What's the Word? Eagle Alumni Spotlight Podcast: Nathalia Barraza

Natalia Barraza (2023) discusses her background, including her naturalization through the Army and her bachelor's degree in Global Security Intelligence Studies from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She highlights her role in Korea with the Civil Affairs Directorate, focusing on strategic operations and research. Natalia emphasizes the importance of concise, objective writing in both the military and private sectors, noting the need for adherence to regulations. She shares her challenges with counterproductive leadership and the value of mentorship and therapy in navigating professional obstacles. Natalia advises current Embry-Riddle students to seek mentors aligned with their career goals.

Episode Transcript:


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Owen:
Hello everyone. We have a quick disclaimer that the views and opinions presented are those of the speaker and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Defense. Thank you and enjoy the episode. Hello everyone. Welcome back. I'm your host. Owen Smith, with what's the word today, I'm joined by Natalia Barraza of the United States Army. Thank you Miss Barraza for taking the time out of your day to join me on this interview.

Nathalia:
Hi. Good morning. I'm very excited to be here and ready to answer your questions.

Owen:
Yeah, so tell me a little about yourself.

Nathalia:
I'm Natalia. I am originally from Mexico. I moved here when I was 13 years old. I naturalized through the United States Army. Well, started my last year of college. So that has to be like one of the most significant things I did, naturalizing. After 12 years, I graduated from Embry-Riddle in May of 2023 with a bachelor's degree in global security intelligence studies focusing on cyber security. That's how it is. I yeah, I don't really have a lot of hobbies, because the army takes everything. But sometimes I do like play tennis. They're trying to get me into pickleball. They haven't convinced me yet.

Owen:
That's nice. It's always good to have this. So as a sergeant in the Army, in your field, what does a typical day look like your day to day?

Nathalia:
It depends. At a tactical level, we usually do a lot of engagements. We go and talk to people, just like I'm talking to you right now. We get to know them, see their needs, see their type of capabilities that go serve us. I currently serve as a NCO. I see at the here in Korea with the Civil Affairs Directorate. My favorite part of the job is the recurring opportunities to learn operation at a strategic level. I've been doing tactical levels since I started the army. Strategic is something that you get to do later on in your career. So I get to have this opportunity to learn from people that have been in the army for 30 years or more. Every day I get to research in support of those operations. So I get to do a lot of writing and a lot of reading. I think I haven't read this much since I got out of college. So it's, it was really, it was really great to get back on that rhythm, because I really like researching.

Owen:
Yeah, that's awesome. That's good to hear. And with that, what types of writing do you use in your or quite often in the workplace, and both currently in the army, and you mentioned you're also in the private sector for a little bit.

Nathalia:
Yes, prior to this, I worked the private sector for a year before I left for Korea as a security analyst. So I think the most similar things that I did in both ends will be report writing, very, very brief and objective. Report writings, you don't need to have a bunch of description. In the private sector, is more about how they violate policies on the security end. In the army, we have our own regulation on how to write, so, very similar to empirical writing, where especially intelligence writing with the user active voice, we give a little bit of background that explains the analysis on the information piece that we're talking about. But more importantly in the army side will be that it follows the regulation. Because one mistake you make, and that's all the reader reads, all the reader is going to see is that it's not following the regulation. Doesn't matter how the content and I can I can see in the private sector, is a bit a little bit similar. If you talk too much about something that is irrelevant to the piece, you're trying to something the end point of your report, that's all they're going to see. Like they're missing the point, but very objective type of writing.

Owen:
Yeah, short, sweet to the point, make sure you follow the rules. And in both environments, what would you say was, I guess, the most impactful experience or lesson you learned with effective communication and report writing, and how has it shaped your approach to professional tasks?

Nathalia:
I have a very disorganized head, so I have a lot of things that go on at the same time. So sometimes when I'm researching about something a lot. I have a lot of ideas or a lot of things that I want to talk about, and sometimes I don't approach my readiness to being the final piece, but more as a repository for my thoughts. And after that, I can see what I'm thinking about. Like maybe I don't want to do this. I don't want to put. This is irrelevant. Oh, I want to develop more about this. So I think when I first started writing, I'm not a English is not my first language. Thing, that's very evident. So I struggle a lot with that during college, because people will tell me, I can I can see you're not, they're not from here. And that hurts me a lot, because nobody, nobody will really tell me how to bribe except intelligence writing. But the more I practice, the more you get better at it. It's it's really not like a like a thing that you cannot practice and develop upon, because I become a very good writer, and it's mostly because I learn from it. I ask people, can you peer review it? What do you think? And they're often happy, especially in private sector. People that have been working there, a lot that really want to do some mentorship, will look over at anything, even if it's a sentence, and they will tell you if it's a goal or not. And that has helped me a lot. I look for help just because I always doubt myself that it's always the greatest product, but also because I'm always seeking to develop.

Owen:
Yes, that's, that's, I mean, that's pretty similar, very similar to how I work. I spend way too much of my time going through research, research, research, and then write. And then I ask my roommate, I asked my friend, and depending on the day, ask a teacher or professor and say, Hey, this is why I'm writing. This is what I'm thinking. And just give it a just give a look over, give it a check. Say, if it's not good, let me know. Please. I'd really appreciate it; just be completely honest. But yeah, and taking a step back, with your time at Riddle? What similarities and differences have you noticed between the writing here at Embry Riddle and in the workplace, both private and within the military?

Nathalia:
I think they're all I don't remember much about my writing at Embry Riddle, only that I can tell you, probably a couple professors can say it was bad, but I can tell you a lot of the things is bottom line for front. And I think intelligence writer was all about that your bottom line on front. We want to know why is this relevant? We want to know what will be the impact of this and private sector, that's, there's a problem, but there's some people that still need to get there, and they've been there for a while. But that is, I think, the biggest similarity I find. People want to know what, what is, why am I reading this? How was a policy violated? How did we get here? And what could be the possible consequences of this happening with the army? It's about the same, depending on what you're writing, right? If you're writing a memorandum, it's a different structure. It will have like, different sentences on, why is this relevant, and what, how are we trying to amend it? Or what is the, what is the situation you're trying to communicate to the other end. I also work on area studies, so they're a little bit lengthy and a little bit more more descriptive, which you could compare to a thesis essay. So it is really it is really difficult, but to me, because I have to go back and reread it and make it and make sure that follows the Army Regulation format, very similar to college level writing, we want to know what is happening in this region. What, what are the impacts? Very bottom line up front and what are the concept, the background story of why has developed? I don't know if that answered your question, but I I can really remember, like a good writing that I've done in while I was at Ember riddle, I think most of them follow corporate policy writing, or how policies can be violated. Other than that, the army writing is a little bit more different, because it's situational. Depends on what you're writing about.

Owen:
Yes, you answered really well. There I have noticed that there is quite a difference from the writing that I that I read, to try to model based off of to the writing that I'm doing in class. So I completely understand. And speaking of your time at riddle, what do you what do you wish you would have known before leaving and transitioning into the workplace?

Nathalia:
I think both private sector and military, I'm working with great leadership right now. They they're the best. I don't know. I'm very excited every day that I work, to go to work, and I honestly don't want to leave. But one of the things I struggle a lot, mostly because I didn't have any internships, given the fact that I wasn't a citizen at any point in. Intelligence and Security, that's kind of a requirement if you're trying to be on this sector, is how to properly navigate counterproductive leadership, which is very immature, controlling petty type of leadership that makes the workplace a little bit counterproductive. So for me, was a very bad source of frustration as a fresh out college graduate with no internship experience, and I made a lot of mistakes navigating counterproductive, controlling leadership, because I never experienced that professionally. I thought everybody is nice and has your best interest for your career, but often that is not true, and I had a hard time dealing with that. And then so the best way I learned to navigate that, and I learned it really late, after I made all these mistakes, I got I got through it with mentorship. So I found a mentor within the company, somebody, somebody that was outside the environment I was seeing so they could give me a better outlook. Maybe, hey, maybe you're looking at this in too deep maybe we need to take a step back. This is how I see it from my perspective. This is, I think, how you can tackle the situation better. And as funny as it sounds, therapy, because these types of leadership is everywhere. Unfortunately, I believe that everybody's good at heart, but daily interaction can be very draining, and it takes a toll on your personal life, so you want to find a way to to not take that into your personal life. Once you get out of work and you're still thinking about it, you're like, oh my god, I can't believe they did this. But mentorship and therapy, if it works for you, or anything, that you can express your feelings in a healthy way. But mentorship is probably how I got here. So always find a mentor. They will be able to guide you and tell you if you're wrong or if you're looking at something too deep, or somebody that is looking for your best interest in your career development. I believe everybody in a riddle and anywhere is capable of accomplishing more than imagining, as long as they stay focused on what their best career interest is.

Owen:
Yeah, well, thank you very much for the outlook. So we love to do a thing at the end of our interviews to ask about for a piece of advice for current Embry Riddle students like myself. Would that be the advice to find, to find a good mentor, a competent mentor that would be able to kind of help you and prop you up and hype you up even?

Nathalia:
Yes, mentorship, you first need to find somebody that aligns with something that you want to do or something that you're interested in, because sometimes mentors will be like, Well, why do you want me to mentor you? What? What is something in my career that you admire or you want to seek to pursue? And that worked for me really well. I found a mentor that I was really different from what I was doing at work, and her and I would just click, and she helped me to get where I needed to be. She's like, maybe this is something you shouldn't be doing. This is something you should be focusing more on and work on more, and a mentor will change your life. Did you find a good one? And don't give it up as I think a mentorship is like therapy. You want to find some therapists that you're like, I cannot work with these people, different type of personality. You're going to find mentors that you're like. This is great. This I'm learning so much every day. They are putting me to work. They're testing me. I think that's that's when you know you find a good mentorship.

Owen:
Well, thank you very much. Thank you so much for the advice Natalia and Well, thank you again for joining me on what's the word.

Nathalia:
Thank you for inviting me. I hope everything goes right this semester with you and always reach high.

Dr. Chesley:
This podcast is supported by the Department of Humanities and communication at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. Our hosts are Abigail Bradbury and Owen Smith. Matthew Haslam is the department chair, and I'm Amelia Chesley, Assistant Professor of professional writing. Many thanks to the Prescott campus writing and Design Lab for hosting our transcripts. The intro and outro music is wanderer by Alex. You can find us where most podcasts are found, and please do reach out if you are a Prescott campus alum, we'd love to feature you in a future episode.