Tag Archives: jobs

Work Voices 11: Elizabeth Sarmiento, Environmental Coordinator

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Elizabeth Sarmiento

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Elizabeth Sarmiento is from Honduras and works as a project manager with Valley Verde, a non profit company based in San Jose. The company provides gardens and supplies to low income families, and Elizabeth and her colleagues teach the families about nutrition and growing their own food in a way that yields healthy food while having minimal impact on the environment.

Elizabeth describes her journey working odd jobs and attending evening classes to learn English. She transferred to Foothill College and joined the ESL program, eventually moving to De Anza College to study in the Environmental Studies Department.

She describes all the different employment options in the environmental studies field. For example, she talks about opportunities in water conservation and water resource management and in landscaping which is a huge field in itself. There is also the option to become an educator in any of these fields.

Elizabeth emphasizes that almost any job can promote sustainability and awareness of environmental impact.

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Work Voices 6 - Paweena Lizarraga, Lab Assistant

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Paweena Lizarraga came to the USA from Thailand in 2006 and trained at City College of San Francisco on the Bridge to Biotech program where she received her laboratory certification. She explains that this one year course offers the necessary mathematics and science to prepare her for a career as a technician and lab assistant, and stresses that it is not necessary to have a science background for the course. It does help however to love science and scientific questioning, as clearly she does.

Paweena works now as a lab aid at The Gladstone Institute’s new research facility located at the UCSF campus in Mission Bay. She loves her work in stem cell research, and talks really positively about job opportunities in the biotech field in companies, government jobs or working for research institutes in academic institutions.

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Work Voices 5 - Carlos Garcia, Health Interpreter

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Meet Carlos Garcia, from Nicaragua, who works as a certified health interpreter.

Carlos Garcia describes how he chose his career. While in hospital undergoing treatment, he helped translate for a fellow patient who did not speak English and couldn’t communicate with the doctors and hospital staff. He became what he calls an “over the curtain” interpreter. Through this experience, Carlos came to understand the importance of communication between a patient and health care professional, and how an understanding of medical terminology was a crucial in making this happen.

Carlos was trained at City College of San Francisco in the Health Care Interpreter Certificate program which is “designed to train bilingual and bicultural students to develop the awareness, knowledge and skills necessary for effective language interpretation in health care settings.” He is now a nationally certified medical interpreter and has worked in a freelance capacity in San Francisco since 2002.

Carlos talks in this interview about how ESL students can use their language proficiency to really make a difference.

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Work Voices 4 - Jose Puzon, Dialysis Technician

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Meet Jose Puzon, from the Philippines who works as a dialysis technician.

Jose Puzon is from the Philippines and decided to train as a dialysis technician, deeply moved by the death of his grandmother from kidney failure and inspired by his cousin who was working in the field. He wanted to help others like his grandmother, and after the training he describes in this interview, he is now working at San Francisco General Hospital.

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Work Voices 2 – Esther Amuyunzu, Medical Student

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Esther Amuyunzu is from Kenya and is in her second year as a medical student at UCSF in San Francisco. She describes how her mother, who was a nurse, inspired her interest in the medical field.

Esther explains the importance for students to have a clear vision and a plan once they enter community college, informed by an understanding of what will be involved in the medical training and the stepping stones along the way. It takes four years at undergraduate level and four years at medical school to become an MD – a medical doctor. The medical school training involves two years in a classroom setting and a third and fourth year working with patients using the knowledge gained in class to become an MD, followed by a three year residency. Further training is required to specialize in a particular area.

Esther describes what this journey takes in terms of commitment to learn for a long time, as well as the confidence to persevere and keep going. She also describes the enjoyment she drives from helping people.

This is the second interview in our series.

She is responding to questions such as:

  • What motivated you to choose this career path?
  • What does it involve to qualify – what will you need to do?
  • Would you recommend this career choice & what kind of person (with what qualities) would be a good fit?

Work Voices modules will be tested in ESL classrooms and adapted, based on student and instructor feedback.

Try this second interview with your students and feel free to comment below.

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