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<\/p>\n This doctoral student is transforming the first-semester experience for students who
\n struggle with acclimating to college.<\/p>\n
\t\tCREATORS<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
Iliana Anaya<\/a> is scheduled to defend her dissertation in couple, marriage, and family therapy, She earned her Bachelor of Arts in psychology<\/a> from Texas Tech University<\/a> in 2020 and her Master of Science in marriage and family therapy<\/a> in 2022, learning the clinical frameworks for understanding how people connect. She As a licensed marriage and family therapist associate in Texas, she spent six years When she first arrived on campus as an undergraduate in fall 2017, none of that seemed When homesickness hit, her parents took what seemed like a stern approach: no coming She chose the latter.\u00a0<\/p>\n What she learned during those difficult first semesters would shape everything that Finding Her Purpose\u00a0<\/p>\n Growing up in New Mexico, Iliana saw what many communities face: mental health struggles But wanting to help and knowing how to get there are two different things. Despite Soloski didn\u2019t hesitate. She told Iliana she would unequivocally support her pursuit. \u201cI wanted to be someone who people could look up to and think, \u2018I can do it. I can Finding Her Path Through Service\u00a0<\/p>\n During her graduate program, the opportunity arose to do an externship at the Lubbock Iliana took the opportunity, even though it pushed her outside her comfort zone. What She stayed at the juvenile justice center for six years, working throughout her graduate One of the most meaningful moments in her time there came through a goodbye letter That message captures what Iliana strives to bring into every setting she works in Teaching Philosophy: Making Space to Learn\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, as an instructor with the College of Health & Human Sciences, Iliana\u2019s approach \u201cToo many students operate in constant fight-or-flight, so terrified of failure that Her focus is on practical life skills. She wants students to learn how to navigate Iliana also recognizes that teaching is a two-way street. Her students teach her constantly, But no one can give what they don\u2019t have. Teaching requires taking care of oneself Her message to students mirrors her practice \u2013 self-care doesn\u2019t have to be expensive The TechThrive Class: Bridging the Gap\u00a0<\/p>\n Now Iliana is helping develop Texas Tech\u2019s new TechThrive<\/a> CARS 2310 course, and everything she\u2019s learned \u2013 from her own struggle to find her
\n but her real education in belonging started years earlier. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n chose to stay with the College of Health & Human Sciences<\/a> for her doctorate, where she could study what she\u2019d learned firsthand: how to create
\n space for people who feel like outsiders. \u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Iliana](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Anaya-Iliana.jpg\")
Iliana Anaya <\/p>\n
\n at the Lubbock County Juvenile Justice Center, putting theory into practice with young
\n people that society had written off. Now she\u2019s bringing that experience into a new
\n challenge: teaching students how to build the sense of belonging she had to figure
\n out on her own through a new class \u2013 CARS 2310.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n possible. She felt completely alone. She ended up in a single dorm, and no one from
\n her high school had chosen to come to Lubbock. For an introvert, this was a difficult
\n position to be in. The first couple of semesters became an exercise in persistence,
\n watching other students arrive with built-in connections while she had to work twice
\n as hard to find a way in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n home except for major holidays. At the time, it felt harsh, but looking back, Iliana
\n recognizes it as the push she needed. The choice became clear. She could keep feeling
\n sorry for herself, or she could stop waiting for Texas Tech to feel like home and
\n make it one. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n came after \u2013 belonging doesn\u2019t happen automatically. It requires intentional effort,
\n knowing where to look and having the courage to reach out. Texas Tech had resources
\n and community waiting for her, she just had to learn how to find them and build the
\n connections herself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n that nobody seemed equipped to address. Substance abuse, violence and homelessness
\n were visible symptoms of deeper problems people lacked the language or resources to
\n treat. She saw people who needed help but didn\u2019t know how to access it. By high school,
\n she knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to be the person who could help bridge
\n that gap.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n growing up in a household that valued education, navigating graduate school for mental
\n health counseling was uncharted territory for Iliana. The clarity came during her
\n first graduate advising meeting with Kristy Soloski<\/a>, when Iliana\u2019s question tumbled out, \u201cDo you think I can even get a doctorate? Do
\n you think I\u2019m qualified?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n That moment changed everything. It wasn\u2019t about the title or the prestige anymore.
\n It was about becoming the person she needed when she first started this journey, someone
\n who could help others see possibilities they couldn\u2019t see in themselves, who could
\n actively create space for people to belong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n be in higher education. I have a space here, and I\u2019m wanted,\u201d Iliana explains. \u201cThat
\n was the biggest thing for me. I wanted to pave the path for anybody who may not feel
\n they have the opportunity or the drive to do it. You can. It takes a lot of work,
\n but it\u2019s definitely worth it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n County Juvenile Justice Center. People are often scared to work there, uncomfortable
\n with the reality of teenagers in orange jumpsuits who wear shackles and handcuffs,
\n who have mug shots and lengthy sentences ahead of them. But when Professor of Practice
\n Nicole Piland<\/a> mentioned the opportunity, she offered a challenge that stuck, \u201cIf you can give therapy
\n to incarcerated youth, you can give therapy to anybody.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n she found surprised her. These kids were some of the smartest, funniest individuals
\n she\u2019d ever encountered. They\u2019d just been dealt an extraordinarily difficult hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n education. The experience taught her how to think quickly, meet people exactly where
\n they were without judgement and intentionally create space for people who felt like
\n outsiders. For Iliana, creating that space meant modeling calm, consistency and respect
\n in settings that often lacked those qualities. She used techniques like systemic reframing,
\n helping youth see their reactions not as \u201cbad behavior\u201d but as learned survival responses
\n within their family and environmental contexts. She prioritized collaborative language
\n (\u201cwe,\u201d \u201clet\u2019s figure this out\u201d) and nontraditional engagement tools like creative
\n journaling or brief mindfulness exercises that fit the facility\u2019s structure while
\n fostering trust and autonomy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n from a resident, who wrote, \u201cWhat you have done for me means a lot. You are the best
\n counselor I\u2019ve ever had. I always feel safe and comfortable around you\u2026 you really
\n are like a big sister to me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n \u2013 authenticity, warmth and the active work of making people feel like they belong.
\n It\u2019s what she learned to do for herself at Texas Tech and what she\u2019s spent her career
\n doing for others.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n centers on what she calls \u201cfreedom to fail.\u201d Whether working with incarcerated youth
\n or teaching undergraduates, she wants students to feel secure enough to take risks
\n without the crushing fear that a single misstep will tank their future. She remembers
\n what it felt like as a first-year student, terrified of doing something wrong, of
\n reaching out and being rejected.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n they never stretch themselves or grow,\u201d she observes. \u201cThat fear doesn\u2019t just make
\n learning harder. It halts growth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n stress and difficult emotions, set boundaries and have hard conversations while moving
\n through challenges with intention instead of desperately flailing to stay afloat.
\n These are the tools that will matter five, ten, twenty years down the line, the same
\n tools she wishes she\u2019d developed more consciously during her own undergraduate years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n offering perspectives she\u2019s never considered. That mutual exchange keeps her engaged,
\n and it\u2019s why she aspires to become the kind of professor students recommend to future
\n generations \u2013 the kind of mentor Soloski was for her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n first, which is why Iliana is intentional about self-care. She walks her miniature
\n dachshund Jimmy Dean regularly, tends to her ever-growing plant collection (she jokes
\n that while other grad students hoard cats, she hoards plants) and makes time for Texas
\n Tech football and basketball games even when her schedule feels impossibly packed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n or time-consuming. Sometimes the most restorative act a person can do is simple. It
\n could be taking a 10-minute nap, sitting outside in the sunshine, walking barefoot
\n through grass or wandering around campus noticing what\u2019s beautiful. The important
\n thing is doing something that fills a person\u2019s reserves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n footing as a first-year student, to her clinical work with marginalized youth, to
\n her years of teaching \u2013 is being woven into its design. The course is designed to
\n give students what she eventually found at Texas Tech, but more quickly and systematically,
\n a clear roadmap to the abundant resources available on campus, and practical tools
\n for using them effectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n