Jaime Lopez

I believe that student success comes not just from the classroom but also from the community around them. I am proud to watch my students grow and proud to be part of their success. I always want to work in a collaborative, warm relationship with my students and want to meet my students where they are.

My own counselors inspired me to become an advisor. I would not have made it past my undergraduate degree without them. I appreciated very much how much knowledge they had and how willing they were to share it. I also appreciated how warm and inviting they were. I aspire to be like them in my own work.

I'm excited to get the opportunity to work with a diverse and interesting bunch of students who have unique situations and stories but also have commonalities with my own experience as a first-generation student. I'm very pleased to be able to work at a Bay Area school, a place that has been and always will be my home.

My favorite part of the job is being able to deliver good news to students who may be used to being only told bad news or to go elsewhere. The smile and gratitude students show makes it worthwhile.

My favorite class as an undergraduate was Psychopharmacology. It was a class where we learned how different medicines affect the human body, such as the brain. It was taught by a very colorful professor/cowboy from Canada who remains one of my favorite professors to this day.

I've been blessed to always work in education. I've worked as a tutor, instructor, counseling intern, and now a counselor. The most unusual location I worked was a building off the Berkeley campus that was very old and which was apparently haunted.

Please utilize your counselors. We are here to support you to the best of our abilities.

I enjoy playing board and tabletop games, Magic the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, fantasy football, and reading everything and anything (particularly nonfiction).