Index of Updates
January 2011
Sherrie Padilla
2011 CCCSFAAA President
Wow! The President of CCCSFAAA! What an awesome responsibility! I am humbled by the fact that you
have chosen me to lead a group of such intelligent, dedicated, accomplished professionals. As I have
watched Jacque this year, I think leading this bunch up here is like trying to herd cats! However,
just as Jacque did her best to keep CCCSFAAA moving forward, I'll do the same.
As I said before, what an awesome responsibility. An awesome responsibility - that is how I see this
position you have entrusted in me for 2011. So today, I'd like to explain to you why I see this
challenge as CCCSFAAA President as an awesome responsibility!
First, if you had told me 22 years ago when I first stepped foot on the campus of Antelope Valley
College that I would be standing here today; I would have thought you were out of your mind! You
see, when I walked on to the campus of AVC 22 years ago, I was one of the students
we help every day. I was a 28 year old, high school dropout, stay at home mom of two small children.
My Dad had an 8th grade education and my Mom had a 10th grade education. No one in my immediate
family had even finished high school, let alone attended college. I don't ever remember college being
discussed in my home when I was growing up. My self-esteem and my vision of what I could
accomplish were so low that my only goal was to complete a typing class in order to gain enough
skill to get a job as a receptionist.
Little did I know that my journey would bring me here when I accepted a work-study position in the
Financial Aid Office my first semester at AVC. That I could go from there to here is awesome. And
just like my co-workers in the financial aid office back then had faith in me before I had faith in
myself, it's awesome that there are CCCSFAAA folks that mentored me and had faith in me before I
did. I want to take this time to thank Beth Asmus, Kris Shear, Brad Hardison, and Jacque Bradley
for having faith in me. As CCCSFAAA past-presidents, you leave big shoes to fill. I only hope I do
this awesome responsibility proud.
Second, being CCCSFAAA President is an awesome responsibility because it gives me an opportunity
to give back what has been given to me. The indirect training, being on the cutting edge of what is
happening in the financial aid world, learning and exchanging ideas with peers, and the professional
growth that I have gained has greatly outweighed the hours I have given as a volunteer for CCCSFAAA.
If there is one thing I would like you to take away from today it is an understanding that what you
gain from being involved in CCCSFAAA is so much more than what you give. And I just want to take a
moment to remind everyone here that CCCSFAAA is a totally volunteer organization. Everything you
have experienced here at this conference was accomplished by volunteers. Conference planning and
organizing, putting packets together, getting speakers is all done by volunteers-people who stepped
up to the plate and said, "Yeah, I'll do that" for our benefit. Everything goes so smoothly at these
conferences that I think we have a tendency to forget that all the work to put on the conference
every year is done entirely by volunteers. Let's give our conference volunteers a big hand.
This brings me to the third reason being CCCSFAAA President is an awesome responsibility; because
it gives me an opportunity to convince a whole new group to volunteer for CCCSFAAA. Just as I was
afraid and unsure of myself when I started my first college courses, I was nervous and unsure of
myself when I began volunteering for CCCSFAAA. If I had waited through all the excuses I had
dreamed up for not volunteering, I'd still be waiting. You see, it is the action, despite how we
feel, that makes us grow. People have the tendency to say things to themselves like, "When I have
more time; then I'll volunteer for CCCSFAAA" or "When I have more confidence, then I'll
volunteer." But that is backward thinking in my book. You don't magically gain more time or
confidence. You make the time, and then you have the time. You gain confidence when you do things
outside of your comfort zone. The actions have to come first, and then the feelings follow.
The fourth reason being CCCSFAAA President is an awesome responsibility is because I'm sure 2011
will provide opportunities for us to stretch and grow more than ever imagined. The CCCSFAAA
Executive Board set some important goals at our transition meeting held in October. The goals for
2011 include the following:
- Advocating for COLA and growth in BFAP/SFA funds
- Establishing a communication workgroup to develop a communication plan
- Increasing the CCCSFAAA membership by 10%
- Providing training to membership and constituents in focus areas that include leadership,
sensitivity and new regulations to name a few
- Building a bridge between CCCSFAAA and the Student Senate in order to educate and inform
students so they can advocate on their own behalf and,
- Strengthening organizational stability and sustainability
Working toward these goals, along with the ongoing training and advocacy work CCCSFAAA is
involved in benefits all of us---the members of CCCSFAAA-and ultimately, the students we serve.
Before giving you my final thought, I want to give thanks to my families for selflessly lifting
me up to allow me to take on this awesome responsibility. To my work family, my staff-half of
which are here today---you know it's because you are awesome you allow me to focus energy on
CCCSFAAA. Thank you for being a joy to work with. And to my home family, especially Jose, my
husband, thank you for being willing to sacrifice our time together because you know how much
this means to me. You are the love of my life!
In closing, I want to leave you with these final words---when you take on an awesome
responsibility you open yourself up to reap awesome rewards. So here's to an awesome 2011!
