Skip to content

 

 

Isabella Lui

ilui@ucmerced.edu

Title: SMP Student Assistant (formerly SMP Peer Mentor; Logistics Committee Lead)

Year and Major: 3rd Year, Psychology & Management and Business Economics

Career Aspiration: Marketing, industrial organizational, or human resources

Mentoring Specialties: Time management, clubs, research involvement, campus resources, interviews and resume prep

Identities: AAPI

Interests and Favorite Things: My hobbies include baking, drawing, photography, watching movies/shows, and playing video games! I love trying new coffee shops, going on walks, and watching the sunset with my friends. Mint chocolate chip ice cream is the best, and no one can convince me otherwise!

Celia Jimenez

cjimenez55@ucmerced.edu

Title: SMP Student Assistant (formerly SMP Peer Mentor; Development and Events Committee Lead)

Year and Major: 4th Year, Psychology & Public Health

Career Aspiration: Clinical Child Psychologist

Mentoring Specialties: Research assistant work, time management, Greek life, campus resources, volunteer work, mental health, interviews and resume prep, job search experience

Identities: First Generation, Chicanx/Latinx

Interests and Favorite Things: My absolute favorite thing to do is to gaze at the sky whether that be watching the sunrise, sunset, stars, or just the cloud and enjoy the peace and tranquility it brings me with music in the background. I also enjoy journaling, working out, hiking, reading self-help books, spend time at the beach, binge watching Korean drama shows and rewatching a couple of my favorite comfort movies. I love dogs! I love exploring new food places and going on spontaneous adventures with family and friends.

Kailene Villegas

kvillegas6@ucmerced.edu

Title: Peer Mentor 

Year and Major: 4th Year, Psychology

Career Aspiration: Higher Education Administration

Mentoring Specialties: orientation, campus resources, Greek Life, graduate school applications, volunteer work

Identities: Chicanx/Latinx, First Generation

Interests and Favorite Things: I love visiting coffee shops, going for walks, and spending time with my cat. I love to hangout with friends! I also enjoy spending time alone, whether that is cooking, watching my favorite shows, or going for a drive.

Brendali Garcia

bgarcia127@ucmerced.edu

Title: Peer Mentor 

Year and Major: 3rd Year, Sociology major & Political Science minor

Career Aspiration: Social Worker/Counseling

Mentoring Specialties: Time management, campus resources, Greek life, volunteer work, Internships, Interviews and Resume prep

Identities: First Generation, Chicanx/Latinx

Interests and Favorite Things: I love going to concerts, journaling, and cooking. I also enjoy spontaneous trips with friends and family, I hope I can travel more in the upcoming years!

Viridiana Moreno

vmoreno11@ucmerced.edu

Title: Peer Mentor 

Year and Major: 5th Year, Bioengineering

Career Aspiration: To work with prosthetics in the future.

Mentoring Specialties: Campus resources, interviews and resume prep, job search experience, time management, mental health

Identities: First generation, Chicanx/Latinx

Interests and Favorite Things:  I love to read! I also enjoy listening to music and watching shows/movies. Some of my favorites are Marvel movies. I also like to make stickers. My favorite color is yellow.

Peer Mentor

email

Title: Peer Mentor 

Year and Major: 

Career Aspiration: 

Mentoring Specialties: 

Identities: 

Interests and Favorite Things: 

Tatiana Howell

thowell2@ucmerced.edu

Title: Peer Mentor 

Year and Major: 4th Year, Sociology and Business Economics

Career Aspiration: After graduation Tatiana plans on pursuing a career in Wealth Management before attending law school.

Mentoring Specialties: Internships, Greek life, interviews and resume prep, job search experience, campus resources, mental health, volunteer work

Identities: Black/African American

Interests and Favorite Things:  Tatiana loves travel, music, film, fashion and reading. Her favorite artist is Beyonce. She loves journaling, it helps her to decompress. Thasunda Brown Duckett, CEO of TIAA, is her career inspo. Tatiana is passionate about multiple things including financial literacy and mental wellbeing. Tatiana’s favorite TV show right now is Young Sheldon. Her favorite quote of all time is by the late, great Dr. Maya Angelou, “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”

Zabeena Mohammed

zmohammed2@ucmerced.edu

Title: Peer Mentor 

Year and Major: 4th Year, Sociology and Psychology

Career Aspiration: Behavioral Psychology and Social Work

Mentoring Specialties: Greek life, interviews and resume prep, job search experience, volunteer work, campus resources, time management, internships, mental health

Identities: First generation, Transfer student

Interests and Favorite Things:  Journaling, Meditation, Gym, Cooking and Traveling.

Luis Guevara

lguevara10@ucmerced.edu

Title: Peer Mentor 

Year and Major: 3rd Year, Psychology 

Career Aspiration: I want to earn my PhD in Clinical Psychology and later pursue Psychiatry or Industrial Organizational Psychology.

Mentoring Specialties: Mental health, time management, commuting, making friends, studying tips, fun things to do around campus/Merced, interviews and resume prep, job search experience, volunteer work, campus resources

Identities: First generation, Chicanx/Latinx, LGBTQ+

Interests and Favorite Things: I love going to the gym, listening to music, taking walks, hanging out with friends, trying new foods, and mindlessly shopping. I love collecting plants and CDs. I have a really big collection of CDs and I want it to grow larger. I like to spend some of my time watching movies at home or in theaters. I am very adventurous so I'm always up for new and fun experiences.

 

Edgar Almazan

ealmazan2@ucmerced.edu

Title: Peer Mentor 

Year and Major: 4th Year, Mechanical Engineering

Career Aspiration: Work in a company to start off in an industry job, enter the workforce directly by securing a job in industries such as automotive, aerospace, energy, manufacturing, and robotics. Roles can include design engineering, manufacturing engineering, quality control, and project management.

Mentoring Specialties: Campus resources, time management, interviews and resume prep, job search experience, mental health, internships, volunteer work, enjoying campus

Identities: First Generation, Chicanx/Latinx

Interests and Favorite Things:  I enjoy playing soccer and Hotwheel hunting. I like to play video games, also a passion for admiring automobiles. I dream to travel the world, as well as hiking the great outdoors!

Favour Nnaji

Fnnaji@ucmerced.edu

Title: Peer Mentor 

Year and Major: 4th Year, Mechanical Engineering

Career Aspiration: CEO of an automation company

Mentoring Specialties: Internships, interviews and resume prep, job search experience, campus resources, time management

Identities: Black/African American

Interests and Favorite Things: I love thrifting, working out, and cooking!

Alexis Reimers-Contreras

agalaz2@ucmerced.edu

Title: Peer Mentor 

Year and Major: 4th Year, Psychology

Career Aspiration: Pediatric Neuropsychologist

Mentoring Specialties: Mental health, graduate school applications, fellowships, research opportunities, campus resources, job search experience, time management

Identities: First Generation, Chicanx/Latinx, Disabled, LBGTQ+

Interests and Favorite Things: I love watching anime, reading, sleeping, and watching youtube. Current favorite show is Good Omens and my favorite color is red.

Faith Her

fher4@ucmerced.edu

Title: Peer Mentor 

Year and Major: 4th Year, Sociology

After Graduation Plan: Go to graduate school and enroll in the Sociology Ph.D. program at UC Merced 

Mentoring Specialties: Time management, planning, MyDegreePathway, course schedules, campus resources, mental health

Identities: AAPI, Transfer student

Interests and Favorite Things: I enjoy reading manga and listening to music. NewJeans is one of my current favorite artists! I also enjoy spending time with my family and friends, such as going to the movies.

Ingrid Garay

igaray2@ucmerced.edu

Title: Peer Mentor 

Year and Major: 2nd Year, Business Management Economic & minoring in Political Science

Career Aspiration: I aspire to complete my legal education by attending law school. Following graduation, my goal is to become a judge and eventually establish my own law firm.

Mentoring Specialties: 1st Year Navigation, job search experience, time management, mental health, volunteer work, internships, campus resources, interviews and resume prep

Identities: Chicanx/Latinx, First Generation

Interests and Favorite Things: I enjoy watching K-dramas and listening to scary podcasts, Additionally, dancing is a passion of mine that brings me immense joy.

 

Chibundum Moses-Gombo

cmoses-gombo@ucmerced.edu

Title: Peer Mentor 

Year and Major: 2nd Year, Computer Science & Engineering

Career Aspiration: Plans after college is to have different side hustles while mainatiining and focusing on my career.

Mentoring Specialties: 1st Year Navigation, time management, campus resources, internships, interviews and resume prep, job search experience, mental health

Identities: Black/African American, First Generation

Interests and Favorite Things:  Challenges, gaming, and eating.

Christian Boyd

Cboyd6@ucmerced.edu

Title: Peer Mentor 

Year and Major: 2nd Year, Political Science

Career Aspiration: Corporate Lawyer and own his own Law Firm

Mentoring Specialties: 1st Year Navigation, time management, campus resources, internships, interviews and resume prep, job search experience, mental health, general life advice

Interests and Favorite Things: My interests are finding new music, drawing and creating new works of art. I love the outdoors and anything to do with nature, I love meeting & talking with new people. I watch a lot of documentaries, cartoons and comedies. I am an avid sports fan and love to watch & participate in sports such as Basketball, soccer and boxing.

 

Current SMP Student Staff