As a Peer Academic Community Mentor for the last two years for the Professional Engineering Living Learning Community, Sarai has been able to collaborate with various campus partners, professional staff, and faculty to emphasize the utilization of on-campus resources to enhance academic development amongst our first year student population. She has played an integral role in the development of academic community in the UC Merced living learning community and has hosted various academic mentoring sessions to support student retention and customize plans for academic success. As a PACM, Sarai has shown true characteristics of a leader, mentor, and overall a support system for the LLC students on campus for them to be successful during their first year on campus. Through her role as an academic-wellness chair for the SHPE club at UC Merced. She was responsible of attaining academic excellence goals set by the chapter as well as providing a list of up to date UC Merced wellness resources. She would hosted study sessions three times a week and hosted general meetings to ensure academic success for the members. This student helped address the mental strain/toll that students in STEM face and did an excellent job in referring students to the right services on campus. She not only has cared about members academic standing, but their mental health. Through her role as a Peer Academic Community Mentor and her membership in the SHPE club, she has been able to create a partnership with the Career Center here on campus and work with Career Specialist, Manny Machado in creating that pipeline where students can link with Manny for any STEM-related assistance. With this partnership, she has created systematic change in how students in their line of work can work more effectively with the help of professional staff. This is a true example of how vital working as a unit with all departments/offices on campus can be in contributing to students success.
