In Her Shoes: Interview with Deputy Chancellor Dr. Danika Rux
Written and Edited: Janiah Hall and Karol Rosario-Peña, Honorable Mentions: Tara Comito, Brenda Garcia, Jhamiyah Lewis, and TYWLS Times staff!
On May 28th, 2024, our staff at the TYWLS Times (TYWLS Brooklyn’s very own upcoming student-run newsletter ) had the privilege of interviewing Deputy Chancellor Dr. Danika Rux of NYC Public Schools Division of School Leadership . It was both our and Dr. Rux’s very first interview experience, making our interview all the more unique! During our interview, she shared insights on topics from how she copes with stress from her job to her favorite forms of self-care, giving us an overall new and fresh perspective as well as an understanding of the inner workings of the education system. She also spoke about how women may battle gender bias among discrimination in the workplace. Our staff got surprisingly interviewed as well, going from the ones interviewing to being interviewed in an interesting role reversal.
We kicked off our interview by asking Dr. Rux the following question: “What is your favorite childhood memory?” Dr. Rux answered this question by sharing a memory of her and her father. Dr. Rux revealed that she has 6 older sisters, which may have made her feel unseen or “invisible” at times growing up. However, her father did the best that he could to make her feel included. She accompanied him throughout his many different projects; they would repair different broken items around the house, providing Dr. Rux with a companion. Which would not have been as accessible to her as having varying age gaps between her and her 6 sisters. “He would always sit me next to him, and I would help him fix things. I would fix televisions; I would fix sewing machines; I would fix broken telephones; whatever was broken in the house, that was the time that my dad would sit and try to fix it, and I was always there assisting him“.
Connecting to her role in power today, she also shared one of her earliest memories when it came to her education journey, which began with resistance. When Dr. Rux was around the age of 3, she was not the most fond of school. Throwing a temper tantrum, she very clearly expressed that she would not like to go into the building at drop-off, or go to school at all. Despite her initial refusal and concerns, she now believes this act of defiance is contradictory to who she is as a person now. Stating that “now as an adult, I have never left school from that time.” Dr. Rux tells us that from that moment, she began to fall in love with school and her education - this memory became a testament to her path in the field, resulting in her pursuing a career in education.
Moving on from childhood nostalgia, Dr. Rux was asked more personal questions by our staff about her role in NYC Public Schools, like challenges she may have faced on her rise to power, as well as her biggest obstacles, the pros vs. the cons of her job, like the “harsh reality” that may come with it.
Dr. Rux’s personal education journey began when she first stepped into a classroom as a student. However, in becoming Deputy Chancellor, she realized she had gone down a long path as well through many different positions in the education system to get to where she is now. From teacher to assistant principal, then principal to superintendent, and now Deputy Chancellor of the Division of School Leadership. This process was not only a professional journey, but a personal journey as well. Dr. Rux took chances and was flexible to be able to succeed in her career. For example, she relocated to Atlanta for a job opportunity, one she had been dreaming of, but was a big sacrifice for her, requiring her to adjust to a new environment with limited time to prepare for her new job. Additionally, with any job, comes stress. Dr. Rux. shared that lots of it has come with her role. We found that our newsletter staff have a lot in common with Dr.Rux when it comes to healthy coping strategies like introducing a change of scenery by taking walks or purchasing a cute little expensive $7 drink as retail therapy. ( Same.. )
Dr. Rux tells us that her job revolves around time; and how she always seems to need more of it. She constantly gets important calls and assigned tasks to complete by NYC Schools Chancellor, David C. Banks. She joked, sharing how this exact situation happened to her the morning of the interview before arriving at our campus, consequently causing a delay in her departure. She also shared with us that she has a 10-year-old daughter named Zoë. She toldus about a time she was having dinner with her daughter, and she suddenly got a very important call that could not wait. However, Zoë was a bit impatient and wanted to go back to having dinner with her mom. According to Zoë, Dr. Rux is almost always on her phone. And apparently, Zoë gets it from her. “I have a ten-year-old daughter again, Zoë and she is addicted to her phone and she says she gets it from me.”
Our discussion naturally progressed onto her views on the impact of social media and Dr. Rux told us about how social media has already influenced her daughter Zoë; us how it affects her life when it comes to her decision-making. Dr. Rux gave us some examples of how Zoë is influenced by her social media: “She’s like oh, I have to do this with my hair because of so and so, and I have to do this and whatnot, she knows every tutorial.”
Dr. Rux went on to say that social media can be detrimental to our youth and the importance of telling the difference between accurate and inaccurate information on social media. More specifically, everything that you see is not authentic or from a reliable source. In addition, social media can also change the ways young women may see themselves — and cause insecurity. To battle this issue, Dr. Rux believes that we should all just put our phones down and connect with each other and the world around us, to protect ourselves as well as our mental well-being . “Social media has its pros and cons, but when you look at it illicitly, it’s creating this narrative that I think is not accurate.… My word to you all is to put the phone down and connect with people as much as you can. I know that it is extremely difficult but you have to protect yourselves, your brain, your views.”
Meeting Deputy Chancellor Danika Rux allowed us, the young women of TYWLS Times’ staff, to see that women are not limited to the expectations society sets on us. It is never too late to move ahead and do something that makes you happy. In Dr. Rux’s own words, “When you work on your passions, more opportunities come your way.”