{"id":8403,"date":"2026-02-23T09:53:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T15:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/?p=8403"},"modified":"2026-02-23T09:54:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T15:54:07","slug":"utrgv-alumna-advices-students-on-professional-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/23\/utrgv-alumna-advices-students-on-professional-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"UTRGV Alumna Advices Students on Professional Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SHSFINALmixdown.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">The Side Hustle Society hosted a casual networking event Thursday with a guest Alumna who shared with students her professional journey.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Office for Sustainability Multi-media specialist and UTRGV alumna Karla Averanga shared with the students her professional journey in the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Averanga has worked in different fields, working overseas in New Zealand and Australia starting as a juicer at a juicery store, waitress, and house cleaner.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When she came back to the Valley, she focused on her career as a pharmacy technician working at Walgreens and hospitals in the Valley.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Averanga soon switched careers into the communication field.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201dI ended up working as a communications assistant at UMC( University Marketing and Communications) and then became a content writer at OFS (Office for Sustainability), and that was the point that really changed my trajectory,\u201dAveranga said.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>She said students should find motivation by putting their heart and soul into something they love. \u00a0<br>\u201cIt&#8217;s gonna take you far more than you know,\u201d Averanga said.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Officer of Side Hustle Society Seth Vega, said it is important to feature alumni because it helps inspire students.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cIt kind of paints this picture for students that like \u2018hey this person is a graduate of this university that I am currently attending, I know that I can get to their shoes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Finance senior Guillermo Guerrero who attended the event shared his challenges he faces in the vending machine business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cI faced rejection as far as putting myself out there and trying to sell myself as to what I offer,\u201d Guerrero said.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Averanga said creating a friendship can help build a meaningful professional relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cThen you realize I can help this person or this person can help me, creating that level of friendship is really something that I feel like is important,\u201d she said.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information about the Side Hustle Society visit its Instagram at @utrgv_shs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Side Hustle Society hosted a casual networking event Thursday with a guest Alumna who shared with students<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":8404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[569,13,16,696],"tags":[836,194,26],"class_list":["post-8403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic","category-brownsville","category-edinburg","category-education","tag-alumni","tag-spring","tag-utrgv"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.4 - 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