Lisette Alvarez
COB, Assessment & Accreditation Analyst
I am thrilled to have joined the COB in the Fall of 2021 and call CSULB my new home. During this time, I have served as the ASC for Finance & got to work with the outstanding Finance Department and now as the Assessment & Accreditation Analyst. COB is a very welcoming place, and I am happy to be in this new environment and now part of the Long Beach community.
Before joining CSU Long Beach, I worked for a pre-college program at CSUSB and briefly taught elementary school before that. I developed my passion for the field of education during my undergrad days at UC Santa Barbara. Just before the pandemic, I earned my Master’s in Education from Claremont Graduate University. I am glad I have found my niche in higher ed administration.
When not at COB I enjoy salsa dancing, going to the beach, and spending time with my nephew and friends. While the pandemic put many of these on hold for a while, I did pick up a new hobby and became an avid walker during that time. Getting outside for long walks on the weekend became my highlight of the week. Luckily, I had a good friend to walk with and pass that challenging time exploring each other’s neighborhoods. The toughest part was not being able to see my nephew on a regular basis. He eventually started asking to see us and asked why we had not come over. We took precautions and were finally able to see him on the 4th of July and his birthday that September. I am very happy to be back in regular contact with him. During the pandemic, I also had the unique experience of meeting my close friend’s newborn baby from 6 feet away, masked and through a spring door. Thankfully, I have since had the pleasure of meeting her in person.
Working remotely through the pandemic took some adjusting: everything from moving to a different room every so often to learn to place boundaries and find that work/life balance as it was easy to work past the clock at home. I did appreciate the flexibility and time I gained by no longer having a commute. I did my best to stay positive and active. I swapped my gym classes for living room YouTube workouts, tried to learn how to French braid my own hair, grew from some personal and professional challenges, logged in thousands of steps, and experienced the come-back of Drive-Ins.
These past two years definitely helped me to appreciate the little things even more. Although the pandemic is not quite over, I’m glad we have returned to some normalcy. It has been great to interact with colleagues, see friends and family again, and return to traveling and activities including my salsa dancing. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my muscle memory kicked in. Last summer I was able to make it out to Hawaii and most recently to Mexico to visit family. I hope to continue to do more traveling soon. I’m also looking forward to continuing to explore more of what Long Beach has to offer.
