Career Peer Ambassadors
Career Peer ambassadors
about the program
The Career Peer Ambassador Program (CAP) is a new career readiness peer-to-peer learning community at the San Diego Mesa College Career Center. The program is a pilot funded by the Strong Workforce Program. 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 department. 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. They promote and deliver informational presentations about career services within Mesa College classrooms, around the college campus, and at career services events. They also provide walk-in individual and group peer-to-peer career coaching sessions.
Mission statement
The Career Peer 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 coaching sessions on job searching, résumé writing, cover letter writing, and interview preparation, as well as other career readiness resources.
SErvices
Career Peer Ambassadors are trained to assess students' needs and engage in as many peer-to-peer 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-to-Peer 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!
- Peer-to-Peer Online Résumé Review
- Provided upon request. For more information, please email Amara Tang, Student Services Assistant 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.
- Save the date! We'll be at the Spring 2020 Career Fest on March 9th & 10th from 9:30am-1:30pm at Mesa Commons.
- 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 at atang@sdccd.edu.
- 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.
Walk-In Peer-to-Peer Coaching hours at the Career center (I4-306)
October & November 2019 Hours:
Mondays, 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Tuesdays, 9:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Wednesdays, 10:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Thursdays, 9:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Fridays, 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM
We will have limited staffing on Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays. Hours will not be available on November 11th and November 25th-29th. Services for students & alumni are on a first-come, first-serve basis. These hours may be subject to change.
Meet our career Peer ambassadors
Carolina Chavez ’18, Lead
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.”
Erin Nicole Vedar ’19
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Erin Nicole graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Education with an emphasis in Counseling from San Diego State University (SDSU), but attended San Diego Mesa College for two years afterwards to study American Sign Language while figuring out what the post-degree plan would be. Armed with new knowledge and experiences, Erin Nicole is excited to support Mesa College students as a Career Peer Ambassador while also pursuing a Master’s Degree in Postsecondary Educational Leadership with a specialization in Student Affairs at SDSU. Her big goal is to conduct research on student success while working in the college system to assist and support students through their college experience.
Erin Nicole hopes to encourage students to pursue their interests and dreams, even if they aren’t solely academic-based. She believes there’s something out there for everyone, and wants to help you find it on your college journey. "Even if this route is different from what you expect, you’ll end up where you need to be."
Helen Ma ’17, lead
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."
Luiza Catharina Barreto Rodrigues ’18
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Luiza is an international student born and raised in Brazil who moved to California in order to pursue her Associate's Degree at San Diego Mesa College. She chose Mesa because she saw the college was diverse and had a great international student program. She believes that representativity and inclusivity in college communities are extremely important and that’s why she is so excited to be a Career Peer Ambassador. She plans to transfer to a four-year university and major in International Affairs so she can continue to follow her dream to work with non-profit organizations worldwide. As part of the college’s Speech and Debate Team for a year, she has seen how many amazing opportunities the college has to offer, including traveling locally, nationally, and internationally for competitions with the team.
Luiza incentivizes students to always look into all the resources that the college has to offer, since there is so much they will gain from them. She believes the Career Center is an amazing place where college students can discover and develop their educational and professional career visions. "We are always ready to assist you!"
Malik Shabazz ’19, lead
PRONOUNS: They/them/theirs
Malik is finishing up their last semester at Mesa College, studying Communications and hopes to obtain a career as a News Broadcast Producer. They are in the process of applying to transfer to a four-year university. 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, lead
PRONOUNS: She/her/hers
Sadie is currently completing her last semester at Mesa College, double majoring in Psychology and Business. She is in the process of applying to transfer to a four-year university. Sadie 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!"