Meet Point Community College Scholarship Recipient Felix Giglio

Which community college are you currently attending?

Central New Mexico Community College

Which program are you pursuing and what about the subject intrigues you most?

I am in a Nursing program. I love the natural sciences that Nursing delves into, and I also am passionate about creating inclusive healthcare spaces for queer and trans individuals.

What are your education and career aspirations?

I firmly believe that providing equitable and accessible healthcare to the LGBTQ+ community is a necessary act of social justice. I hope to engage the vulnerable members in my community and promote the health of some of our most undervalued neighbors, friends, and unhoused individuals. Ideally, I would love to enter some sort of Case Management or Care Coordination position to facilitate this process.

What is a fun fact about you that few people know?

I play Dungeons and Dragons every weekend, and have been for almost two years now. (Don't worry, it's online for now.) My character is a Barbarian woman who is really tall, so basically the exact opposite of me.

What is your favorite book/movie/song and why?

Most of my favorite books are written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (100 Years of Solitude being my absolute favorite.) He was the first author to get me reading again after my post high school slump!

What is your current favorite streaming binge and why?

Portlandia. I grew up in the PNW and it just really hits home sometimes.

In your spare time, what do you enjoy doing?

Cooking! I am a huge baker. New Mexico has excellent spicy green chiles, so recently I have been experimenting making green-chile-cheese-bagels. Note: They are excellent.

How are you practicing self-care during this difficult time?

I give myself a time limit of how much new information and new learning I can do. I can only take in so much each day, and once I hit my time limit, I give myself permission to be done and relax. There's always "more to do" (especially in Nursing school), and it is important for me to recognize that I still exist outside of academics.

How are you adjusting to remote life and what are your tips to stay motivated?

I won't try to pretend that going remote was easy - it really wasn't. To stay motivated, though, I try to stay organized. Recently I have been meticulous with how I plan my studying, and it feels satisfying and motivating to be able to "cross everything off" by the end of the day.

As a Point Community College Scholarship Recipient, what is your message to other LGBTQ+ students?

You are so much cooler than you think you are! Often I find that LGBTQ+ students, myself included, have a relatively poor perception of our performance in school. We tend to doubt ourselves. So, even if you don't recognize how neat and valuable you are, there are absolutely people and organizations out there that are ready and waiting to support you.