There is more to the story of a book than what’s written on the pages. We all have favorites that don’t necessarily involve the book’s contents as much as how we came across the book or what we associate it with. Dean of Students Tomás Aguirre has five great stories behind his favorite books. He connects to them not through the stories they tell, but through their relation to the stories of his life.
1. “The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien
“I love it because it taught me that anybody, no matter who you are or what you do, can have an adventure. You just have to take the first step. I’m like that homebody who wants to curl up by the fire, read a book and enjoy good food. But you always wind up having adventures anyway. Every time I work with the students, it’s an adventure.”
2. “Miracle on the Mesa” by former UNM President William “Bud” Davis
Aguirre said he was close friends with one of Davis’ daughters. On a trip with her to the New Orleans Jazz Fest, he met her father and took a tour of the Louisiana State University campus with him in a golf cart.
“That’s what got me into student affairs. Here is the man who inspired me to get into this profession. I think every student should read it because it focuses on the positives of the university.”
3. “Action Research” by Ernest T. Stringer
“It is probably the only book that I remember from my doctoral program. I practice it every day. It pushed this concept of inquiry, which is that we should all work together to identify problems, come up with solutions, implement the solutions and then evaluate the results, and it needs to be continuous. It encourages everyone to become their own researcher, which I’m a big believer in. It allows you to become proactive versus reactive.”
4. “Mindfulness in Plain English” by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
“This is a book that my sister recommended to me. She’s very spiritual and progressive-thinking. It’s this great book that teaches you to be very mindful of your moments and to live in that moment. That mindfulness peace really allows you to filter out the drama, the negativity, the naysayers and the extremes. It allows you to take what you have and give it to the task at hand. It’s something I struggle with because I juggle a lot of things at the same time. I can get overwhelmed at times, but I always go back to this book, and it reminds me to be mindful of those moments and make the most out of them.”
5. “The Dissertation Monkey” by Tomás A. Aguirre
“Now, this isn’t one of my favorites just because I wrote it. When I was working on my dissertation, it was challenging for me because I had a family. It was their sacrifice, because time that I spent in the classroom working on it was time that I wasn’t spending with them. Family comes first.”
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
An important person related to this story is Aguirre’s wife’s grandmother. She had a tradition of making sock monkeys for the family’s children. One day, while working on his dissertation, Aguirre shouted at his computer, “I’ve got to get this damn monkey off my back!” The next day, his son had taken a sock monkey and taped the word “Dissertation” to its chest.
“After that, the monkey became the muse for the journey so that whenever something positive would happen, I’d post something on Facebook: ‘The dissertation monkey is screaming/laughing at me.’ It was really interesting because it allowed my three younger kids to really connect with what I was doing. When I was graduating, the dissertation monkey (figuratively) came on stage with me. We have so many grad students, and what I learned is that there is no ‘Dissertation for Dummies’ or ‘Doctoral Program for Dummies.’ All of these other people are a part of that process. It’s a children’s book; I had a former student of mine named Ian Stewart illustrate it for me. We’re hoping to publish before Christmas.”
Skylar Griego is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo
