CASCADIA

COLLEGE

March 17,2016
ln Recommendation of Mary Lopez

The lnternational Programs Office at Cascadia College has had the pleasure of working with Mary Lopez

both as an intern and now as a part-time Marketing Program Assistant. I speak for all of my coworkers
when I say that we feel extremely lucky to have found someone so passionate about international
education, inquisitive and adaptable in nature, and an emerging expert practitioner in emotional
intelligence. Mary is an asset for any student affairs office in which she works.

Mary demonstrates a clear passion for international education, which comes in a large part from her
personal experience as a former international student. This personal experience is an asset because it
helps Mary relate to the internationalstudents at Cascadia College, and engage with them in a powerful
way. One of Mary's first tasks in her internship was to assist with our Spring quarter new student
orientation for over 60 international students. I was impressed to see Mary take the initiative in sitting
with the new students and encouraging their participation during presentations and activities. Not only
did the new students relate well to her, but I also saw our student workers and volunteers learning from
her example of how to welcome, challenge, and support new international students.

Especially in the community college setting, an international programs office is often marked by fluid

staffing as different members of the staff travel for marketing and recruiting overseas. I greatly
appreciate Mary's willingness to be flexible and adaptable, first in her internship when she had to plan
around the schedules and availability of staff she wanted to shadow, interview, or plan events with, and
now as a Program Assistant as she adapts her hours and project focus to best support office staff and
students, ln her internship, Mary took advantage of opportunities as they presented themselves, and
jumped in and contributed right away. ln our debrief meeting after the Spring new student orientation,
for example, Mary had typed up a list of observations, questions, and suggestions to share with the
staff. Based on some of her questions, our office discussed possible changes to the structure and
content of ourfuture orientations. This is a huge contribution foran intern to have during herfirst
couple weeks of working in our officel With the larger office team, and in one-on-one conversations,
Mary shows no hesitation in asking questions; I see her inquisitiveness promote her own learning, as
well as prompt reflection by me and other staff to see the status quo through fresh eyes.

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
18345CAMPUSWAYNE.BOTHELL,WA9801l-8205

PHONE:425.352.8415. FAX:425.352.8304.www.cascadia,edu/internatonal

internationalgucascadia.edu

CASCADIA

COLLEGE

ln my weekly one-on-one conversations with Mary as her internship supervisor, it became clear that she
also has a passion and aptitude for emotional intelligence (EQ). We shared many thoughtful
conversations about how she was applying what she was learning from her EQ class to her personal and
professional life; ultimately, I asked Mary to develop a training workshop for the lnternational Programs
staff about EQ. This project pushed her to take complete ownership for the content, design, and
learning outcomes for a workshop, and she delivered spectacularly! The EQ workshop which she led was
high quality, professionally presented, and extremely beneficial for our staff. This workshop could be
presented at a NAFSA regional conference for international educators; it is both high quality and high
value in the field of international education. Now that she is a staff member in our office, I plan to ask
Mary to lead the same EQ workshop at our annual staff and student worker retreat.

am excited to be able to work with Mary as she begins post-graduate school career, and I look forward
to seeing where her passion and expertise takes her. She shows great promise as a new professional in
I

student affairs, and I am confident that she will be a tremendous addition to any office that she joins.

Sincerely,

Lisa Jacobson

lnternational Student Advisor,

DSO

Cascadia College

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
18345 CAMPUSWAY NE

BOTHELL,WA9801 1-8205

PHONE:425.352.8415

tAX:425.352.8304 . www.cascadia.edu/international

internationalpcascadia.edu