UTRGV celebrates students’ and supervisors’ hard work

With food and a commemorative video of student employees, UTRGV hosted the annual Student Employee of the Year Awards Banquet.

The event celebrates and thanks students and supervisors for their dedication, determination, perseverance and excellence as UTRGV employees.

Students who were awarded received a plaque, a bag of UTRGV merchandise and a $500 scholarship from UTRGV.

“Thank you so much for joining us today to recognize our student employees and supervisors for their hard work and dedication to UTRGV,” Ana Perez, assistant director of Student Employment, said during the ceremony on the Brownsville campus.

The banquet took place April 11 in Brownsville and April 12 in Edinburg.

Student employment is a big support for the departments at UTRGV. Not only do they help the school succeed, but they also acquire the necessary skills to succeed in their career, according to Career Center Program Specialist Andrea Torres.

“We would like to thank [student employees] from the bottom of our heart for everything they do, whether it is basic administrative work to heavy research projects that the professors or any staff member assigns them to do,” Torres said.

The employee of the year for the Brownsville campus is Miriam Ramos Arévalo, a physics senior who works as a tutor in the Learning Center.

“She is generally concerned for the success and well-being of the students served in this department, as well as her fellow student employees,” Torres read from a statement by Laura George Grayson, Arévalo’s supervisor. “She is quick to address concerns among her peers and bring larger issues to the attention of her supervisor.

“She is the first to offer assistance to students and employees and when new programs, services or technologies become available in the department, the nominee is inquisitive and interested in how to best utilize the new resources for students’ benefit.”

Grayson, a learning specialist at the Learning Center, said Arévalo is an extraordinary employee who goes out and beyond to help co-workers
and students.

“She is just an amazing employee,” Grayson told The Rider. “She is so responsible and caring and concerned. [She is] a model employee in so
many ways.”

Asked how she felt about receiving the award, Arévalo replied she was excited and surprised.

“I wasn’t expecting it at all, so I am very excited,” she said. “Thank you so much for nominating me. I am very grateful and excited.”

On the Edinburg campus, graphic design senior Andrea Cepeda received the award.

Cepeda works as a graphic designer for the UTRGV School of Medicine, where she has exceeded expectations from her supervisors and co-workers.

“I am very happy,” Cepeda said. “It is an honor because I’ve been working very hard. I am glad my supervisor has noticed. I love the team that I work for and I like the job that I do, even if [some assignments] are not within my major, I am always very happy to do it and do my best.”

At the banquets, the supervisors of the year were also recognized with a plaque and a bag with UTRGV merchandise.

“I am so excited and so, so surprised,” said Jennifer Verduzco, a student development specialist for TRIO Student Support Services-ASPIRE. “I wasn’t really expecting it but, most definitely, I’m so happy to receive this award. I love my job. I’ve been here almost 10 years and it is great coming to a job that you truly love. It is enjoyable, it is something that I enjoy to do. I look forward every day to finding new challenges and obstacles to overcome.”

Verduzco was described by her co-workers as caring and a unique personality. According to her co-workers, Verduzco goes the extra mile to make sure they are doing and feeling OK.

“It takes a unique personality and charisma to cultivate a personal relationship with each and every individual in the workplace,” Torres read from Verduzco’s co-workers’ narrative. “She is constantly working for every student in the program. She knows every student and employee so deeply that she is able to know whether they’re having a bad day and why. She will sit with you, ask you what is going on, give you advice and help you develop a plan to achieve your new goals.”

On the Edinburg campus, Magdalena Flores, a student support and tutoring specialist for the Writing Center, received the award for supervisor of the year.

 “Honestly, I was shocked that I won the award, since I knew that so many talented supervisors had also been nominated and this was the first time I had been nominated for this award,” Flores said. “For a slight moment, I felt like I was in
a dream.”

Flores has been working at the Writing Center for five years, a place that she loves because she is able to work with students and share with them the knowledge she has.

“I would like to thank the wonderful students who I work with. I am very proud that they have chosen to work at the Writing Center and share their knowledge and talents with the rest of our UTRGV students,” she said.  “I am certain that their willingness to help others will continue to bring success into their professional lives after they graduate, and I am grateful to have been a small part of their life’s journal.” 

–Klaudia Cedillo contributed to this report