Maria Jose Castillo
Maria Jose Castillo
There has been a robust rise in Racine of Latin American entrepreneurship these past few years. From the Guatemalan heritage business Esperanza Coffee Collective to the Mexican jewelry art of Maria Orzoco, Racine fully embraces the arts of the region’s countries.
The passion of these communities was further embellished with the crowning of Maria Jose Castillo as the first Latina Mrs. Racine in November of last year. A formula chemist with a bachelor of science degree, Castillo has used her position to speak out against sexism in her field and advocate for sympathetic treatment of mental health issues. She took some time to discuss mental health activism, her hobbies, and how the position influenced her relationship with the community.
What inspired you to enter the Mrs. Racine competition?
What inspired me was seeing these competitors in the Fourth of July Parade and it was so mysterious. You never got to talk to them, you just saw them once a year. How did they get there? What’s their story? Once I started looking into it, I realized that there wasn’t anyone who looked like me, I didn’t feel represented in it. As we have Miss. Latina in Racine, I wondered why are there separate groups? After I did Miss Latina in Racine, I tried to break the divide and compete in Miss Racine to see what came out of that. I just was trying to figure out the “why” of the situation.
How has your science degree aided your current position?
Miss Racine is a scholarship competition and I believe we still have a gap of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Being a woman in STEM gave me an edge and helped changed the narrative of what Miss Racine was. People thought it was just a beauty competition; well no, we have brains too. It also helped because my talent portion of the competition came from being a woman in STEM. It makes people aware of the lack of women in STEM and being Miss Racine while being in STEM is a different playing field that wasn’t touched yet.
Explain how your interests of puzzles, mathematics, and knitting intertwine with your advocacy.
For one, there is a statistic about how many people “cube” (the hobby of solving Rubik’s cubes and related puzzles); of about 100 participants in a room, 89 were men and only 11 were women cubers. However, if you look at the population, there’s 52% women so why is the number of women in this hobby so low? I think my presence is rebellious in how it’s hardly seen. It’s the same with crocheting; we see that as a feminine hobby, but my sister and I crotchet things like chickens and elephants, it’s not the usual hat and gloves. It's all these different things that help me be a relatable person in our community. Whether you’re a person who crafts or a person who likes puzzles, we can find things to talk about.
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How has your position influenced your relationship with the community?
It has launched the number of speaking possibilities. It’s allowed me to be more involved. Even though I only have a year to this title, I want to use to the best of my ability. On one hand, I get overwhelmed with the amount of event requests, but on the other hand, it’s good to attend events that aren’t typical such as the pride parade or speaking at Latinx commencement ceremonies. These different sides of me allow for me to be more involved in the community in ways that I hadn’t before.
What do you hope to take away from your experience?
I’ve made friends to last a lifetime. One of the most important parts is the community because it’s one of the main reasons I did it. I do a lot of work in restorative justice and trying to eliminate suspension in our schools. It’s not a battle than can be won in one year so I’m hoping that it lasts beyond my Miss Racine tenure. There’s also paths that I haven’t touched yet such as being Latinx, being an immigrant; all those are causes that are finally getting representation.
Do you have any advice for the future Miss Racine?
My advice is to have a support system. As the first immigrant Miss Racine, I’ve had my up and downs with the community because people hadn’t seen someone like me before. It comes with breaking down the barriers of what we think is beautiful and getting to the human underneath. I think having a support system is one of the biggest parts of that. It can be a lot on a person because you start to feel like a novelty item, having support around you reminds you that you’re human.
Is there anything you’d like to add?
Remember to take time for yourself when you’re Miss Racine. You may think “I only have a year and I have to do it all” but that’s not normal. Just remember to honor your body and rest. Rest is productive.
