| Name: |
Aoi Mizushima |
| Where are you from?: |
Born in Flushing, Queens, NY, grew up in Orange County, CA and have lived in Portland, OR for 22 years |
| Graduated from?: |
Undergraduate degree: UC Berkeley
Medical school: University of Wisconsin, Madison
Residency: OHSU Family Medicine
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| Degree: |
M.D. |
| Current title: |
Physician at Student Health and Counseling |
| Proudest accomplishment? |
Giving birth to and raising two kind and beautiful-souled kids (now both in college) |
| Hobbies? |
I love spending time with family, friends, going on walks/hikes, cooking, eating, and am currently learning how to play the jarana (a string instrument commonly used to play son Jarocho, a style of music from southern Mexico) |
| What has been your most rewarding experience at PSU and why? |
In the Fall of 2022, I audited my first PSU class which I have thoroughly enjoyed. It is the PSU Mariachi. Coming from a very large Mexican family on my mom’s side, I spent most of my summers visiting different parts of Mexico, but frequently the state of Jalisco where Mariachi originated. I associate Mariachi with summers watching my Tios and Tias getting up and taking turns singing with the Mariachi, or during family gatherings. Back in the 80’s one of my uncles was featured in a video representing the state of Jalisco after gaining local celebrity status for his ‘lively’ Mariachi performances in Puerto Vallarta. When I sing Mariachi songs, I am transported to my childhood and can feel the warmth of my family.
So, despite not having any formal training in music, singing Mariachi music for me is really about expressing a very deep pride in my cultural roots; it’s about leaning into the swell of love and gratitude I always carry for my family, and the unwavering support and unspeakable sacrifices they made in order for me to have the opportunities that I continue to have to this day. It’s a feeling that’s really hard to express it in any other way.
(Anyone who wants to show support for the PSU Mariachi, we have our first recital on May 5th, 6pm, Lincoln Hall Recital Hall (rm.75). Tickets are free for PSU students and $10 to the public.)
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| What else do you want people to know about you? |
I am encouraged with the newer generations how much the concept of embracing one’s own intersectional identities is gradually becoming the norm and not the exception. Having parents who are immigrants from two different countries, I’ve lived the majority of my life with other people often expecting me to “choose” just one of my identities or somehow deciding that they are the gatekeeper of how I am allowed to identify based on their own perceptions or stereotypes of what people must look like, act like, are named, etc. before they can identify with X identity. I have never subscribed to this thinking because I know where I come from and I know who my family is. There is no such thing as only having room inside a person for one singular identity. We all hold space for multiple identities within ourselves and that is not a choice someone else can make for you, nor is a person being inauthentic when they choose to celebrate one of their different identities. I have a strong identity of being a first gen college grad of immigrant parents, I have strong identities with both my Mexican and Japanese roots, I have an identity as a physician as well as a mom, daughter, sister and spouse. I can be all of these things and I can be all of these things proudly. Something I love about working at PSU and working with students, is that I find it so beautiful to appreciate people in all the different ways they show up and the different ways they find to honor and hold space for their different identities. I’ve always believed that people usually discover their superpower within the intersections of who they are and where they’ve come from. |