from watching period piece films with his grandpa to leisurely analyzing pop culture through a historical lens the study of past events has always been a point of fascination for new york native manny grajales today he carries expert-level knowledge in the realm of 20th century us anti-war movements and latinx history grajales lengthened his official title by three letters this summer when he successfully defended his dissertation our fight is here: the puerto rican anti-war movement 1940-1975 his research however reflects more than just his specialized knowledge its a testament to his family his background and his love for the complexity of history a lot of the research questions for my dissertation are based on my family dynamics grajales said while growing up in a puerto rican household grajales was exposed to varying ideologies regarding the principles of war on one hand many of his relatives hold a religious-based disdain for killing in any context; on the other hand grajales noted a strong tradition of military service dating back to when his grandfather served in panama during the korean war my abuela has this big picture with my abuelo in the center in his uniform theres like 15 or 20 [relatives] in that picture showing something a few scholars have called ahispanic tradition of service grajales said and the pride that comes with that doesnt mute the pride of being puerto rican either as military service has historically been linked with notions of citizenship grajales was curious about what propels people to resist it [i had] questions about the viability of military service as an escape; the pride of military service as an identity marker without losing cultural ethnic or racial identity; and what led people to reject something so tied to active citizenship grajales said while his family played a huge role in inspiring his research he also credits them greatly for his accomplishments my family was very pivotal to my success grajales shared the big thing is theyve supported me through this journey even when they dont understand elements of it which even i dont understand certain elements of it still a bit of advice to graduate students coming in or even undergrads who are thinking of going to grad school or going into professional life entering a new space is scary and difficult especially if you feel that you are not seen but you can find your community grajales shared it takes a little work and sometimes its frustrating but theyre here were here navigating academia as a first generation latino studentas a first-generation college student grajales has been navigating unfamiliar waters in academia but not without the help of supportive faculty when i went back to school for my bachelors at texas a&m university-commerce as a non-traditional student of 26 i ran into faculty that took the time to mentor me as a first-generation student grajales shared they guided me and my curiosity while looking into graduate schools grajales was very interested in texas a&m university but the decision was cemented when he attended a conference on campus and met felipe hinojosa who would later become his advisor before id made my full decision i was going through some personal stuff and he cared about my humanity as well as me reaching my potential as a scholar to me that idea of building community is pivotal grajales said i knew once i met him that this was the place i needed to be the critical role that empathetic faculty play in a students success has been crystal clear for grajales especially during his time working toward his phd it was scary being a first-generation student you dont know any of these processes but i was fortunate to have an advisor who guided me through the whole process grajales shared [hinojosa] was also a first-gen student so he had to navigate a lot of these waters too beyond faculty grajales also greatly credits the community of latinos that he encountered during his time at texas a&m who helped him feel more seen as a minority student a bit of advice to graduate students coming in or even undergrads who are thinking of going to grad school or going into professional life entering a new space is scary and difficult especially if you feel that you are not seen but you can find your community grajales shared it takes a little work and sometimes its frustrating but theyre here were here grajales next stepsthough his time in aggieland has come to a close grajales will carry the aggie spirit with him to the university of north texas where hell begin as a history lecturer teaching a mexican american history class in addition to survey classes hell have the opportunity to inspire his students to see the intrinsic value of studying history its the story of us its the story of who we are grajales said you can put it in a national context but if you look deeper even our own family histories tell the story of how we fit into the broader picture