fall newsletter 2016 cassa newsletter - welcome to...

Fall Newsletter 2016

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CASSA Newsletter California State University, Fullerton | Issue 1

Executive Board Ashley Allen, Executive President Destiny Martinez, Vice President Mia Salazar, Community Project Manager Natalie Azurdia, Community Project Manager Jenna Henson, Departmental Awards & Activities Manager Erin Githens, Finance Manager Whitney Sasao, Membership Manager Emily Flynn, Professional & Career Development Manager Emily Gelvezon, Information Manager Cristy Martinez, HHD ICC Representative Dr. Claudia Pineda, Advisor

Dr. Shu-Chen Yen, Advisor

Table of Contents September Events 2-3 October Events 4-8

Faculty Spotlights 9-12

CASSA Photos 13

ADVISORS’ MESSAGE

Welcome to CASSA! We are excited to be the faculty co-

advisors for this academic year. The work that you do is

exciting and very pertinent for the university, communities,

and organizations. Through your involvement, hard work, and

dedication, you will touch and change many children’s lives.

We cannot cease to be impressed by the board members’

professionalism, work ethic, and enthusiasm to make sure that

you have meaningful and stimulating member experiences.

We want to encourage you to get familiar with the board

structure and consider applying for a board member position

next year, which will be a life-changing opportunity for

leadership development. We will be more than happy to speak

with you should you have any questions about CASSA. We are

looking forward to seeing you in the incoming CASSA events!

- Dr. Claudia G. Pineda & Dr. Shu-Chen Jenny Yen


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Second Harvest Food Bank –

Jennifer Munoz My experience during the Second Harvest Event

was incredible! Throughout my time there I got

the opportunity to work with other

organizations from around Orange County. My

experience was amazing because all the other

organizations and CASSA joined to work

together in packaging fruits for people who are

in need, and it was beautiful to witness. Being at

this event helped me realize that with just an

hour of our time giving back to our community,

makes a big impact in someone’s life who is in

need. Also, giving back to my community makes

me feel accomplished because I know that I

have done something very valuable, and to me that is the best feeling in the world. If I have the

opportunity to go again, I would definitely say yes.

St. Jude’s Walk – Jenny Pham Having the opportunity to take part in the St. Jude’s Walk as my first event of the semester, was an

eye-opening experience. I knew that cancer affected individuals ranging from young children to adults

but never really had a strong grasp on the subject. A memorable aspect of the event was when I was

given a wristband that reminded me that I was walking to make a difference in a child’s life. The

reminder that there was a purpose in my participation and that I was part of something bigger really

left an impression on me. My wristband specifically stated, “Devon, 9 years old, Cancerous Tumor.” It

took me by surprise how these young children are

diagnosed with cancer. Being part of a greater

cause by fundraising to end childhood cancer gives

these children hope that they can surpass this

challenge in their life. They have the reassurance

that there are people that want to make a

difference in their life. I hope that members who

weren’t able to attend the walk have a chance to do

so in the future and experience all the great things

that this organization is doing to help better the

lives of their patients.


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Orange County Children’s Book Festival – Maria Lezama Attending the Orange County Children’s Book Festival was an amazing event where I was able to meet

new CASSA members. This was my first time attending this event. I was happy to have the

opportunity to welcome and greet popular authors and illustrators as they approached to the check-in

booth. The event included an animal stage, illustrator stage, storyteller stage, and an animal petting

zoo. It was nice seeing children dress in their favorite book characters. I look forward to attending

more CASSA volunteer events throughout the semester.

The Great Indoors TV Taping – Erin Githens The T.V. taping was so much fun to do. The employees of the show stressed that they use our laughs

for their laugh track, so they wanted to

make sure we had a good time. They

played the pilot episode of the show so we

knew what the show was about. We saw

writers on stand-by watching our

reactions and made edits to the script

right then and there if they felt that a line

wasn't funny enough. They even got a

comedian to come entertain us when they

weren't filming, so we wouldn't lose our

energy. Our group had so much fun, that

the comedian told us we were the most

fun group there! Overall, a wonderful

experience!

Back to School Beach Bonfire Social – Lorisse Boojaklee I had the most amazing time at CASSA’s first social of the 2016 Fall Semester! The bonfire social at

Huntington Beach was a great experience where I had the chance to meet a lot of new, friendly CASSA

members and connect with the CASSA Board. I am only in my second year at Cal State Fullerton, so at

first I felt intimidated to go to this social, but I had nothing to worry about. Everyone was eager to get

to know one another through fun ice-breaker activities, which truly made me feel included as a part of

this organization. We also had a successful potluck filled with delicious hot dogs, s’mores, pizza, and

other snacks, which proved how well organized this event was. Just this one social allowed me to

make great personal and professional connections. I am very eager to attend many more of CASSA’s

socials in the future!


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Angel’s Game Fundraiser – Alejandra Ramirez CASSA was in the

house Saturday night! We watched the

Angels vs. the Houston Astros! Even

though the Angels lost, we had a great

time cheering, laughing and enjoying the

game. Attending baseball games is always

fun. Nothing can beat baseball, good food

and great company! With events like this

we get a chance to socialize with other

CASSA members, and it’s always

fun. After the game was over, the

fireworks show was amazing to

experience; the stadium goes dark and the

excitement begins! The fireworks were amazing and the music that was playing made it an enjoyable

time, a nice way to end the night! Attending the Angel’s game is something that I will always do, it’s

nothing but a great time!

Family Fun Day – Arianna Haft CASSA was given the wonderful opportunity to help at the Children’s Guidance Center for Family Fun

Day. While working with different age ranges, our main goal was to promote a healthy, active lifestyle

that will help combat childhood obesity. It was a very hot day, but all of the volunteers worked hard to

make sure all of the children were properly hydrated. We also gave the children breaks where we

participated in quiet activities while still ensuring that they were engaged. The event coordinator,

Arlene Turner, spoke with all of the CASSA members and explained to us exactly what kind of

activities and motions we wanted the children to do, such as swiping, pushing, and tossing. One of

the games that was played was where children would hold a pool noodle that was cut in half and use

that to hit and push beach balls around a field trying to score them in goals, while the volunteers

would encourage them to run even more by playing their opponents. The children also worked on

their team-building skills, as well as item-recognition skills. This was practiced with a game where

they would pass a variety of colored animals down their line of teammates while identifying the name

and color of each animal. It was very

rewarding knowing that I was actively

helping new generations live a healthy

lifestyle and would love to spend

another Saturday participating in Family

Fun Day.


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CASA Youth Shelter Guest Speaker Meeting –

Sandra Rocha Pamela Sepulveda provided great insight to social work and

Master of Social Work (MSW). Mrs. Sepulveda was really

detailed with her own career and experience, making it easy to

follow and understand her career decisions. With her

description, I was able to understand how her masters and her

extra credential were able to open more doors in her career. I

also got to hear about combining social work and children in a school environment with a PPS

credential. In addition, I learned about her work at CASA Youth shelter, an organization that provides

resources and shelter for teen runaways. I truly enjoyed her presentation, she was a great speaker and

I loved how she kept the audience attention with her personality. Mrs. Sepulveda was truly an

inspiration; her testimonial in her field was very

convincing to rethink my career path. I would

definitely attend if she were able to be the guest

speaker again. Thank-you to Mrs. Sepulveda for

coming to speak and thank-you to CASSA for having

her attend our meeting.

Rock Climbing Social – Melissa Lopez

Once, in high school, I tried rock climbing with a

group of friends. I remember making it half way and

then I got this sudden urge to get down. I didn’t

complete the activity and I felt embarrassed and

unaccomplished. Then, when I transferred to Cal

State Fullerton, I found out that the Student

Recreation Center (SRC) had an indoor climbing

wall. Since that moment, I’ve been wanting to try rock climbing again, and I finally earned that chance

with CASSA. When I entered the SRC, I was extremely nervous, but the staff were helpful and

explained the different levels to me: easy, medium, and hard. During my climb, a staff member

encouraged and directed me, by telling me which foothold to grab and teaching me how to descend

the wall. After completing my first rock wall, I felt accomplished and motivated, and I went on to

complete the second easy level and attempted a middle level but wasn’t successful. Overall, this was a

wonderful experience and I’m glad I was able to participate in this event with CASSA, I’m looking

forward to climbing again in the future.


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Scary Movie Social – Manal

Zaidi I attended the scary movie social with

fellow CASSA members. In this social we

had the option of eating tacos. When we

entered the hallway to go to the theater, I

asked my fellow CASSA members if they

liked watching scary movies and they all

said no. Before the movie started there

was a person wearing a scary mask

scaring people by popping balloons. Most

of the CASSA members who attended this event were really afraid to watch this movie. The scary

movie that was played at the Titan Student Union was called The Conjuring Two. When the movie

was over the person who was in charge of playing the movie said that there were clowns in the dorm

area. When every CASSA member heard that they all got terrified, including me who doesn't usually

get scared! So all the CASSA members who lived in the dorms left in a huge group. Overall, this was a

great movie to watch before Halloween and all of the CASSA members really enjoyed it!

Orangewood, October – Faith Colburn I had a great time volunteering at the Orangewood Children's Home. We were told that we would be

working with elementary-age children, so we came prepared with several unique and fun Halloween

themed crafts for them to complete. However, to our surprise, we were told we would be working with

adolescent girls. All the CASSA volunteers and I were able to quickly adapt the crafts and make them

fun for the girls to do. Although it didn't go exactly as planned, everyone had a great time and we were

able to still have fun and connect with

the girls from Orangewood. I would

definitely volunteer at Orangewood

again. It was a great experience, and

the teens there helped and inspired us

just as much as we helped them.


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OC Zoo: Pumpkin Carving –

Estefani Bautista I attended this year's OC Zoo pumpkin

craving. First, I want to thank CASSA for

letting me be part of this amazing

experience. I loved how everyone was so

friendly, and how everyone made us feel

welcomed. Also, it felt great knowing how

thankful the staff was with our help, it

made me feel as if we actually did great. I

think it's awesome that the OC Zoo does

such creative things for the community

and all the children. I was able to express

my creativity carving all those pumpkins,

which was exciting because it was my first time ever carving pumpkins. I would love to be part of this

event again, and I would definitely recommend it to people.

Raymond Elementary School’s Halloween Carnival – Vivian Lu I had the wonderful opportunity to volunteer at the Raymond Elementary School’s Halloween

Carnival with CASSA. I was assigned to run the face painting booth with a couple other CASSA

members at the event. I was completely out of my comfort zone, since I have never painted another

person’s face. Before I knew it, when the kids excitedly came up to me to get their face painted, my

nervousness quickly went away and I was having so much fun. It was a great reminder of why I love

working with children. It makes me so happy,

seeing their big smile after they see their reflection

of the art on their face. This is was a great

experience involving the community and everyone

coming together working hard in unity to

successfully carry out an exceptional event. This is

one of the most fun Halloween events I have ever

been to. I could really feel the atmosphere of

excitement left and right and I am very grateful to

have been a part of it.


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OC Zoo: Halloween Zootacular –

Victoria Morales I had the pleasure of volunteering at the OC

Zootacular event. The whole event was a

blast. It was such an enjoyable experience to

watch the children in their costumes excitedly

run from booth to booth getting candy and

learning about the different animals that

occupy the zoo. I, along with others, was in

charge of the owl section of the zoo. We

greeted the children, along with their parents,

and stamped their scavenger hunt worksheet

as soon as they found the answer. After we

stamped the owl portion of the scavenger

hunt, we gave each child a little treat and sent them on their way. Seeing the children react to the

stuffed owl was one of the most interesting part of the day. Some of the children were so excited to

touch the owl, whereas some were afraid to even look in the owl's direction. This was my second year

volunteering at this event, and I would definitely like the opportunity to do it again.

CHOC Walk in the Park – Sarah Ellis CHOC Walk was an amazing experience with CASSA because we got to raise funds for a spectacular

organization, while also gawking at the Disney characters throughout the park! During the course of

the walk, there were informational signs about CHOC's history, which displayed to all the walkers that

this hospital is very focused on providing the best care possible for its patients. CASSA raised a total of

$2,600 for CHOC to continue supporting the pediatric care of every family that walks in the hospital's

doors. It was a very heartwarming experience to walk with family members of patients that passed

away and patients who are still fighting on. I can only hope that CASSA's donations will bring even

better patient care to the kids that need it most at CHOC.


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Faculty Spotlight: Professor Sasha Zeedyk

Name: Sasha Zeedyk (at work) Sasha Gerber (at home)

Education:

Undergraduate Degree: B. S. in Business Administration, Economics

Graduate Degrees:

M. Ed., Elementary Education

Ph. D., Special Education

Favorite class to teach: Research methods/statistics

An interesting fact about yourself: Growing up, I spent most of my time in the dance studio. I

did all kinds of dance (e.g., ballet, modern, jazz, tap). I think dance helped me to be a pretty

disciplined person. I even spent a couple years in college working as a professional.

Hobbies: Some of my hobbies include riding my bike, partaking in the occasional wine and art night

with my hubby, and managing my

Frenchie’s social media page. My

husband is also trying to teach me to ride

my longboard.

Q&A:

What considerations were made

when choosing to pursue higher

education? Was it something your

family encouraged?

Neither of my parents went to college. So,

I am the first in my family to attain a

college degree. My parents have always

encouraged me to follow my passions, but

they never told me I should go to graduate

school or pursue a certain field. I think I

really just developed self-motivation to

work through school. I didn’t truly feel


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challenged in school until I started college, and once challenged, I really wanted to do well. It was my

sense of intrinsic motivation that helped me through. I’ve definitely been my biggest critic.

Who or what inspired you to become a professor?

A couple people in particular inspired me to become a professor. The first was a professor I

had as an undergraduate who was awesome! His door was always open, and my friends and I learned

the value of office hours. I think I spent the most time of anyone asking questions. He knew that I

had started thinking about an academic career, and after taking several classes with him, he offered

me permission to take one of the graduate-level economics courses. He told me that if I could succeed

in that class, I could succeed in a graduate program. The class was something like Mathematical

Economics. IT WAS SO HARD! At that point, it was definitely the most studying I had ever done, but

I made it through with an A! His encouragement and support throughout my undergrad was really

inspiring, and I hoped that one day I could help someone the way he helped me.

Of course, I am not an economist. So, it was someone else who inspired me to become a

professor in child development. After several years of working in business, I decided it wasn’t for me,

and went back to school to become an elementary school teacher. At the start of my first year of

teaching, I had a student with autism placed in my 2nd grade class. I was terrified. I knew virtually

nothing about autism; I was only trained to teach general education. Why was I trusted to educate

this child? What did I need to know or do to prepare? How would the parents feel if they knew how

inexperienced I was?

That “fear” turned into great love and support for my student and his family. I learned a great

deal from them and developed my own strategies for working with children on the autism spectrum. I

know that I made a difference in this particular student’s life, but it will never compare to the

difference he made in mine. He remains the most interesting and amazing kid that I have ever had

the opportunity to work with. It is because of him that I was inspired to study families of children

with developmental disabilities.

Do you have any advice to give to first-generation college students or underrepresented

students?

As a first-generation college student myself, I think I would advise all students not be afraid to think

big and ask questions. I didn’t start college with the advantage of having parents who could tell me

how to navigate the higher education system. DON’T BE AFRAID TO TALK TO YOUR

PROFESSORS. I would also advise students that IT IS OKAY TO BE UNSURE ABOUT EXACTLY

WHAT YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP. It took me many years and lot of experiences to

really narrow my interests and figure that out.


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Faculty Spotlight: Professor Michelle Ramos

Name: Michelle C. Ramos, PhD

Education:

Undergraduate Degree: B.S. in Psychology & Pre-professional Science, University of Notre

Dame

Graduate Degrees:

M.A. in Psychology, California State University, Fullerton

M.A. in Clinical Psychology, University of Southern California

Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, University of Southern California

Favorite class or subject matter to teach:

CAS 310 Assessing & Observing Development, CAS 325B Age 9 through Adolescence, and topics

related to child development within the family

context

An interesting fact about yourself:

I am a proud alumnus of CSUF (Go Titans!) and so

honored to be back on campus working with

students and faculty in this role!

Hobbies:

Going to the beach (we have such fantastic local

spots, not far away from campus!), watching

movies, traveling with my family, and watching my

kids enjoy their hobbies

Q&A:

What do you like best about teaching at

CSUF?

The students! (So, all of you, especially in

CAS!) One of the most exciting things about this job

is having the privilege to work with such dedicated


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and enthusiastic students. I am constantly in awe of our students, who have so much on their plates in

addition to academic studies – working at least one job, caring for family members, volunteering on

campus and in the community – yet they still come to class ready to engage and work hard. Each day I

find inspiring examples of persistence, and have great hope for our next generation of teachers and all

the children they will serve.

What are some common challenges that you perceive students face when first coming to

college or throughout their college experience? What advice would you give to them?

One challenge that I have seen some students face when they first come to college – particularly

at a large school like CSUF where students typically commute and have jobs off campus – is not feeling

very connected to the university or other students in the beginning. And I’ve found the best remedy for

this is to make that extra effort to get involved, even if it pushes you outside your comfort zone. There

are so many opportunities on a campus like ours to get involved in campus-wide groups, etc., but it can

also start very “local”, such as within your major. I often suggest that students look into student groups

in their major (like the Peer Mentor Program or CASSA) – or volunteer to work with a professor as a

research assistant. This may not seem like much, but it can be an important step toward making a

deeper connection with other students and faculty in your own field of study – and chances are you’ll

see many of them in your other classes, or in the hallways, or walking across campus – and in time a

real sense of belonging and community can develop. I’ve seen that when students get invested in their

school community they really thrive – and not just academically. It’s fantastic to see students form long-

lasting friendships and mentorships.


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St. Jude’s Walk

CASSA Olympics Meeting

Family Fun Day

Mummy Runway Meeting

Illumination Foundation Meeting

OC Zootacular

Ronald McDonald Trunk or Treat

CASSA Photos!

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