October Edition
By Katerina Guerrero
Hello everyone! This month is usually about tricks and treats, spooky costumes, and scary movies. I love Halloween, but I’m not very good at watching scary movies without hiding my face in the pillows. This month I didn’t do too much hiding but instead enjoyed the treats that came my way. Nothing too spooky for me!
For me, the beginning of October was the start of my second year of Public Allies, Americorps with SARSEF as their Marketing and Communication Specialist. Now that can sound spooky, but it was a real treat. The feeling of getting a king-size candy bar when trick or treating as a little kid. My hands were a little shaky meeting everyone for the first time, but I always told myself to be myself and be the best version of myself and nothing could go wrong. Joining an amazing group of people at SARSEF took away the spooky and scary. You might ask, how did I get here?
I am originally from a small city outside of Boston called Lawrence, MA. I was raised in this small community and inside my parents’ restaurants. I was running around the rooms as a little kid and later started to work from host to manager. I became a writing leader for middle school students and a mentor for these students just like those who helped me in the same program. Listening to students and what they have to say, I learned so much from them and continue to grow when working with students. I made the extremely hard but amazing decision to move to Tucson to continue my education at the University of Arizona after taking two years off to help my parents during COVID. I moved to Tucson to start my major in Mexican-American studies and minor in Spanish. I am the daughter of an immigrant; my father left his family in Mexico to have a better life for himself and his family. Being so far from my family and culture in Mexico, I felt like I was losing myself and wanted to know better who I am. Taking these classes and living in Tucson has helped me so much. During my first month living in Tucson, I learned about Public Allies Americorps and right away started my first year at ASU OCHER.
I am so excited to be here at SARSEF, to be a storyteller for them and students, and to help spread our values of innovation, equity, and engagement. While here, I will be working on marketing. I will work with my co-workers, the students, and others involved in SARSEF and get to tell the story of the impact SARSEF has had on them and continues to have on them. With that, I will also be working on social media to spread the amazing work we are doing here.
I have learned so much and already feel a part of the team. I could dump out my pillow sheet of candy and give and trade my candy with them. As I am beginning my time here at SARSEF, I have had the amazing opportunity to meet everyone and discuss their roles and why they love having the chance to create opportunities for students through science and engineering. As I said, this month was filled with more sweet treats than tricks.