Acts of Wellness: DeLa Dos

My name is DeLa Dos. I serve as the Director of the Social Justice Education area of the Division of Student Affairs at a four-year private university in the southeastern United States.

In this role, I work to engage members of the university community in the creation, execution, and evaluation of efforts to develop the capacity of individuals to effectively advocate for equitable changes in society — efforts that work to dismantle systems of oppression. This position is relatively new at this institution and is a one-person operation. As such, my attention focuses on designing various educational interventions and experiences for different student populations, while supporting colleagues in their efforts to center justice in their work and continue their own personal and professional development.

I identify as a genderqueer person of color, part of an APIDA — Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi — community, who carries privilege in various identities: growing up in a family with more than enough financial resources, and identifying as someone without a disability.

I came into the study feeling many things. I was healthy overall, though very tense. I fluctuated between feeling curious and hopeful, tired and frustrated, uncertain and unmotivated — and a variety of other emotional and physical states in between.

What I learned about myself through the study relates to the challenge I had in feeling like I had accomplished goals in multiple areas of my life on the same day. Through the reflection process, I noticed that I seldom — if ever — felt like I had made progress on both personal and professional goals within the same day. I think this wasn’t as apparent to me before the study because I didn’t typically set daily goals for myself. Having that practice built into the study allowed me to notice progress, or the lack thereof, in smaller increments of time and in specific facets of my life.

One lesson that has stayed with me since participating is the way that incremental, structured goal-setting can bolster a sense of determination and focus — particularly when practiced in a way that does not conflate accomplishment with self-worth. That distinction matters. Progress is not the same as value.

The lesson I would encourage others to consider is the implication of trying to divide or compartmentalize one’s experiences and identities — not just because of the multiplicity and intersectionality of our social identities and group memberships, but also in terms of roles and responsibilities. For me, this connects to the conversations many of us have heard about work-life balance or work-life integration, as well as the question of personal versus public personas, particularly across social media.

I believe this is worth exploring thoughtfully — without ignoring the critical roles that organization, code-switching, and the boundaries within our relationships all play in how we navigate that complexity.