Welcome, Pauline

Pauline Tolentino joined FIUTS last week as our new Student Programs Coordinator and we’re so glad to welcome her to our office! She'll be working with UW international students to organize programming, train and support facilitators, coordinate Wednesday lunch, and lots more. Here's Pauline, introducing herself to the FIUTS community:

My journey to FIUTS involves a lot of numbers, which is funny because I really do not like mathematics and I always say, “numbers are not my forte.” Let’s start with 1991, the year I was born in the Sorsogon province of the Philippines. I spent the first seven years of my childhood counting the miles between our home and Manila and the many other places my family would travel to do business or visit countless friends and relatives. Although my traveling was limited to my homeland, a sense of adventure, love for travel, an appreciation for the beauty of diversity in beliefs, practices, and thoughts, and a willingness to learn about others was ignited.

In 1999, my family and I flew across the Pacific Ocean to start a new life in the United States. We settled in Hamtramck, the “Polish town” of Detroit, Michigan, where I spent my 2nd and 3rd grade school years. This was the first time that I really learned about different cultures and peoples and sharing about my Filipino heritage with friends and neighbors who were coming from Bangladesh, Poland, Morocco, and all parts of the U.S. As my family moved from home number two, to three, to four, and so on, in the metro-Detroit area, I learned and shared more. Then, I learned and shared even more, when I started college in the Fall of 2010 at Loyola University Chicago and in the two years of graduate school at Seattle University. Between those six years of learning and higher education, I gained countless new friends and connections, visited London, England and other places like Boston, Baltimore, and Connecticut.

Now, here I am in 2016, two months after receiving my Master’s of Education in Student Development Administration and weeks of searching for the right opportunity to fulfill my love and desire to help others learn, lead, succeed, share, and contribute positively. I believe in the potential and capacity of others to become empowered leaders for positive, social change and connections, but that everyone needs the best of combination of knowledge, experience, opportunities, and support; I seek to be a supporter and educator in that way.

When I am not with the FIUTS family in the office or at our wonderful programs and events, I spend time with my partner, Dylan, trying out new things or visiting new places, binge watching a current Netflix obsession (“Peaky Borders,” “How I Met Your Mother”), cooking, arts and crafts, and baking (a lot). Oh, and sharing/liking/laughing out loud at panda-related pictures and videos!