I came, you know, what my youngest sister's like, we're eight years apart. And so they sort of guided me through the financial aid process. I had no I had a lot of resources at my disposal that not a lot of students have. And so I think My biggest thing is just paying it forward hearing painted forward learning, you know, my journey and what I went through and the obstacles and what I see from others, and to say, hey, how can I help?
Because I live in this community, you know, I live in a, you know, the Mexican American Hispanic community, and, you know, how can I, you know, take what I've learned in my journey, and, you know, help others and I'm in a position in education, where I definitely impact them, you know, when I have, you know, from, you know, I teach, I teach at the college, and everything I've learned from ncu, from research, you know, to instructional practices, how to better connect with my students, things like that, I sort of carry that over my life. You know, I graduated in 2017. And I, it's like, it was just yesterday, and I try and just, you know, sort of, you know, just put things into perspective and take my, my life experiences my journey, and just try and, you know, instill in another people and try and try and make it easier for them. You know, I think that's what we all need, you know, I Everyone needs someone that will help, you know, open doors for them, you know, I mean, I want to be that person to help open some of those doors for, for students who may not know how to open the door, you know, how to get there.
21:14
I think you certainly started off, right, by being that role model, it is Dr. Chavez. And so they're gonna look up to that you did it. You're a super role model for for, you know, Hispanics in your area and throughout the whole country. But I'd also say that the information that you learn from your dissertation, but how some of these athletic directors got those positions, you can certainly share that as well. But I think you're powerful, you're powerful pieces, look, I did it, you if I can do it, and and you do these things, chances are, you're going to be able to do to one of the things that ncu is, we're an open enrollment University, which gives everybody the opportunity, as long as they keep putting forth the effort, and they don't give up chances are, there's a high probability, they'll finish, we're not a university that tries to weed students out or keep students out from some impossible intern standards. So we really try to work with all students and become that role model that you've become. And you can also show your sisters what you did do, but also help so grateful that I found NCU, you know, when I found that one to one model, which was awesome. I mean, you know, and one that, you know, that that, uh, you know, the courses were offered all the time. You mean, the narrative revolving available?
Just starts weekly starts?
Yep, yes, it's very flexible that one to one had subject matter expert, you know, experts, professors, I had Dr. Brian Magner, who is now at at Louisiana, Lafayette, you know, and the athletic program, like he was, you know, when he when I was there, he was an assistant ad in Missouri. And I had him for a couple of classes. I mean, what better way to learn from someone who's actually doing, you know, at the collegiate level, you know, I mean, and so, I like, I like that. You know, I like the fact that, I mean, it was cost effective, in the sense, any kind of university is going to be expensive. I mean, that that's just not ncu is not just, you know, right. Um, but I like the fact that ncu had partnerships at the time, I had gotten my master's from American public university system, and ncu had partner with him until I got some kind of like, a discounted rate in my tuition because of the partnership. And so, I mean, that was, that was great, you know, anything you could save from, you know, from, from tuition is always welcome. Absolutely. And I like, I love that it was that there was no residency requirement. And, you know, it was it was a credited, I mean, so it really worked out. And, you know, I'm just one that I, you know, I don't regret the decision accordingly.
24:06
That's excellent. Danny. That's excellent. So thanks, Dr. Chavez. It's, I bet it's still really cool to be called Dr. Chavez in the hang on to that as long as you can. It's certainly been absolute pleasure doing this podcast with you, as well as serving your chair was certainly my privilege. And my honor, and so glad you've been super successful. And I know you're going to continue to do great things for for your community. So and I really know in a post COVID world, and you plans on having some alumni gatherings and some of the things and in fact, we have one coming up this summer. I may have mentioned to you earlier, but certainly would like to see you at some face to face alumni events, and certainly wish you well, so so Thanks, Dan.
24:52
Thank you, thank you for the opportunity. Um, you know, I you know, I really appreciate you, you know, coming on coming onto this podcast, as you can see my decrees right in the back. I, you know, on the virtual world, I've had a lot of zoom and team meetings and everything else with colleagues and everybody else and I always, always get Hey, you know, let me see that float. And, like, how big is that being? You know, and proud of that man. Yeah, like, your heart for that. It is. Yeah, it's, you know, it's, it's fulfilling. And and I'm sort of glad you know, that, you know, that I went through the journey. It just makes them more, you know, better, you know, just right. Right. And, but again, thank you, thank you, Dr. Riggle.
I can't express my gratitude, you know, and yeah, I certainly look forward to, you know, maybe, you know, at some point, you know, me meeting, again, face to face and some alumni gatherings or whatnot. And, you know, please keep in mind, as you know, as you send out those invites, you know, absolutely anything around San Antonio Austin area, I'm sure you and Mike might not come along. So per se, but Dallas, and when you ask those who work for me, we've been to San Antonio, and we plan to come back. So I know that was a really good boot camp with an alumni event. So Sam, back to you.
26:21
Excellent. Thank you so much, Dr. Riggle, and thank you again, Dr. Chavez, for your willingness to share some of your reflections about your doctoral experience here in ncu. All of us are so proud of you and your accomplishments. And we do hope that you'll remain involved with the MCU community as an alumni. Definitely stay connected. We will be doing events very soon live and in person. So we will get some invites out to you. I promise you Well, we'll make sure you're on that list.
26:52
Thank you, Samantha.
26:53
Absolutely. And to hear more from NC you visit the emerging trends in higher ed podcast found on your preferred media platform. And until next time, goodbye.