A couple of tips for everyone at Ohio State
when experiencing problems:
1. Make connections.
2. If you are encountering difficulties,
get involved in finding a solution.
3. Seek the support among family, friends,
classmates, faculty, staff, and/or members of your church
or place of worship.
4. Connect with your community.
5. Use The OSU services, including CCS
and Career Connection.
6. Share your knowledge and wisdom of your
culture and learn from the different ethnic groups and cultures
at Ohio State.
7. Appreciate and respect differences in
beliefs and customs.
As part of the Hispanic Action Plan and Ohio State’s
commitment to diversity and meeting the needs of different
ethnic groups at the university, Ernesto Escoto has been
hired by Counseling and Consultation Services (CCS) as a
mental health therapist to address issues relevant to the
Latino community.
Ernesto, a Salvadorian native who speaks Spanish fluently,
obtained his undergraduate degree in Psychology from California
State University, Fresno. Later on, he specialized in Education,
Counseling and Student Services for his Masters at the same
institution. Ernesto is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Counseling
Psychology at New Mexico State University. He completed
his Pre-Doctoral Internship at Counseling and Psychological
Services, University of California at Berkeley, and is currently
finishing his Dissertation.
Ernesto became interested in helping others “in a
safer way” because of his family involvement in socio-political
issues. However, the decision was not conscious. He arrived
to counseling psychology after being exposed to environmental
psychology and conducting research in other subfields of
psychology.
Ohio State attracted Ernesto because he noticed the commitment
and involvement staff and faculty have in addressing Latino
issues. Also, Ernesto was drawn here because of Ohio State’s
standing as one of the best schools in counseling psychology.
Ernesto started working with CCS in September. He is very
excited about his new job because he wants to outreach to
OSU students, in particular, Latin@s on campus.
Through outreach programs and counseling services, Ernesto
plans to promote the educational, emotional, social and
cultural development of Buckeyes. Since he believes “that
relationships that promote and reflect safety and respect
will allow us to creatively work together towards supporting
OSU students in successfully reaching their goals,”
his main objective, then, is to establish a fruitful collaborative
relationship, not only with students, but also with faculty
and staff. He hopes to be a resource and collaborate with
professionals and faculty as a bridge between them and the
students.
Ernesto says that he “may not bring all the solutions”,
but he does bring a breadth of knowledge of higher education
and of problems Latin@s are facing. He hopes to share this
knowledge with faculty and staff to further develop programs
to meet OSU students’ needs and support them in the
successful accomplishment of their academic goals.
By collaborating with faculty, staff and Latin@ students,
he will identify and address appropriately the needs relevant
to Latin@s on campus. This is not an easy task since student
issues and ways of approaching them may differ from institution
to institution. Thus, Ernesto will explore the OSU Latino
population’s dynamic to understand what works best
among Buckeyes. For instance, he hopes to make an in-depth
assessment of the Latino profile at Ohio State working in
collaboration with the Multicultural Center, the Office
of Minority Affairs, the Organization of Hispanic Faculty
and Staff, and the different student organizations.
