Message from our President
I have a colleague friend who lives and works in Denver, Colorado but she grew up in New Mexico. She's been gone many years but always comes back home and stays connected to her large extended family. Her professional career path has been with the Department of Interior, working in Washington D.C. early in her career and now in Denver. This past year we spent some time together and she amused me with her perception that those of us that grew up New Mexican in some miraculous way seem to find each other anywhere we go. She told me that through her travels somehow she's experienced that New Mexicans just manage to find each other in a crowded room wherever we are. New Mexico is known as the Land of Enchantment, so perhaps it is that the enchantment of our state never leaves our souls or spirits, as such we just somehow miraculously 'find each other' when we are out in the world.
After she shared her perception with me, I told her a story - I've become a storyteller these days, as one is apt to be once you've lived a full life. Here's the story I shared with her: I own a small three acre apple orchard in northern New Mexico in a small village called La Canova, down the road from my childhood home village, El Guique. During the season when the apple blossoms are opening, a beekeeper brings his hives, about 4 or 5 of them, to my orchard to help the pollination process, enabling the honey bees to make their sweet honey. The apple trees need the honey bees and the honey bees need the trees, nature is very collaborative!! I remember years ago, I was watching the bees buzzing about my orchard after the beekeeper set the hives up. Somehow those bees are able to find their way back to their respective beehives; it was fascinating to watch. I asked him how the bees knew how to get back to their beehives. He, in turn, was amused with me and asked me "How do you know how to get home when you've been gone?" I remember laughing and saying to him "But they don't move my house every few weeks!" Smart honey bees!! Smart New Mexicans!! So I told my friend, I think New Mexicans are a lot like those smart honey bees, as you say, somehow we find our way home and/or we find each other out in the world if we can't get home!!
There is an indescribable uniqueness to our state, this Land of Enchantment and to the region that we at New Mexico State University-Grants serve, Cibola County, in mid-west New Mexico. Our region exemplifies the best of what is New Mexican, the unique diversity of our state, the rich cultures, and the rural nature of New Mexico. We serve several Native American tribal communities, i.e. Laguna, Acoma, and Zuni Pueblos and parts of the Navajo Nation and many villages settled by Spanish speaking settlers, i.e. San Mateo, San Rafael, Seboyeta, Cubero, the larger village of Milan and the town of Grants. Other unique communities also exist, such as 'Budville' with interesting histories of in-migration of many unique cultures due to the history of mining and the railroad in this region. I did not grow up in this region of New Mexico and thus I find the sound of train whistles very delightful. Those that grew up in this area laugh at me when they see me stop and listen to the train whistles, as they are immune to the sound. The landscapes and vistas we are blessed to live within will take your breath away, and the light and sky can seduce. So, I understand how New Mexicans that have left our beloved state somehow find each other - and how people that arrive to our state come to love it as well.
NMSU-Grants begins a new academic year as we begin our Fall 2009 semester. We are planning many exciting changes to our campus as we celebrate our 40th anniversary serving Cibola County. We are a public, open admission, community college that is part of the New Mexico State University system, New Mexico's land grant college. I am very proud of our students; when I see them, I see me, many years ago, as a young rural New Mexican girl who wanted access to opportunities, as our students continue to want access today. I like to say that "anything that happens here, could have happened to me" so it is my hope that we are providing an educational doorway for New Mexican's career pathways, whether they choose to stay in New Mexico or their life/career journey takes them elsewhere. I invite you to visit our website throughout the year and learn more about our campus and our community because I am sure that you too will be 'enchanted'!!
My Warmest Regards,
Felicia Casados, President
NMSU Grants
1500 Third St.
Grants, New Mexico 87020
(505) 287-6624 (office)
Email: fcasados@nmsu.edu