MENTOR NETWORK
Anissa Raja '18
She/Her/Hers
Sacramento, CA
Oxy Major/Minor:
UEP/Public Health
Current Company:
Caltrans
Current Position:
Transportation Planner
Campus Involvement/Special Programs:
Activities and Societies: Women's Soccer Team, FEAST Garden, Food Student Working Group (FSWG), South Asian Student Association (SASA), Asian & Pacific Islander Group (API), MULTI, Oxy Public Health Club, Diversity & Equity Board Subcommittees (Student Life & Club)
Secondary Schooling:
UCLA Master Urban & Regional Planning
Favorite MP/Cooler Food:
Heart Thrives
Best Oxy Class:
Global Public Health
Groups I Identify With:
POC, Women of Color, Environmental Focused Students
Bio:
Hello! My name is Anissa and I am so excited to be a member of this group. Currently, I am a Regional Planning Liaison within District 3 at Caltrans. In my past public sector advocacy and research roles, I’ve worked within planning, policy, and public health to analyze built environment impacts on local and regional scales. During this past year, I’ve been able to grow my graphic storytelling capabilities through data extrapolation, interpretation, and visualization. I am a Women in Transportation (WTS) Scholarship Recipient, which I was fortunate to receive. I was able to share with WTS my work on safe and equitable active transportation in the South Bay cities. With a Master of Urban & Regional Planning degree from UCLA and a Bachelor's degree in UEP from Oxy, I was able to apply these skills to a variety of internships/research/job experiences. While working within the realm of transportation planning, I’ve seen that my Oxy liberal arts background truly has set me apart. As a scholar athlete at Oxy who kept busy with other extracurricular activities and leadership roles, I was able to learn how to manage my time. Throughout my time at Oxy I switched majors and decided to study what I was interested and itching to discover! I hope you too can discover what makes you excited to learn and to get after it!
Career Advice:
While it is a platitude, getting your foot in the door is important. Through meeting with professors that you are interested in (and maybe don't have classes with), you can learn about their research as well as vital life/career skills. They are there to serve you! I would also suggest taking a "hard skills" class (graphic design, computer skills, etc.) as that is a resume builder and helpful in your career!