“How I Got Here” with Dean Billie Gastic Rosado

Undergraduate and graduate students at NYU SPS enjoy many ways to become involved in student organizations that span interests and areas of study. The student leaders of the NYU SPS Student Council host the “How I Got Here” (HIGH) lunch series to engage members of the SPS community in an hour-long conversation moderated by an SPS student. The conversations are geared towards sharing the speaker’s personal and professional struggles, triumphs and everything in between - the journey that got them to where they are today. The series serves as a great way for NYU SPS students to hear from experts in diverse fields and provides an interactive forum for students to navigate their own career paths. As a way of maintaining continued learning and inspiration beyond the virtual sessions, each of the interviews are converted into episodes for the NYU SPS Replay Podcast.

To recognize National Hispanic Heritage Month, Dean Billie Gastic Rosado was featured as guest speaker, interviewed by DAUS senior, April Cardena. The hour-long interview highlighted Dean Gastic Rosado as an educator and leader who has dedicated her career to mission-driven work that acknowledges the power of education to advance individual choice and economic mobility . She described the path she took to focus on teaching, researching, and leading programs and institutions committed to educational access, equity and opportunity. Recounting “how she got here”, Dean Gastic Rosado revealed how her journey did not take a straight path and included times when she had to be honest about whether or not she was making the right choices:

Dean Gastic Rosado traces her journey in higher education while shedding light on issues faced by students and young adults, especially in the Latinx community, and what led her to advocate for these causes. As a first-generation college student, Dean Gastic Rosado underscored the value of education and how it opens a world of opportunities that may otherwise be inaccessible. “I am the first in my family to go to college and my father would always tell me how important an education is because no one can take it from you.”

In response to a question posed by April Cardena about how we can make a difference in where we live, study, and work, Dean Gastic Rosado reflected on the power of the small moments that we might take for granted:

She also encouraged students to seek out mentors and expressed disappointment that it took her as long to feel comfortable seeking out advice and counsel from others. 

“Find people who you can trust to have your best interests at heart and ask them for advice. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. In fact, it is quite the opposite. It took me longer than I would have liked to learn that,” Dean Gastic Rosado noted.

Billie Gastic Rosado, PhD, is Associate Dean of Liberal Arts, Languages, and Post-Traditional Undergraduate Studies at the NYU School of Professional Studies and leads the Division of Applied Undergraduate Studies, the Center for Applied Liberal Arts, and the English Language Institute. In the Spring semester, she teaches a section of Introduction to Sociology in the Associate degree program.