Career Peer Ambassadors
Career Peer ambassadors
about the program
The Career Ambassador Program (CAP) is a new career readiness peer-to-peer learning community at San Diego Mesa College. The program is a pilot funded by the Strong Workforce Project and Mesa College Career Technical Education department. CAP began in the Spring of 2018 to support our short-term campus projects while the region develops a long-term plan to grow and improve outcomes for Career Education programs in the California Community Colleges.
What is a Career Peer Ambassador?
Career Peer Ambassadors are campus student leaders who are trained to facilitate the resources available through the San Diego Mesa College Career Center. Students selected to serve as Career Peer Ambassadors participate in intensive summer training sessions with our Career Counselors, Internship Coordinator, and Career Center staff to develop transferable work-related skills, and participate in professional development trainings as needed.
Mission statement
The Career Ambassador Program is a team of dedicated, knowledgeable, and friendly students who represent the San Diego Mesa College Career Center. They guide their peers through their career journeys by providing peer-to-peer résumé building, job search techniques and strategies, as well as other career readiness resources.
SErvices
Career Peer Ambassadors are trained to assess students' needs and engage in as many career coaching sessions as the students desire. The length of session times differ, ranging from 15 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the students' needs and availability of staffing. If a student does not have a résumé, Career Ambassadors are able to assist students with creating one. All currently enrolled students and alumni are welcome to use CAP services.
- Walk-In Peer Career Coaching Sessions at the Career Center (I4-306):
- Résumé building
- Cover letter writing strategies
- Interviewing skills
- Using our online Job Network for job search
- And other career readiness resources!
- Career Center Services Overview Presentations and Outreach Tabling
- For classroom and event requests for Career Peer Ambassadors, please contact Amara Tang, Student Services Assistant for the Transfer, Career and Evaluations Center at atang@sdccd.edu.
- Peer-to-Peer Résumé Building Tent Events
- The Peer-to-Peer Résumé Building Tent events are hosted on-campus to prepare students for their job/internship search. The Stand joins us to provide free professional clothing to students. Dates vary depending on semester events and will be posted online when confirmed.
- If you are interested in having our Career Peer Ambassadors in your classrooms/ student centers/ events to hold a resume review table for your students, please contact Amara Tang, Student Services Assistant for the Transfer, Career and Evaluations Center at atang@sdccd.edu.
Peer-to-peer walk-in hours at the Career center (I4-306)
CAP 2019 Spring Hours:
Mondays, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesdays, 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM & 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Wednesdays, 9:00 AM - 2:30 PM & 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Thursdays, 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM & 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Fridays, 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
We will have limited staffing on Tuesdays, and on March 15th & 21st, and April 18th. The Career Center will be closed on the following days: March 25-29, and May 27.
View/Download CAP 2019 Spring Hours Flyer
Meet our career Peer ambassadors
Carolina Chavez ’18
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Carolina chose to attend Mesa College because she feels that Mesa puts their students’ needs first and provides a strong faculty base with great quality learning experiences and many resources. After attending Mesa College for a few years, she strongly feels that Mesa is one of the most diverse colleges where people come from many different backgrounds and cultures, and also share similar dreams. Most importantly, they help each other.
Carolina graduated with an Associate's Degree in Business Management and Accounting and recently got admitted to San Diego State University for the Business Administration program in Fall of 2019! She wants her family to be proud of her accomplishments and she wants to set a great example for her younger sister. In ten years, she sees herself being a successful business manager and hopefully running her own business. She also sees herself more involved in helping with wild and domestic rescue animals since that is one of her biggest passions.
One advice she could give to new students is that, “If you are unsure of what to choose as a career path, then come to Mesa College because it would be a great place to start exploring new academic areas.”
Helen Ma ’17
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Helen attended San Diego Mesa College for three years before transferring to San Diego State University (SDSU) in Fall of 2017. She switched her major about three times before officially declaring Public Administration. Helen was previously a Peer Navigator at Mesa College when the program started as a pilot. She continues to express her passion for helping students through the Mesa College Career Center as a Career Ambassador. Helen was recently admitted to the SDSU master's program in Post-secondary Educational Leadership with an Specialization in Student Affairs for Fall of 2019.
She wants to help incoming freshmen understand that just because they are at a community college, it does not mean that they will not accomplish their goals and dreams. The stigma behind community college is something she wants to help get rid of. After finishing school, she hopes to secure a full-time position in Student Services at Mesa College that will benefit students and keep students wanting to pursue lifelong learning. She hopes to inspire students just like those at Mesa who inspired her.
One tip she would give new students is to reach out and ask for help. "Do not be afraid of the counselors or anyone in the student services building because they want to help you accomplish your goals. Give them a chance."
Flora Robinson ’17
PRONOUNS: SHE/HER/HERS
Flora decided to go back to school later in her life. All of her children are adults
now, and she decided to pursue more education for herself. Flora has been attending
San Diego Mesa College since Fall of 2013. The beginning of her college career started
at City College but later had Mesa College chosen for her. Her major was in ASL (American
Sign Language) and Mesa was more equipped for this program. She was quite happy about
enrolling at Mesa even though the choice was made for her. Flora has completed her
studies in ASL and Deaf studies, and received a Certification in Deaf Studies. She
enrolled in the Interpreter Training Program (ITP) for a semester and made the decision to change her major to Linguistics. Once she
has finished her general ed, she hopes to transfer to San Diego State University.
Flora, being a non-traditional student, has had challenging but rewarding experiences.
In the year of 2021, Flora looks forward to teaching at different schools around the
United States and hopes for the opportunity to teach in other countries as well.
Malik Shabazz ’19
PRONOUNS: They/them/theirs
Malik is finishing up their third year at Mesa College, studying Communications and hopes to obtain a career as a News Broadcast Producer. Malik chose Mesa College to do their general education courses for its community feeling and broad range of courses before transferring to a four-year university. Since studying here, Malik has found that Mesa is one of the best places to be because of the supportive faculty and many helping hands that motivate and inspire them to give everything their all. Malik enjoys working as a Career Ambassador at Mesa because it gives them an opportunity to connect their peers to jobs and internships that align with the students’ education paths.
20 years from now, Malik expects to be married with children (and a dog) and hopes to own their own television network. One quote Malik would like to share with Mesa students is, "Step outside of your comfort zone at least once a day. You'll never know what you might learn about yourself."
Sadie Wager ’20
PRONOUNS: She/her/hers
Sadie is currently completing her second year at Mesa College, double majoring in Psychology and Business. She decided to attend Mesa because she heard about the high transfer rate and opportunities that could come her way. In the beginning, Sadie felt lost and was unsure about her education/career path. However, she made a goal to obtain her Associate’s Degree in Psychology and Business and then transfer to her dream university. In the past couple of years that Sadie has been a student at Mesa, she has taken wonderful and exciting classes, joined clubs of her choice, and made new and lasting friendships that have turned into family. As a Career Ambassador at Mesa, she is always excited to meet new people on campus, and hope to see you at the upcoming job fairs, workshops, and events!
One tip she would give new students coming into Mesa is, "It's okay to be nervous and it does not hurt to ask questions in classrooms or about the campus. We're here to help!"