Meet Heidi Sosa

I am Heidi (pronounced Hay-de) Sosa. I am a College Residence Life Housekeeper and I've been at UNCSA for several years. My family left Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017. I enjoy meeting people on campus from other countries. If you want to practice your Spanish, I'm happy to speak Spanish with you!

Working in the Residence Halls, I found that some students are so happy to have someone who can speak Spanish with them because some are far from home. At UNCSA, I have met people from El Salvador, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Cuba. Sometimes we discover that we call the same thing something different — even while speaking Spanish. We have to look at a picture and learn what each country calls the item.

I am encouraging people to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month (Spanish: Mes Nacional de la Herencia Hispana), which is Sept. 15-Oct. 15, by asking students, faculty and staff to video an interview with family or friends who immigrated to the U.S. from a Spanish-speaking country. We can collect these throughout the year and create a video compilation for next year. 

I like to help others. I started translating for staff when a few Spanish-speaking employees were nearing retirement. They asked me to come with them to Human Resources. I know all about retirement benefits now! I also help some of the Spanish-speaking staff during benefits Open Enrollment to understand what they are signing up for, so they can make decisions. Sometimes the difficulty is language and sometimes it is being unfamiliar with working on computers. This is how I like to help. In the community, I also volunteer at the food bank and at the UNCSA Pickle Pantry. I am a representative on the Staff Council for Residence Life district.

I moved to the area because I have relatives here and after the hurricane, there was no power, little food in the stores and schools were closed. My son was going into the 11th grade. He finished high school here and is working on a degree at a community college. I love to dance and hope to start back taking Salsa dance lessons when the pandemic is over. I love to hike and I'm learning how to grow a garden at my new house.