The Student Life team is at peak staff. Centered on inclusion and diversity, the Student Life professional team consists of talented and open-minded individuals that treasure students in higher education. 

Brianna Marroquin, Student Engagement coordinator, and Bryan Salazar-Pazmino, coordinator of Cultural Engagement & Inclusion, are two of many new Student Life staff members. 

Director of Student Life Andrea Layne has been working at California Lutheran University for 10 years in the Student Life department and attributed her success to her previous work background in other universities. She actively advised student groups and helped with student governments, so the job description for the director of Student Life seemed appropriate for her. 

“To get a position in Student Life, I work with so many students so it’s really exciting,” Layne said. 

Marroquin started her time at California Lutheran University six months ago and shared that the position she had applied for was a “shoot my shot” job. After finishing her Master of Education degree at University of Southern California, Marroquin knew that she wanted to pursue a career in higher education. 

“Knowing that I wanted to work with students, help with events, or like more one-on-one time. This one… it did very much appeal to me, knowing like… I would be helping with events and also overseeing a lot of students,” said Marroquin. 

Salazar-Pazmino, one of the newer employees on the Student Life team, started on the first week of classes and shared that though exciting, the learning curve is tough. After completing his Master of Education degree at University of Southern California as well, he decided that a career in higher education would be the best place for him. 

As a first-generation, undocumented student, Salazar-Pazmino went through trials and tribulations, such as overcoming stereotypes and embracing diversity, which are important lessons he wishes to teach others. As the coordinator for Cultural Engagement & Inclusion, he hopes that students of all walks of life will approach him as his door is always open to everyone. 

“As a first-generation undocumented, there were a lot of times where I didn’t know how to navigate choices and didn’t know how to be quote-unquote ‘a successful student,’” Salazar-Pazmino said. 

He hopes to bring more awareness and education to the students that share similar stories, and be an encouragement to the ones that feel lost and unheard. 

To keep the order amongst the Student Life workers and to bond with each other, the team meets bi-weekly for lunch to discuss work and their personal lives. Also, when the timing works out, they meet for fun activities. 

“We had a summer retreat… and went through storage spaces… to kinda get a better feel for their roles. We did an escape room together and then our graduate interns had an orientation. So, that was exciting,” Layne said. 

Layne said New Student Orientation is one of the biggest events held by the team and it consists of hard work from the peer advisors and orientation leaders along with the professional team themselves. 

“I think the New Student Orientation went really well, thanks to all the peer advisors and pro-Student Life workers on campus,” Layne said. 

Other events will be held throughout the year and the team members recommend checking the announcements regularly so as to not miss exciting events.