What is your title at EvCC, and what will you be doing in your day-to-day endeavors at the College?
Volunteer Literacy Specialist 2 I will divide my time between recruiting and tutoring. I will recruit and train quality volunteers and match them with students. I will tutor ESL or international English learners.
Tell us a little about your professional background.
Graduation last May in Spokane, WA
I have been working for Starbucks Coffee Company for 17 years. I was part of the management teams of various locations. Four years ago, I returned to school
and received my MA/TESL from Gonzaga University in May, 2015. Since 2010, I have volunteered at Spokane Community College at the Adult Basic Education Program.
What was your first job?
McDonald’s in Hong Kong.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Making phone, calls recruiting volunteers and tutoring students at the BRIDGES center.
In Nice, France, with my son, John
Describe yourself at 10 years old.
I was sporty and brave. I flew alone from Madagascar to Hong Kong so I could learn Chinese (Cantonese).
What’s the one thing you can’t live without?
Shopping.
Are you messy or organized?
Organized.
What is the most important/valuable thing you have learned in the last five years?
Be patient, tolerant, authentic and follow your passion.
In front of my brother’s bakery in Nice, France
What’s on your bucket list?
A ’round-the-world trip with my family, husband and son.
What is your favorite hobby or pastime?
Golfing, shopping and traveling.
What are you reading right now/ what was the last book you read? Are you participating in any reading challenges?
What is your title at EvCC, and what will you be doing in your day-to-day endeavors at the College?
Program Coordinator, Enrollment Services at Parks Student Union: Assist students and college personnel with student record updates/changes, interpret and implement state and federal policies regarding residency community and college personnel, and more!
Tell us a little about your professional background.
Greg & myself, celebrating when I became a US Citizen
10 years of experience working for Holiday Inn and Fiesta Americana hotels at the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. 9 years as a Groups and Conventions Director for Anfitriones Nacionales in Mexico City where I planned, coordinated and executed over 2500 banquets, meetings, groups and conventions. Planned international meetings in such countries as: Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Hong Kong, México, Netherlands, Panama, Singapore, Thailand, and United States
What was your first job?
Room service cashier at Holiday Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
What does a typical day look like for you?
My puppy, Canela
Get up at 6:00 AM, 30 minutes of Yoga, Take dogs to the back yard, provided food and fresh water for them. Take a shower, have a light breakfast, go to work from 8 to 5, come back from work, fix family dinner, clean and organized our home, go for a walk with my family and dogs, water my plants, work a little bit in the garden, take a nice shower and relaxing reading, playing music, doing yoga, meditation or chat in the computer with my family and friends.
Describe yourself at 10 years old.
I was a very active girl, participating in Rhythm Gymnastics, drama club, church choir and taking care of my 5 siblings.
Our cat, Rayitas
What’s the one thing you can’t live without?
My pets 3 dogs and 2 cats now
Are you messy or organized?
Super clean and organized
What is the most important/valuable thing you have learned in the last five years?
The importance of reduce my carbon food print and be a vegan person
What’s on your bucket list?
Visit Greece and Italy
What is your favorite hobby or pastime?
Hiking in the forest with my husband Greg and our 3 Cocker Spaniel dogs.
What are you reading right now/ what was the last book you read? Are you participating in any reading challenges?
My daughters, Flora & Paulina
No Mud, No Lotus
From: Thich Nhat Hanh
I am not participating right now in any reading challenge.
If you could witness any historical event, what would you want to see? Why?
The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. I will advise the natives about the real intentions of the visitors…
Where is your hometown? Were you born and raised in the same place?
I was borne in Veracruz in the Gulf of Mexico, 40 days after we moved to Mexico City where I was raised.
How many homes have you lived in since you were born?
13
If your life were a book, what would it be titled?
Tell us a little about your professional background.
I worked in Retail for 7 years in order to put myself through college. After college, I went into Banking for 2 years, worked for 3 years in Social Work, held Administrative Assistant roles for 13 years, and most recently was a Human Resources Generalist for 3 years.
What was your first job?
I was 13 and had an all-summer babysitting/mother’s helper job watching a 2 year-old boy while his parents were landscaping and remodeling their summer cabin at the lake. I canoed to work every day!
Riley – our Chocolate Lab
What does a typical day look like for you?
Work, make dinner, spend time with my husband, play with our dog.
Describe yourself at 10 years old.
I was a kid that was outside as much as I could be. I’d be playing Little League softball, basketball, swimming, fishing, climbing trees, making forts, traveling with my family during summer vacation (I think that year it was a road trip to down Highway 101 to Oregon’s Sea Lion Caves, The Wharf in San Francisco, Disneyland, Universal Studios, Sea World and Tijuana, Mexico).
What’s the one thing you can’t live without?
Caffeine!
Are you messy or organized?
I am organized at work – I have the 5S Lean Principles ingrained in me from past manufacturing and aerospace companies I have worked for. However, at home, not as much…I try but life gets in the way.
What is the most important/valuable thing you have learned in the last five years?
Don’t sweat the small stuff. – You won’t remember it 5 years from now.
Mariner’s Game
What’s on your bucket list?
Go to the Grand Canyon and to see a Mariner’s Spring Training game in Peoria, AZ
What is your favorite hobby or pastime?
Reading, fishing, cooking.
What are you reading right now/ what was the last book you read? Are you participating in any reading challenges?
Last book I re-read was Saving Cascadia by John J. Nance. The story takes place on the Washington Coast. I also love True Crime. Ann Rule is my favorite author; I had the opportunity to meet her at a book signing.
If you could witness any historical event, what would you want to see? Why?
Maybe not a specific event, but I would love to visit the Age of Enlightenment. So many extraordinary thinkers and doers!
Haleakala in Maui, 2011
Where is your hometown? Were you born and raised in the same place?
Arlington, WA – Born and raised in the same place.
How many homes have you lived in since you were born?
4 homes and 1 college dormitory
If your life were a book, what would it be titled?
Not sure. I am still writing the chapters in my “book”. When writing, I have always had the inspiration for a title to come to me when I finished.
Do you have a favorite quote/ piece of advice?
The Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
What is your title at EvCC, and what will you be doing in your day-to-day endeavors at the College?
My new position is Program Manager in the Transitional Studies Division. Right now, I am in the process of learning what my day-to-day endeavors will be. However, I know that it involves working with the great team already there to ensure that students and prospective students leave with their questions answered, smiles on their face and hopefully great plans on how to reach their goals.
On a cruise in Alaska with my husband, Dan
Tell us a little about your professional background.
I have worked many years in the community. Community outreach and making sure that everyone has opportunity to reach their personal goals is my passion. For the past 15 years, I worked in Social Services as a Family Support Center Director. Before that, I was a foster care licensor. I love working in the community and making sure that people get their needs met. Finding ways to make the system work for people is exciting! Working with diverse cultures is fun and rewarding. I love learning about how people see the world.
What was your first job?
My very first job was in an actuarial accounting firm during the summer between high school and college. The days were so long. I spent all day either on a ten key adding columns of figures, or filing. I remember I would hum to myself out of boredom.
Another picture from the Alaska cruise
What does a typical day look like for you?
Right now, a typical day means I come in at 8 am, and everyone I work with has been great! I am really excited about learning how to do my job well. Then, I go home to my husband, Dan. We frequently cook together. I like relaxing in the evening; reading, watching TV, listening to music or talking with friends. I am involved in a number of community activities, so just relaxing is always fun.
Describe yourself at 10 years old.
At ten years old I was skinny, quiet, & shy. I was a voracious reader, and I think I was really clumsy. I remember lots of scrapped knees. I loved talking with my mom, spending summer vacations in San Francisco with my grandmother, listening to music, and taking long walks. I have 5 younger sisters and 1 younger brother. It was a busy family in a small town in California.
My grandmother, Marie with me
What’s the one thing you can’t live without?
My husband is the one thing I can’t live without. He makes me laugh, and I love to laugh! He is also great at putting things in perspective. We have been married 22 years.
Are you messy or organized?
I am an organized messy person. At home, I keep public areas organized, my closet organized, but my desk and my car are pretty messy.
My in-laws, husband and me
What is the most important/valuable thing you have learned in the last five years?
The most important thing I have learned in the last 5 years is to let go. I am a recovering control freak, currently working on not being responsible for the world. Oddly enough, it gets along just fine without me.
What’s on your bucket list?
My bucket list includes: a trip to Spain, and three months in Manhattan eating my way from one end of the Island to the other, cooking school in Tuscany, a beach in Fiji, hiking part of the Inca Trail to Machu Pichu, Uruguay, Argentina and a lot more snorkeling. I have always wanted to sky dive, but don’t know if I would still do it, at least not alone.
What is your favorite hobby or pastime?
I enjoy gardening, cooking, traveling, reading and learning something new; life is too short to pick just one!
Visiting a Greek Orthodox Monestary in the Tuscan, AZ area
What are you reading right now/ what was the last book you read? Are you participating in any reading challenges?
On my night table: “Viva Vegan”, “Death of a Dustman”, “Lord of the Wings” and “Salsa, Soul and Spirit”. I love Agatha Christie, M. C. Beaton and other writers of homey mysteries. No reading challenges. I just do it for fun and learning.
If you could witness any historical event, what would you want to see? Why?
No historical event in particular, but I would go for a future event, first landing on Mars, seeing other galaxies, etc. I am fascinated by space exploration. I really wanted to be the first woman on the moon just to be able to look back at the earth.
My husband, Dan, and me in Victoria
Where is your hometown? Were you born and raised in the same place?
I consider Arcata, CA my home town. I was born in El Progreso, CA. My family immigrated to the United States when I was 3 years old.
How many homes have you lived in since you were born?
I have lost track of the number of homes I have lived in….it is a lot.
If your life were a book, what would it be titled?
If my life were a book I would call it “Choices.”
Do you have a favorite quote/ piece of advice?
My all time favorite quote is from Auntie Mame, “Life is banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death.” I saw the movie when I was a kid, and it stuck with me. Life really is a banquet; sometimes we just forget we have choices.
What is your title at EvCC, and what will you be doing in your day-to-day endeavors at the College?
Title IX Coordinator. I am responsible for ensuring our compliance with sex discrimination laws, including prevention, training and coordination of reports.
Tell us a little about your professional background.
I started working on college campuses while an undergraduate, and fell in love with serving students. Specifically, I’ve worked in housing, mental health, substance abuse prevention and student conduct.
What was your first job?
Working at a daycare.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Coffee, meetings, planning, reviewing and responding to a variety of things, and taking breaks to get to know students.
Describe yourself at 10 years old.
Full of energy, quick to help others, deep in thought, and a total “tomboy!”
What’s the one thing you can’t live without?
My faith and my partner.
Are you messy or organized?
Both! But I’m much more organized than messy (especially at work).
What is the most important/ valuable thing you have learned in the last five years?
Just keep going. Keep showing up, and just keep going.
What is your title at EvCC, and what will you be doing in your day-to-day endeavors at the College?
