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CAA Chapter Leader Newsletter
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CAA Alumni Spotlight, TAAP Scholars' Legacy of Service, Summer Welcome Parties & More!
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CAA Alumni Spotlight Introducing…
Johanna "Yoyo" Romero
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’15 B.A. Peace & Conflict Studies
Pronouns: They/Them, She/Her
Johanna "Yoyo" Romero is a first-generation, queer, Salvadoran graduate of UC Berkeley and proud child of immigrant parents.
As a senior program manager for the Alumni Scholars Program at the Cal Alumni Association, they support scholarship recipients with professional, academic, and personal advising. Yoyo brings her experiences in practicing healing justice, equitable education, racial justice, and program management to build a student-led vision of academic achievement and civic engagement. Yoyo
finds a lot of joy in reading science fiction, trying new recipes
from around the world, coexisting with plant relatives in nature, and supporting their loved ones in manifesting their dreams.
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What was your undergraduate life like at Cal? I began my UC Berkeley journey in the Fall of 2011. I was eager to join every student organization, meet all my peers from different walks of life, and explore what mattered most to me. Those few years highlighted for me the importance of curiosity, community, capacity, and courage. I was very committed to becoming a pediatrician and entering the world of health. My first year was incredibly challenging academically and I failed. I failed brilliantly and those moments of failure I see now as divine redirection. I was challenged to approach those difficult times with curiosity. How can I still align with my purpose, and shift my classes and my major while enjoying my time here? It was nerve-wracking, as an overachiever, to fail my classes and to change my major four times. I was convinced I was not good enough and considered dropping out. This was a huge question and I knew I could not answer it alone, especially as a first-generation student. I prioritized finding my community after that first semester. This included friends, chosen family, mentors, and staff who would advocate for me. My home bases were the Public Service Center, GenEq Center, Stiles Hall, Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), and The Multicultural Community Center (MCC). I have so much love for the folks I met in each community space. I finally landed on Peace and Conflict studies, with a minor in Global Poverty and Practice. Both were interdisciplinary so I was able to take classes from many different fields. I loved creating my own learning experience and it was very empowering for me. In my second through fourth undergrad years, I was learning how to understand my capacity, meaning how to balance my goals, my responsibilities, my leadership positions, and my well-being. This is when I learned the phrase "no is a complete sentence." I was experiencing extreme burnout, was very sick, and something needed to shift. I created a compass for myself of my time, energy, goals, and values that helped me prioritize what I wanted to gain from my experience at UC Berkeley. This made it easy to stay focused, to go deep rather than go wide. I was also building my courage, to speak up when there was injustice happening around me, to share my imperfect ideas and imperfect self with those around me, to ask for support and carry a beginner's mindset, and to take up space in a lot of learning spaces that tried to convince me I did not belong. The way I moved through academic and community spaces was with determination, compassion, and gratitude.
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Johanna "Yoyo" Romero ’15 and her sibling, Darlene, graduating Cal in 2015.
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What advice would you give your undergraduate self? I would tell young adult Yoyo that their well-being needs to come first and to find mentors who model that. You should not have to sacrifice your well-being to succeed at UC Berkeley and beyond that. I would also tell myself that moments of failure are our greatest teachers. They really allow us to look inside and better understand what we care about, what we need support with, and sometimes, what we need to let go of. Lastly, I would say focus less on where you think you should be and focus more on who you want to become. After graduating, I had no clear plan and really needed to financially sustain myself. I started working at Paris Baguette and McDonald's on Shattuck. This was not my ideal situation and I got judged a lot for it. Regardless of where I was working, I look back at that time and I am really proud of who I was. I was really humbled, never stopped learning, and after 3 months landed an awesome job through someone I met who got morning coffee every weekday at Paris Baguette. Trust in the timing of the Universe honestly, and always be a student of life.
What life lessons did you learn at Cal that still impact your daily life? I learned how to trust my intuition and advocate for myself. This skill takes time to build and it's so valuable to this day in my work, in my personal relationships, and in any community spaces I'm a part of. I really know what I bring to the table and the wisdom I have to offer. That said, another important lesson is to always be coachable. I notice some people believe they know everything they need to know and don't find value in other people's lived experiences and knowledge. That's really unfortunate because it's a missed opportunity to evolve the self, expand our hearts, and connect with others. A final lesson that I carry with me from my time at Cal is to keep a journal of what you're grateful for and what you've achieved, both the big and small wins. Academic culture can, at times, make you feel you are not doing enough and creates an unhealthy habit of comparison. That journal or memory map can serve as a reminder of how far you've come!
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What are some current projects you are working on? Along with working in the Alumni Scholars Program and having the privilege of supporting the most brilliant scholars on campus, I've also continued to build roots in the holistic wellness field. I became a certified nutritional consultant during the pandemic, started training to be a massage therapist (@tenderhandsmassage), and am a co-founder of an ancestral food pop-up (@cafedandelion_oak) with one of my root partners. I just turned 30 and what I really care about right now is nourishing my relationship with my chosen family and my elders in El Salvador, exploring the incredible forests, oceans, and deserts of the world, and building skills with my younger brother around financial freedom that our parents didn't have access to so that we can buy a home in the future.
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Johanna "Yoyo" Romero ’15 on a Public Service Center Alternative Breaks Trip, volunteering at Green Light New Orleans.
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How do you tap into your Cal Alumni network? Right now, I would say I connect to the Cal Alumni network through my role at the Cal Alumni Association, connecting students to alumni, through my mentors and friendships, and as an alumni volunteer.
Tell us more about your involvement with CAA and Scholarships. What keeps you here doing this great work? My life purpose is to support others in manifesting their dream life, in trusting their undeniable value and wisdom, and connecting them to the tools, resources and community spaces to do so. This purpose is related to my career and my personal life. It's a way of being and connecting with others. I get to fulfill that calling and feel a lot of joy being a part of the Scholarships team. What keeps me here also is all the incredible wisdom and knowledge I get to experience from all the scholars we support. They challenge me to think about what support can look like and keep me engaged in doing better. It's an opportunity to uplift and remove barriers for Black, Indigenous, and Brown students, disabled students, undocumented students, LGBTQIA* students, and students who are first-generation and low-income.
What is something that you’ve learned from being involved with CAA Scholars? I've learned through supporting CAA scholars just how much the world continues to change and I experience a lot of hope seeing these incredible individuals becoming leaders in our communities.
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Johanna "Yoyo" Romero ’15 speaking with an Alumni Scholar at the Fall 2022 Welcome Event
held at the Cal Alumni Association's Alumni House
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What’s New with the Alumni Chapters Department?
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Summer Welcome Parties!
Thank you to all the Alumni Chapters who are hosting a Summer Welcome Party this year! Take a look at all the wonderful Summer Welcome Party events that are taking place this summer!
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What Else is Going on at CAA...
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Building Hope Senior Alishba Sardar ’23 created her own family on campus through the Berkeley Hope Scholars program. Below is an excerpt from her speech delivered at the 2023 TAAP Senior Brunch.
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Becoming Yourself through the Struggle Senior Jayden Zheng ’23 credits the Alumni Scholars Program for his future in the biotech industry. Below is an excerpt from his speech delivered at the 2023 TAAP Senior Brunch.
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Interested in Volunteering with the
Alumni Scholars Program?
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We are currently looking for volunteers to support with interviews for The Leadership Award (TLA) Incoming - First-Year Students and Transfers and application reviews and interviews for The Leadership Award - Current Students. Interested? Sign-up to volunteer for The Leadership Award application reviews and interviews here!
Our wonderful scholarship chairs will also be hosting region-specific interview events for The Leadership Award - Incoming First Year Students and Transfers throughout the month of July. If you’re interested in participating in one of the region interview events, please contact the listed scholarship chairs below for specific event details.
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San Fernandy Valley
(in-person)
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South Orange County (virtual)
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San Mateo County (virtual)
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San Jose/Saratoga (virtual)
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North Orange County (virtual)
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Join us at the Lair This Summer!
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Unplug from technology and reconnect with nature and each other. At the Lair, it's an all-inclusive family camp vacation where we serve three hearty meals a day, and offer a jam-packed schedule of programs and activities. Drop the kids off at their supervised age-group program, and then enjoy some 'me' time by taking a yoga class, playing tennis, or relaxing at the pool. Then meet up with the kids for a meal, or to tie-dye a t-shirt, play some shuffleboard, and later enjoy the evening campfire together.
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The Graduate Wine Collective
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Cal vs. North Texas Football Game
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Get ready as Cal takes on the University of North Texas Mean Green on Saturday,
September 2, 2023.
If you are looking to experience Cal Bear Football on the road, then check out the Bears Without Borders Fan Travel Program!
The trip includes a hotel stay, transportation to game, and tailgate party at University of North Texas, an amazing Friday night reception, and a post-game celebration, all joined by a special VIP Guest Host (TBD).
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Quick Links to…
Stay connected to Berkeley with a gift to your alumni association.
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This message was sent on behalf of the CAA Alumni Chapters Department
by the Cal Alumni Association.
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Contact Uschapters@alumni.berkeley.edu
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Cal Alumni Association1 Alumni House, Berkeley, CA 94720-7520
Phone: 888.CAL.ALUM | Fax: 510.642.6252
Copyright © 2023 Cal Alumni Association
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