Crissy Hucko Diaz may be employed these days at Stanford University, but her heart will always belong to UC San Diego.
Student Profile: Crissy Hucko Diaz, Certificate in College Counseling
After all, she was an administrative aide at UC San Diego Extension, earned her undergraduate degree (’06) in political science, and is in the process of earning her Certificate in College Counseling.
Plus, she met her husband, Mike (’07), while both were UC San Diego students. He’s now a computer programmer for SmugMug, a photo-sharing website in Mountain View in the Bay Area.
“We’re both still very attached to UCSD,” she said, “but we decided we wanted to pursue our careers up here.”
Ever the student, Diaz also holds a teaching credential from San Diego State and a master’s from Santa Clara University, along with an internship at Mills College in Oakland.
“What can I say? I like school,” she said. “I guess I can’t get away from it.”
Meanwhile, both Crissy and Mike recently became scuba certified. “Our love of the ocean never really left us,” she said. “We don’t surf up here because the water’s always too cold, but we’re already booking our trips to some hot dive spots.”
Now a student services coordinator at Stanford’s School of Engineering, Diaz tried being an elementary school teacher in San Jose for a year but decided it wasn’t her long-term calling.
“Honestly, teaching was great,” she said, “but I wanted to get back into higher education because I found it more challenging. I prefer the supportive role I get from working with college-age students.”