The program began as an idea from Marilyn Huerta, the college's marketing, communications and engagement specialist. Huerta envisioned creating a student-led leadership and communications team to highlight the work and impact of CEHHS programs. She helped develop the program and guided the launch of its first group of student ambassadors.

The inaugural team includes four students who are helping expand the college’s visibility while building professional skills that will support their future careers.

Ariana Saenz hosts the college’s new podcast series, “CEHHS Unplugged,” in which she interviews health and education professionals about their backgrounds, programs they teach, career pathways and words of wisdom.

“Through the ‘CEHHS Unplugged’ podcast and the ambassador program, I’m proud to help amplify student voices and showcase the incredible community within our college,” Saenz said.

Daniel Lopez launched the CEHHS Student & Success Story Series, producing written profiles that showcase the journeys and accomplishments of CEHHS students and alumni.

Serving as the team’s lead ambassador, Natalya Taseveki helps coordinate student engagement efforts and supports events and activities across the college, including programming connected to Scholars in Wellness and Innovation Fast-Track (SWIFT) Health Programs, kinesiology, human development, social work, education, nursing, speech-language pathology and public health.

The team’s digital presence is led by Audrie Smith, who started the college’s TikTok account and helps manage CEHHS social media platforms, sharing content that highlights events, fundraisers, student life and college achievements.

The ambassadors support a wide range of initiatives across the college. They assist the CEHHS dean, Jennifer Ostergren, during events honoring students who earned dean’s list recognition and participate in outreach and recruitment activities such as Cougar Blue Day and Discover CSUSM.

They also contribute to campuswide efforts such as Giving Day and Cougar Crowdfunding. Last semester, they hosted a student engagement “Giving Tree” event to encourage philanthropy and community support.

Beyond large events, the ambassadors attend student organization meetings and departmental activities to photograph and document student experiences across CEHHS. The team collaborates with the college’s Committee for Inclusivity, Diversity and Equity (CIDE) to support outreach and networking opportunities for students.

Participation in the program also emphasizes professional development. Through the CSUSM Career Center, the ambassadors are building career portfolios, strengthening résumé and interview skills, participating in workshops and attending the university’s Etiquette Dinner experience.

In addition, they remain active across campus through initiatives with Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) and the university’s Orientation Team.

Huerta continues to mentor and supervise the team members as they develop leadership and communication skills while serving as ambassadors for the college.

College leaders hope the program will continue to grow in the coming years, giving more students opportunities to gain real-world experience while helping share the stories and impact of CEHHS programs.

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

She encouraged them to tinker, build, explore and let curiosity lead the way.

It might have looked like fun and games from the outside, but for Fuller, the experience was a deliberate lesson in rediscovering something that many adults forget.

“In our adult lives, we lose touch with play,” Fuller said. “But rediscovering it isn’t just about having fun – it’s a way to connect, build trust and spark creativity.”

For Fuller’s human development students – most of whom are preparing for careers as counselors, educators or community advocates – the exercise carried a deeper meaning. Play, she explained, is a bridge to empathy and understanding, essential tools for working with people who are coping with stress, trauma or isolation.

“Play builds trust, opens pathways for expression and helps people feel safe,” Fuller said. “It reminds us that learning and healing don’t always have to be serious. Sometimes they can be spontaneous.”

Among those who found the experience unexpectedly refreshing was Daniel Lopez, a human development major and student ambassador for the College of Education, Health and Human Services.

“Sometimes we get so focused on grades and deadlines that we forget how to just explore and enjoy the process,” Lopez said. “This experience reminded me that play isn’t just for kids – it’s a mindset that helps us stay creative, connect with others and bring joy into the work we’ll be doing in our future careers.”

Fuller’s playful experiment also reflects the broader mission of CEHHS, which emphasizes holistic, human-centered approaches to learning and practice.

In the end, the lesson was simple but profound: There’s room and real need for play in the serious work of helping others.

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist
bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

SWIFT, short for Scholars in Wellness and Innovation Fast-Track, is backed by a $10 million grant from Price Philanthropies Foundation. The initiative enables eligible students, including those who earned college credits in high school, to complete a bachelor’s degree in three years while gaining the skills and experience needed to address the region’s growing demand for behavioral health and social service professionals.

“This program is about more than speed – it’s about support, belonging and ensuring that students have the tools to succeed from day one,” said Martha Garcia, senior director of SWIFT. “SWIFT Summer Start creates a community of scholars who are ready to thrive academically, socially and personally.”

During the summer, students enrolled in First-Year Seminar with professor Russ Neuhart, with some also taking credit-bearing math and English courses. Outside the classroom, the program partnered with CSUSM’s Office of First-Year & University Programs to offer activities and workshops designed to build community, strengthen academic skills and familiarize students with campus resources.

Students said they appreciated that the program enabled them to acclimate to the campus, connect with their success coaches and create friendships with peers. 

The inaugural SWIFT Summer Start cohort has been joined this fall by additional students admitted directly to the three-year degree pathway. Forty students in total will pursue degrees in either public health or human development (with a concentration in counseling), each receiving a $4,500 annual scholarship.

“SWIFT reflects CSUSM’s deep commitment to meeting the workforce needs of our region while expanding access and opportunity for our students,” said Jennifer Ostergren, dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Services. “Through its accelerated format, hands-on learning and strong support network, SWIFT prepares graduates to make an immediate and meaningful impact in their communities.”

During the program, students will participate in three summers of experiential learning and internships, earning professional certifications and gaining paid work experience that positions them to enter the workforce immediately upon graduation.

CSUSM’s innovative approach to launching SWIFT earned recognition at the recent “Devvies” awards, which honor standout higher education marketing and communication initiatives.

“This is just the beginning,” Garcia said. “We’re building a model for how higher education can respond quickly and effectively to both student needs and workforce demands.”

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

Not when he graduated from high school and decided to enlist in the Marine Corps. Not when he exited several years later and found himself rudderless without the structure provided by the military. Not while he worked a series of odd jobs and dabbled in multiple blue-collar professions.

McCabe figured that he was destined to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, both of whom were lifelong construction workers.

“I thought that I was going to do some kind of manual labor,” McCabe said. “I was like, ‘I can’t do college. I’m not smart enough.’ ”

That mentality prevailed until the end of 2021 when, feeling like he was out of viable options, McCabe elected to use his GI Bill benefits and enroll at Palomar College. Three years and a transfer to Cal State San Marcos later, he has arrived at the definitive conclusion that college is indeed for him.

A senior, McCabe is on track to graduate next spring with a degree in human development. His grade-point average at CSUSM is 3.9 – a vast improvement over the 1.7 he recorded in high school – and he has made the dean’s list every semester.

McCabe, though, has found his most meaning and purpose outside of the classroom. Continuing the work he started at Palomar, he was hired as a student assistant in the Epstein Family Veterans Center through the federal work-study program before being promoted to a School Certifying Official (SCO).

An SCO acts as the middleman between a university and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In that role, McCabe helps CSUSM student veterans or the dependents of veterans access the VA benefits that they’re entitled to, in the process working frequently with the offices of Financial Aid and Student Financial Services.

He also serves as a de facto academic adviser, assisting military-affiliated students with course selection and scheduling.

“This is the best job I've ever had, and I've had a lot of jobs,” he said. “I get to work with veterans all day. I get to work with veteran families. And I like working at a college.”

Christopher Ramirez, the interim assistant director of Veterans Services, met McCabe when the latter was a Palomar student expressing a desire to transfer to CSUSM. Impressed by McCabe’s passion for supporting fellow veterans, Ramirez tapped him for the work-study role, then bumped him up to SCO when his experience with Palomar’s veterans center allowed him to outshine his peers.

“To be successful as an SCO, you need to have a desire to help people, which Clay has,” Ramirez said. “He truly cares for people and goes above and beyond to help students, from talking to them about applying, to assisting them with signing up for classes, to discussing benefits with them.”

McCabe, 28, is the youngest of three boys in a family from Kansas City, Mo. After high school, he tried a local community college for a few weeks but disliked it so much that he dropped out in favor of the Marines in 2015.

He attended boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego and underwent combat and job training at Camp Pendleton, where he learned how to be the crewman of an amphibious assault vehicle, 26-ton tanks that can carry 23 Marines and float in the water. He went on two deployments – neither to combat zones, to his great relief – and traveled to 10 different countries during his time in active duty.

“I got to see a lot of the world,” McCabe said. “I’ve been to the Arctic Circle. I’ve been past the equator. I’ve seen the Northern Lights. I got to go through the Suez Canal. I’ve done a lot.”

McCabe not only saw the world through the Marines, he also met his future wife in the military, at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. McCabe married his wife, Sydnee, in 2017, he retired from the Marines two years later, and Sydnee remained in until last February. The couple moved to Temecula in 2019, only a few months after McCabe’s exit, and his transition out the military was daunting.

There was a stint in HVAC school. There was a period working as a pipefitting apprentice on a huge construction site in Riverside. There was a dalliance with becoming a police officer or sheriff’s deputy. There were jobs with UPS, Home Depot and a fitness center.

What there wasn’t, however, was a clear sense of direction or mission. That came about when McCabe discovered higher education, and specifically CSUSM. And in two more developments that younger Clay couldn’t have imagined, he’s hoping to stay in the Veterans Center as a full-time SCO after graduation and begin a two-year Master of Sociological Practice program next fall.

Make that three developments: He and Sydnee had their first child, a daughter named Mia, in May.

“I get a huge dopamine rush whenever I am able to help people,” he said. “Whenever I talk to somebody in my job and they have no idea what they are entitled to, I'm like, ‘Yeah, you can use this. Your kids’ stuff can be completely paid for.’ And you just see in their face that this changes everything.”

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

As part of a unique program in the College of Education, Health and Human Services at CSUSM – Scholars in Wellness and Innovation Fast-Track (SWIFT) Health Programs – students at Rancho Buena Vista High School can earn college credit, giving them an early start toward a bachelor’s degree. Courses completed count toward two specialized undergraduate degrees in health and wellness designed to allow students to obtain a degree in as little as three years. 

One is in public health and the other in human development with a concentration in counseling.

“This program allows students to accelerate their career journey in mental and behavioral health through an innovative three-year degree pathway. Starting in high school, students begin earning college credit and will finish with a bachelor’s degree and embedded professional certificates to give them a competitive advantage in the workplace,” CSUSM President Ellen Neufeldt said. “CSUSM is focused on social mobility and empowering students to transform their lives, their families and their communities through the power of higher education. This program is our newest effort to fulfill this mission.”

To kick off the program, Neufeldt and other campus leaders from CSUSM and the Vista Unified School District will participate in a welcoming ceremony for the students on Friday at noon.

"We are thrilled to partner with Cal State San Marcos in order to expand educational pathways for students so that they reach for our vision to become resilient, agile learners and creative problem-solvers who navigate the world with confidence and kindness and eagerly embrace local and global challenges,” said Dr. Matt Doyle, superintendent of Vista Unified.

The degrees are focused on careers and preparing students for the workforce in health and wellness. In addition to a degree, students will graduate with the requirements to obtain in-demand professional certification. Public health students will complete the requirements for a Community Health Education Specialist (CHES) certificate to work as community health educators in various settings. Human development students will complete the requirements to become a wellness coach, which qualifies them in California to provide mental health and wellness support for children and young adults. These certificates set graduates up for advanced work and higher salaries after graduation.

The degrees are also designed to be highly supportive of students. For example, students can receive funding in the summer to complete internships that prepare them for careers in health and wellness when they graduate. Students also progress through their courses with a cohort of fellow students, within a supportive community of expert faculty. As part of this program, CSUSM also offers specialized career advising, employer networking and guest speakers to help students find a position and start their careers upon graduation.  

According to a recent San Diego Workforce Partnership report, the San Diego region needs an additional 18,500 behavioral health professionals to meet industry demands. The dual enrollment program will provide a direct pipeline to support the much-needed workforce.

What: Student welcoming ceremony
When: Friday, Sept. 6, noon-12:30 p.m.
Where: Rancho Buena Vista High School, 1601 Longhorn Drive, Vista, CA 92081
Parking: Available at the school 
More information: All visitors should check in at the front desk.

Reyes, though, went and made her tasks even more difficult, though simultaneously more fulfilling. She wrapped up her semester duties from the other side of the country while acclimating herself for an unforgettable summer spent at one of the finest academic institutions in the United States.  

Reyes, now in her final year at CSUSM, is back in Southern California after participating in the Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates at Duke University in Durham, N.C. The program through Duke’s psychology and neuroscience department is designed to provide underrepresented students with the “skills, socialization, connection and continuity to begin developing a scholar-researcher identity.” 

Out of about 600 students who applied to the program, Reyes was one of only eight who were selected, and the only one from the West Coast. 

“I was pretty shocked,” Reyes said. “Duke is a prestigious institute, and as an underrepresented student, I really didn't think I had a very good chance. I never thought I was going to be able to get accepted to that type of school. And once I got there, it was even more shocking. I was like, ‘Am I dreaming?’ ”  

Reyes discovered the Duke opportunity through the TRIO McNair Scholars program, which supports low-income or underrepresented students in pursuing research that leads to graduate studies. When she traveled to North Carolina in early May, it marked her first time leaving California for another state. Her parents and two younger sisters live in Mexico, where Ruby also resided until she decided to come to the U.S. by herself midway through high school to pursue her education.  

“Because my parents didn’t go to college, I thought they wouldn’t really understand the magnitude of this opportunity,” Reyes said. “I was like, ‘I got a job for the summer,’ just to simplify it for them. And they were like, ‘Oh, that’s amazing, have a good time over there.’ ” 

Assigned to a dorm on Duke’s campus with several other students, Reyes spent most of her time working on her research project, either in her room or in the Identity & Diversity Lab, run by Duke psychology professor Sarah Gaither. Reyes’ two mentors for the summer were Analia Albuja, a postdoctoral fellow, and Brenda Straka, a doctoral student in social psychology.  

Under their guidance, Reyes researched multiracial populations and the tendency for their racial identity to be denied or questioned. Using surveys and data analysis, she specifically focused on the predictors that a person will reassert their identity after it has been denied and questioned.  

“We found that people who reported higher perceived benefits of reasserting also reported higher frequency of reassertion after they experienced identity denial and questioning,” she said. “If they believed that reasserting would be a benefit – maybe they think it will educate another person, it will make that person not deny or question in the future – then they were more likely to reassert.” 

As a newcomer to that part of the country, Reyes appreciated the lush greenery and wildlife of North Carolina (she saw deer within the first week) and the beautiful Gothic architecture of Duke’s campus. She says she didn’t experience the culture shock that people warned her about, though she encountered few Mexican-Americans like her.  

“I always felt welcome within the Identity & Diversity Lab,” Reyes said. “It was pretty diverse in the sense that we had students from different backgrounds, including students who were biracial. I think that really caused me to not feel like an outsider within that lab.” 

The Duke experience wasn’t Reyes’ only recent research opportunity. Last April, she gave a presentation at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research on the role of family obligation and work experiences in college students’ career aspirations. As a senior at CSUSM, she continues to work as the media and data lead for the DREAMer Resource Office, and she’s also the president of two student organizations – one for McNair Scholars and the other supporting undocumented and minority students.  

This semester, Reyes plans to apply to more than a dozen Ph.D. and master’s programs, with a goal of studying counseling psychology. She aspires to a career as a psychologist at a university or community-based center, helping underrepresented and marginalized populations. 

“The program at Duke definitely built my confidence to want to pursue graduate school, and to see that I have the ability to go into graduate school,” she said. “It also really built my confidence that I'm a researcher. I really had not considered myself that before. Now I know that I have a lot of ideas that I could work on.” 

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

The grant of $215,740 is notable in part because of its interdisciplinary nature. The awardees are Carly Offidani-Bertrand, an assistant professor of human development, and Paola Ometto, an assistant management professor. Ometto is believed to be the first tenure-track faculty member in CSUSM’s College of Business Administration to receive a NSF grant.

The grant will fund research to understand the development of entrepreneurial ventures in minority communities of color, as well as how marginalized individuals use entrepreneurship as a pathway for overcoming racial discrimination and socio-legal exclusion. The two professors also hope to focus on the challenges faced by entrepreneurs of undocumented status as part of a partnership with the CSUSM DREAMer Resource Office.

Offidani-Bertrand said she applied for the grant with Ometto because of their complementary experience – Ometto in business and herself in community research with undocumented/formerly incarcerated people.

“We are really excited to be awarded a grant that focuses on developing research capacity among faculty and students at minority-serving institutions,” Offidani-Bertrand said. “We are very grateful for this opportunity to engage with our community to generate knowledge that can be used to create future supports for aspiring entrepreneurs, as well as gives us resources to involve our students in applied research that will facilitate their growth.” 

CSUSM is one among more than 20 colleges and universities in 12 states and Washington, D.C., that received funding from the NSF through its Build and Broaden Program. It’s a $12 million initiative that focuses on supporting research, offering training opportunities and creating greater research infrastructure at minority-serving institutions such as historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and tribal colleges and universities.

CSUSM has been a Hispanic-serving institution, a U.S. Department of Education designation for institutions that have a Hispanic student population of at least 25%, since 2010.

Offidani-Bertrand and Ometto will use a comprehensive set of research methods, including focus groups, social network mapping and minority business owner interviews. They also hope to offer workshops, events and programing opportunities for entrepreneurial development in the local community.

“The literature on entrepreneurship has very few studies looking at minority groups,” Ometto said. “We think our research will be able to create case studies, tools and frameworks that will help bring diversity to the examples used to teach entrepreneurship and help minority entrepreneurs (who generally face more barriers to access startup capital, networking events, etc.) be successful in their endeavors.”

Khyati Kansagra hailed from Gujarat, a state on the western coast of India. Bayan Sairafi was from the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Placed in the same icebreaker activity, they immediately hit it off, and their bond only grew through subsequent international coffee hours and cultural fests.

This fall, more than two years after they graduated from CSUSM, Kansagra and Sairafi will be reunited at one of the premier academic institutions in the United States. Kansagra actually has already enrolled at Johns Hopkins University and is living in Maryland, having started in January a two-year master’s program in biotechnology with a specialization in regulatory affairs.

She will be joined in a few months by Sairafi, who plans to return from her home country to begin pursuing a Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in health communication and health education.

“For us, it was definitely a coincidence,” Kansagra said. “But it feels really good to see that someone who I know from undergrad is also coming to Johns Hopkins. And Bayan clearly deserves it. It’s a great university, so I’m so glad we’ll be there together.”

Sairafi was in the process of applying to Johns Hopkins last winter when she noticed that Kansagra had been one of the subjects of the international alumni spotlight on CSUSM’s Global Programs and Services webpage and that the feature mentioned her impending studies at the Baltimore school famous for being America’s first research university. Sairafi decided to reach out to Kansagra to seek advice on the statement of purpose for her application.

“It was like a motivation for me,” Sairafi said. “When I saw that Khyati got accepted, my desire to get accepted went up because we come from the same school with the same kind of experience. And I am so proud of her because I know how hard she has worked.”

The news that two international alumna of CSUSM will soon be brought together again at Johns Hopkins was greeted enthusiastically by Danielle McMartin, director of the Office of Global Education, who became close with both of the women during their time on campus.

“They were both fiercely focused on their education and long-term goals,” McMartin said. “However, they both also realized the value of getting everything they possibly could out of their time here at CSUSM and in the U.S. They were both engaged with their faculty, with student organizations, with volunteering when opportunities were presented.

“Lucky for CSUSM, Bayan and Khyati graciously also shared their culture with our community. Neither student wanted to ‘set their culture aside’ to participate in ours. They both seemed to understand the balance maintaining their cultural norms while learning and interacting with ours.”

Kansagra moved to the United States on a student visa in 2014, the year before she started at CSUSM. She chose the university because of the opportunities for growth as a person and student and because of the proximity to Orange County, where relatives of her family lived. She was only 18, and it was her first time traveling to another county and leaving her parents, who still live in India.

“It had been a dream since I was a kid,” Kansagra said. “I always wanted to be independent and on my own, just able to support myself and grow up. The culture I come from isn’t like that; Indians are really sheltered and pampered. The other driving factor is that I was really interested in biotech, and India doesn’t have many options to pursue that.” 

At CSUSM, Kansagra majored in biological sciences with a minor in chemistry. Besides her involvement with the Office of Global Education, she worked as a biology research assistant and as a tutor for the STEM Center. After graduating in December 2018 (she participated in commencement the following spring), she found a job as a lab technician for Kyowa Kirin, a pharmaceutical research company in La Jolla.  

Upon completing her master’s program at Johns Hopkins, Kansagra plans to return to working in the pharmaceutical industry, where she’d like to help shepherd to market a treatment for pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease that occurs when lung tissue becomes damaged and scarred. Her mother was diagnosed with the disease when Kansagra was a young girl.  

“I’ve seen her struggling through it for all these years,” she said. “There’s no cure, and she has been on medication for 21 years. That has always been a big factor for me to do research in that particular field.” 

Like Kansagra, Sairafi grew up wanting to journey to the U.S. for her higher education. Sponsored by the Saudi Arabian government to attend college, she had to choose a school from an approved list, and CSUSM happened to have been added to the list around the time that she was filling out her applications. Many students from her country matriculate to CSU campuses such as Long Beach and Bakersfield, but Sairafi decided to leave her comfort zone and head to San Marcos. 

She studied human development and sociology at CSUSM, and served as an intern for both the Cross-Cultural Center and the American Red Cross of San Diego and Imperial Counties. She left her mark such that by the time she graduated in May 2019, she was invited to be the first-ever international student to speak at commencement.  

“When I remember it, it seems like yesterday,” Sairafi said. “I really enjoyed every moment, from writing my speech to rehearsing to the actual commencement. It was truly a life-changing experience.” 

In contrast to Kansagra, Sairafi elected to go back to her home nation following graduation. For the last year, she has worked as a document control specialist for the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia. In that role, she manages policies, clinical guidelines and other types of documents while also learning to prepare hospitals for visits from accrediting bodies.  

Her time at Johns Hopkins, though impactful, could be a brief hiatus as Sairafi plans to pursue a career in public health in Saudi Arabia.  

“With the knowledge I’ll be getting from Hopkins, we will do magnificent work here,” she said. “I want to give people awareness about the things they can do that promote health and give them better lives and a better environment. That’s what I’m really passionate about.” 

But first, Sairafi will get reacquainted with an old friend in Baltimore, and she can hardly wait. 

“It’s a new city and a big city and a new school,” she said. “And it’s good to have a friend there so we can support each other and talk to each other when loneliness sets in.” 

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306

As the U.S. economy cratered and his graduating students confronted a dire job market, Soriano was overcome by feelings of powerlessness over his inability to do anything meaningful to help them and boost their prospects. 

“I was so worried about them and what they were facing,” said Soriano, who was, and now is again, the chair of the human development department. “It was very challenging for my students, and I would get emails from them saying, ‘Professor, what do I do? How do I use my degree? I need to eat.’ It made a big impression on me.” 

So when the coronavirus struck this spring and wreaked havoc on the economy that more resembled that devastation of the Great Depression nearly a century ago, Soriano was determined not to be caught flat-footed again. At his students’ urging, he quickly researched and wrote what he’s calling a “survival manual” that he hopes will offer them a road map as they leave CSUSM and try to jump-start their careers amid a grim environment. 

And with the goal of helping many more students beyond CSUSM, Soriano pitched his 91-page manual to a San Diego academic publishing house, Cognella, which plans to turn it into a nationally distributed book aimed at any graduating senior by the end of the year. 

“Dealing with this new pandemic, this new historical situation, it gave me a lot of motivation to try to do something different,” Soriano said. “It came from really wanting to give my students something before they left, so that they had information they could refer to, be encouraged by and guided by throughout.” 

For the last eight years, Soriano has taught a field experience class for graduating seniors in human development. From a list of about 200 agencies or organizations that have been approved by the CSUSM Office of Internships, each student chooses a field placement that is in line with their career aspirations. Students are required to devote at least 90 hours to their assignment, with the field work supplemented by guest speakers and Career Center lectures. 

Last semester, Soriano’s students – 120 across three classes – were about halfway toward their 90-hour target when campus shut down because of COVID-19 in mid-March. It was during the ensuing Zoom meetings that students asked Soriano if he could create a document that would compile both the knowledge that he had taught them so far in the course and some larger lessons that weren’t covered in the syllabus.  

Soriano began writing the manual at the end of March and completed it just before the end of the semester in early May.  

“I didn’t sleep a lot during that time,” he said. “My wife will tell you that I was in my home office pretty much every day over those few weeks that I wrote this.” 

The document is titled “Survival Manual for College Graduates During a Recession,” and Soriano dedicates it to “my students and to the class of 2020 in the U.S. and throughout the world who are currently living through historical events not experienced by students in the past.” The manual is divided into sections with names like “Personal Considerations,” “Knowing Well Your Degree and What Employers Want and Need,” and “Taking Action and Making Decisions.” 

“Our students probably have more skills than those at the average Research I university, at least job-related skills,” Soriano said. “But where they lack sometimes is in knowing the value of the skills that they have. One of the things that I hope the manual does is bring to light an understanding of the degree they’re getting and the skills they’ve gained not only from their classes, but from their work experience.” 

Lorena Shindledecker is a human development major who will take Soriano’s field experience class this fall before graduating in December. She’s also a returning college student with a 25-year career in graphic design who now wants to work for a K-12 school in counseling or student services.  

Shindledecker has yet to begin her job search in earnest, but she said the survival manual contains a wealth of useful resources. 

“There’s information about assisting you with depression and anxiety,” Shindledecker said. “He wrote a section about the degree and how you would sell yourself to certain employers for job interviews. He also had suggestions about where to look for work, including some I wouldn’t have thought of, like Head Start. 

“I also like the fact that he put a lot of his personal experience in there. That made it very relatable to me and put certain things into perspective, that I’m not the only one who’s feeling the way I do.” 

Soriano said he was encouraged that there could be a wider audience for his manual after he did some online research and could find no guides for students in quite the same vein. The publisher evidently agrees; following a peer review, Soriano has until the end of August to finish his final manuscript, and Cognella is set to print the book in December.  

“I think this is going to be relevant,” Soriano said, “for quite some time.” 

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306