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Haydee Salazar ’07 went from searching for community as a UC San Diego student to dedicating her career to helping others find theirs. Now a 15-year staff veteran and the coordinator of the 2nd Year Experience Program at OASIS, Salazar shares in her own words the transformative power of helping students find their why.
My parents are originally from Mexico and I was born in East L.A., where a lot of my family still lives. Growing up, I watched family members navigate incarceration, teen pregnancy or gang violence. I wanted to be part of positive progress — to help my community navigate the legal system — and for a long time, I believed becoming a lawyer was the way to do that.
However, after four years at UC San Diego, I realized law wasn’t my calling. What I found instead was a passion for student activism and support.
Coming to UC San Diego was a transformative experience, but it was also really scary and lonely in a lot of ways, which made me want to find community. I became really involved in student organizations like Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx por Activismo (MEChA), searching for my community and my passion.
After graduating, I took a year off to figure out my next steps and moved back home. A mentor from UC San Diego was working at a community college in L.A. and he connected me with a part-time opportunity in high school outreach. That experience confirmed for me that I love working with students and this could be my job. Education was an empowering experience for me, and I really believe that it can be the same for others, especially students of color.
Working with young adults is my jam. At that age, there’s a lot of opportunity and potential to connect students to resources or tell them, ‘I think you can do this.’ That may be the first time they’ve heard that. You can see the impact that makes in their experience and how transformative that is. They’re now willing to take a chance on something they didn’t think they could do before. Those are the things that really light me up.
I’ve now been at UC San Diego as a staff member for 15 years. I came back to work with Chicano Studies as a coordinator and advisor, and I’ve been in my current position at the Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services (OASIS) as coordinator of the 2nd Year Experience Program since 2016.
I never thought that I’d come back to UC San Diego and be in OASIS, which was an important place for me as a student. My first college job was there and a lot of the mentorship I received was in that space.
The Second Year: A Pivotal Experience