By Bella Grimaldi Interim Asst. News Editor What is your academic and professional background? I studied fashion design, and I think just the way life presents itself, I ended up working in many different fields that were not in the fashion field. I think one of the main influential past employments that I've had was in the mortgage field. I really liked that experience, and I feel like it helped prepare me for a job like this. I worked at doctor's offices and a mortgage company as a loan processor, then office manager, and then loan officer. Then from that job, I went and I worked at a nonprofit, because I was working as a loan officer, providing all these loans, and I realized that there was a really big need in the Latin community. I'm from Columbia, so I went to a nonprofit where I was volunteering, and they were looking to hire an office admin counselor. I applied, and I got the job, and I went from working at the mortgage company to providing home buyer education. I did that for a while, and our program turned into home buyer education to closure prevention, and it was quite the experience. I studied, but outside of the U.S. I studied in Colombia. It's called Taller 5 in Bogota, Colombia. Once I graduated university in Columbia, I realized that I wanted to come back to the U.S. I'm an immigrant. I came to the U.S. when I was 7 and I studied most of elementary and high school in the U.S. Then I went to Columbia, and then I graduated, and I realized that I needed to go back to the U.S. and the jobs at the doctor offices were the first jobs that I could get. What brought you to Framingham State? My family and I moved from out-of-state to Massachusetts about a year ago. I first started working here as a temp, and I ended up in this wonderful office with this wonderful team. I really enjoy the group of people that I work with. The students seem to be very happy here and the environment is welcoming. And I love the diversity. So when they were looking to fill the position that I'm in right now, I was able to apply for it and I was able to get the job. So here I am. What are some of your hobbies? I have two kids and a husband, so we play a lot of board games in the summer. Right now, I'm trying to do as much as I can with my kids, because I think they're going to get to that age where they don't want to hang out with me, and I suddenly realized that, “Oh, I’ve got to spend time with them.” I like to paint. I like abstract. I like watercolors. [They] are just fantastic. I also paint with acrylics. I have a journal, a bullet journal. I don't have that much time to paint because it's a little time-consuming taking out all my paints, and what I do is I just draw. What is something students wouldn't expect about you? I think most people don't expect that I'm Colombian and English is my second language. And I can be very silly at heart. What do you like best about your role? The interaction with everybody - with students, with coworkers. I really enjoy the people aspect of it. I also like the office support that I can provide the staff that I work with. Maybe I'm a people pleaser and it's not a bad thing. If I can help and brighten somebody's day and help whatever it is that they're trying to do [go] more fluidly, then I'm happy and they're happy. What is one unique aspect of career services? One unique aspect of this office, I think, is the willingness everybody has here to assist students and alumni in helping them find what they're looking for. Whether it's creating a resume or mock interviews, I feel like that open door is really valuable. … Here, I feel like it's just an environment where you're just supporting and providing information, where everybody at the end has a positive result. What advice would you offer students at Framingham State? Besides study, take advantage that your brain is still soft and can memorize so much. Take advantage of everything that the University offers. I love that they have this program [career services], that there are all the events that occur on RamLink that the clubs have and the trips that they organize. I think that there's just so much for the students here to interact with other people, friends, cultures, clubs, and I think that's really valuable in life.