Michelle Fuentes

Background

About Michelle Fuentes

I am a hard-working, dedicated, reliable and responsible employee, striving to find a career that brings fulfillment to my life. I continue to gain a transferable skillset as I move from one position to another. I believe that most jobs have skills that can be learned on-the-job, and that employers should not put so much emphasis on one's degree. Every skill that I have today is a result of learning on the job and from my natural interest to grow and learn; my skills were not developed from obtaining a degree or attending classes. Having pivoted from a very specific MS degree field, I had to adjust and grow with my new roles (which I continue to succeed at).After graduating with an MS degree in School Counseling, and gaining experience as a school guidance counselor working with students with disabilities, I decided to make a change. I made the difficult decision to end my time as a school counselor after over 3 years in this position, and took that experience with me into the higher education setting, working for a prestigious institution on Long Island, At Stony Brook University, I helped to build a graduate recruitment strategy and worked individually with our program staff to elevate their internal recruitment efforts. Additionally, I assisted the graduate admissions and student services offices within the Graduate School.Currently I work a dual role as a Testing Coordinator with the Student Accessibility Support Center as well as an Administrative Assistant to the Director of Operations for the Southampton campus. This role has allowed me to meet people in many different offices and perform various administrative tasks from admissions application processing to event planning, and collaboration across departments. Outside of work, my main interest is health and wellness. I love learning about all aspects of the industry and find true joy in exercising (strength training specifically). I love to weightlift, go for walks or hikes, and experiment with different styles of training. I have done CrossFit, boxing, kickboxing, yoga, HotWorx, cycling and I loved it all. My favorite podcasts are The Pursuit of Wellness with Mari Llewellyn and Mind Pump. If I'm not listening to a podcast or working out, I get tons of inspiration from following fitness influencers on YouTube and Instagram. Shout out to the best fitness app for women, the Grounds Fitness app.