Graduating Senior Estefania Luna
Posted: April 3, 2015 at 12:09 pm
Estefania is more than meets the eye. Beneath her calm exterior is a committed and driven young lady.
After regularly working out in the Mason Rec facilities since being a freshman, Estefania applied for the Customer Service Associate and was hired as a CSA 1. She soon moved up to be a CSA 2 and this spring, she took on the role of MOD to round out her customer service work.
With her work in Integrative Studies with a concentration in Organizational Administration through New Century College, Estefania feels like she’s been able to use her studies to help in her work for Mason Rec. She explains, “I feel like Mason Recreation empowers their student employees and helps them grow as leaders both professionally and personally. They take a special interest in developing us as leaders. I’ve seen how my leadership style impacts staff and guests and I’ve learned that every action has a reaction.”
She adds, “I work with great people. I love coming to work. I’ve been working since I was 15 and this is the only place I can say I wanted to come to work every day.” Her hard work paid off as last fall she received the honor of employee of the semester.
But there’s a side to Estefania that some might not know about.
Estefania moved from Mexico to America with her parents as a 7-year-old. Here, she and her family quickly blended into the American way of life. She says the longer they were here, the more they lost their culture.
To learn more about being Latino, as a freshman, Estefania joined the Hispanic Student Association (HSA). After her freshman year, she decided to take on a more active role, so during her sophomore year she shadowed some of the executive board members during their event planning. Her junior year she became Historian and this year she serves as Vice President. The HSA Board meets weekly to plan events including community service and educational activities such as International Week and an annual HSA gala for families to experience their students receiving their stoles.
Estefania feels the HSA educates and connects Latino students to each other and to their culture. She says, “Some students are first generation, and some have simply lost their culture since coming to America. The HSA wants to make sure they keep their Hispanic culture alive.”
Through her work with Mason Rec and the HSA, Estefania says she’s enjoyed her time at Mason. She says she sees herself as a professional in the corporate world someday. Until then, she’s open to where life takes her.
Estefania graduates in May with a degree in Integrative Studies with a concentration in Organizational Administration.
By Jennifer Lehman, MS RYT