Good morning, Hope your day is going well. It is our pleasure to announce we have 3 new Academic Advisor I's joining our team. They will start on Monday, May 17, 2021. Please help us welcome them to the UTSA Academic Advising team using Kudoboard. The Kudoboards will be available for you to add welcome messages until Friday, May 14, 2021 at 5:00pm. [cid:image002.jpg@01D746ED.82EA0FD0] Meet Aricelda Calderon Academic Advising Unit: Engineering, Math, & Physical Sciences Kudoboard for Aricelda: https://utsaadvising.kudoboard.com/boards/VwdrmEBb/ariceldacalderon Hey, y'all! My name is Aricelda Calderon and I was born and raised in San Antonio, TX. I am an alumna of Texas State University with a B.A. in English and soon to be M.A. in Medieval Literature. I love food, music, family, and friends, which makes San Antonio my favorite city of all! As a former picky eater, my current hobby is trying new foods and recipes with my fiancé and friends. I'm thrilled to be joining UTSA's Academic Advising team and look forward to being immersed in what this new journey has to offer! [cid:image004.jpg@01D746ED.82EA0FD0] Meet Ben Cardiff Academic Advising Unit: Life & Health Sciences Kudoboard for Ben: https://utsaadvising.kudoboard.com/boards/52hx5WUF/bencardiff Ben enters his Academic Advising role after working as a Residence Director for seven years. He graduated from Southwestern University with a BA in Computational Mathematics, a (planned) minor in German and an (accidental) minor in Theatre - short story for another time. Ben fell in love with his role in Residence Life as a Resident Assistant, the positive impact he had on students, and decided to pursue Higher Education as his career. Ben worked as a Resident Director in Alabama for 4.5 years, during which he earned his M.Ed in Higher Education Administration from Northeastern University. Ben is joining UTSA after working 2.5 years as a Residence Director at Texas State University. The second-oldest of four, Ben enjoys spending time with his family - loves being a new uncle and eagerly awaiting all the Spiderman references he will be able to make as "Uncle Ben" -, playing video games, board games, and acting when given the opportunity. Who knows? You may see him up on stage one summer at a local theatre. Fun fact: Ben can grow a dapper mustache, which he did when he was cast as Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie's Black Coffee. [cid:image006.jpg@01D746ED.82EA0FD0] Meet Cristian Baeza Academic Advising Unit: Life & Health Sciences Kudoboard for Cristian: https://utsaadvising.kudoboard.com/boards/JYO2LpxZ/cristianbaeza Cristian Baeza (He/Him/His/Él) was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago. As a young student affairs professional and first-generation Mexican-American college student, he has first-hand witnessed and experienced the challenges that students from underrepresented identities often faced within higher education. Thus, he is passionate and finds strength in mentoring, advising, and counseling students from diverse cultural, socioeconomic, and academic backgrounds. He completed his B.A. in Human Development and Learning from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in 2019. During his time at UIC, he became a brother of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc., conducted research around the impact of academic support programs, studied abroad in Amsterdam, and became a co-founder of the UIC Latinx Heritage Month. Fast-forward, he recently concluded his M.S.Ed. in Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) from Northern Illinois University where he was also given the opportunity to form part of the Chi Sigma Alpha Student Affairs Honor Society. In addition, he served as the Advising and Recruitment Graduate Assistant for the Department of Counseling and Higher Education (CAHE) at NIU. All in all, Cristian is excited to be at UTSA and is ready to soak in all the sun that San Antonio has to offer! Fun facts: Cristian once considered pursuing a B.A. in Theatre and Performance as a result of him growing up participating in plays, musicals, and dance groups. He loves chocolate, his favorite season is fall, and he enjoys baking on his free time!