Hi everyone! My name is Nikko Garmendiz and I am from a small town called Pine Bush, which is about an hour north of NYC. I graduated from SUNY Geneseo in December 2019 where I was a Sociology Major and highly involved student leader. I was a proud AOP (Access Opportunity Program) student, RA, ARD, Admissions Intern, Theatre tech, peer mentor, and more. After I graduated, I was hired to serve as a Residence Director at Geneseo, and the transition from student to staff was definitely weird, especially that I literally went to class with people in December and was supervising them in January. Going into undergrad and partway through my sophomore year, I thought I was going to be a Pre-Med/Bio major and dreamed of becoming an orthopedic surgeon and team doctor for a professional sports team. But I quickly learned that science wasn't my passion and having an honest conversation with a mentor of mine, I started my journey into Higher Ed.