SOLES Spotlights
All Departments
SOLES Alumnus Spotlight: Harry Dixon '14 (MA), Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES for that program. I always knew I wanted to be in the helping field. I thought being a medi…
SOLES Alumna Spotlight: Andrea Trejo '19 (MA), Marital and Family Therapy
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES for that program. I had always kind of known that I wanted to pursue graduate school. I thi…
SOLES Alumna Spotlight: Geralyn Williams '17 (MA), Higher Education Leadership Studies
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES for that program. I received my Master’s in Higher Education Leadership Studies withi…
SOLES Alumnus Spotlight: John Hinck '18 (PhD), Leadership Studies
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES to pursue that program. SOLES was the best choice to coming “home” for me! …
SOLES Alumnae Spotlight: Andrea Medina '18 (MA) and Molly Patrick '19 (MA), Leadership Studies
Tell us what degree programs you pursued and why you chose SOLES for that program. Andrea: I was really eager to deepen my understanding of leadersh…
SOLES Alumnus Spotlight: Scott Merkel '15 (MA), School Counseling
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES. My path was maybe a little different than others. I was working as a consultant in the Was…
SOLES Alumnus Spotlight: Dominic Rios '18 (MEd), Online MEd School Leadership Specialization
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES. I always knew that I wanted to be involved in education. After earning my undergraduate de…
SOLES Alumnus Spotlight: Gary Ransom '18 (MA), Leadership Studies
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES. I’m from Ohio and I was getting recruited to play football at USD. I was looking at …
SOLES Alumna Spotlight: Fabiola Bagula '07 (MEd), Educational Leadership, '16 (PhD), Leadership Studies
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES. I started my journey at USD through the Educational Leadership Development Academy (ELDA) …
SOLES Alumna Spotlight: Marie Webb '13 (MEd), TESOL
Tell us about your SOLES degree program and why you chose it. I studied in the MEd in TESOL, Literacy, and Culture program because I knew that I woul…
SOLES Alumnus Spotlight: Michael Angelo Camacho '16 (MA), Nonprofit Leadership and Management
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES. I come from a poor farming village in the Philippines where 40% of its population experien…
SOLES Alumna Spotlight: Kameka Smith '11 (MA), Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES. I had gotten my bachelor’s degree in psychology from SDSU. After I graduated, I took…
SOLES Alumna Spotlight: Tameah Chandler '11 (MEd), Special Education
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES. My undergraduate degree is in psychology from Fisk University. After undergrad, I was prep…
SOLES Graduate Spotlight: Ben Mendoza '15 (MA), Higher Education Leadership Studies
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES. I was working at a community college in Seattle, where I was working with administrators a…
SOLES Alumna Spotlight: Jamie Inarda '19 (MA), Leadership Studies
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES. After I completed my undergraduate degree in 2009, I served two terms in AmeriCorps NCCC. …
SOLES Alumnus Spotlight: Eric Mill '12 (MA), Marital and Family Therapy
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES. I was working at a therapeutic preschool, where I had 14 -28 month old kids in my classroo…
SOLES Alumna Spotlight: Lori Olson '13 (MA), School Counseling
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES. I graduated in 2009 from the University of Colorado Boulder into a recession. It was reall…
SOLES Alumna Spotlight: Anjanette Maraya-Ramey '12 (MA), Nonprofit Leadership and Management
Tells us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES. I have a BFA in Dance Performance from Cal Arts. I was a dancer, I’m an independen…
SOLES Alumna Spotlight: Alejandra Chayet '15 (MA), Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES. I did my undergrad in education, and I had always planned to be a Special Education teache…
SOLES Alumnus Spotlight: Bryce Lyon '12 (BA), '14 (MEd), Curriculum & Instruction
Tell us about your SOLES degree program and why you chose it. I chose to transfer to USD to finish my undergraduate studies because I had one eye tow…
SOLES Alumna Spotlight: Amber Setter '07 (MA), Leadership Studies
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES. My undergraduate degree is in accounting. It took me only two busy seasons to I realize I …
SOLES Alumna Spotlight: Taylor Valdivia '18 (MA), Marital and Family Therapy
I am honored to dedicate this spotlight to my Grandmother: I am so blessed to have had the honor of being your Granddaughter. Although I will…
SOLES Alumna Spotlight: Cynthia Sistek-Chandler '07 (EdD), Educational Technology
Tell us a little bit about what led you to SOLES. Integrating technology has been in my “soul” since I’ve been a classroom teacher.…
SOLES Alumnus Spotlight: Anthony Franco '17 (MA), Higher Education Leadership Studies
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES. I originally applied for the Leadership Studies program and was admitted to that program. …
SOLES Alumna Spotlight: Parisa Malekzadeh '10 (MA), Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose SOLES. My interest in the program started when I started working with kids, which was actually wh…
SOLES Alumna Spotlight: Angelica Sleiman '13 (MEd), Curriculum & Instruction, '18 (PhD), Leadership Studies
Tell us about both of the degree programs you participated in at SOLES. I received my Master’s in Education, in Curriculum and Instruction. At …
SOLES Alumna Spotlight: Dailyn Brown '18 (MEd), TESOL
Tell us about your SOLES degree program and why you chose it. I earned my MEd in TESOL, Literacy, and Culture. I am a San Diego native, but could not…
SOLES Alumnus Spotlight: Troy Williams '15 (MA), Leadership Studies
Tell us about your degree program and why you chose it. I was a non-traditional student. I started a business right out of high school and I didn&rsq…
SOLES Student Spotlight: Marisa Manzo '20 (MEd Online Student), Curriculum and Instruction
Tell us a little bit about yourself. I am a fourth-year 6th grade teacher from Northern California. I grew up in the San Fransisco Bay Area and love …
SOLES Student Spotlight: Gina Guaderrama (MEd Student), Dual Credential Program
Tell us a little bit about yourself. I moved to San Diego to join USD and I have been loving living here! I also got married in January and my …