Cassidy Diaz
News Editor
This academic year’s “What Matters to Me and Why” monthly lecture series kicked off Wednesday in the Ludwick Center Sacred Space with Kerri Love, the University’s scholarship and grants manager.
Love shared her values in life and how they have guided her to the place she is in today.
The values she holds for her career, she said, are connection, compassion and the importance of making people feel seen and valued.
Outside of work, she told the audience of 30 that faith, family, friendships and life experience have shaped who she is and how she approaches the people around her.
To answer the question of what matters the most to Love, she said that it sometimes takes loss, disappointment or walking through something we never imagined to show us what really matters.
“For much of my life I believe that if I worked hard enough, planned carefully enough or worried enough, I could somehow protect the people I love or prevent difficult things from happening,” Love said.
But she learned that sometimes such control is out of her hands.
“I’ve learned that there are some things I cannot fix.”
What sustained Love through this time was her faith which gave her hope through tough times.
“More than anything faith has given me something to hold onto when everything else feels uncertain, it reminds me that pain isn’t part of my story, but it doesn’t have to be my whole story,” Love said.
“There’s so much life to be lived, there’s so much love to give and so much good to notice along the way.”
Faith has also discovered that peace comes from knowing you don’t have to carry everything alone.
“I’ve learned that God’s presence doesn’t always change what I’m walking through, but it absolutely changes how I walk through it,” Love said.
“I’ve learned that I don’t have to understand everything in order to trust God.
“Maybe that’s the point of being present for life that’s happening right now in front of us, instead of waiting until something is gone to understand how much it mattered,” Love said.
As a final piece of advice for those who want to be attuned with their inner self to simply be themselves.
“Authenticity creates permission and if I’m honest with someone, they’re going to be honest with me,” Love said.
“When we’re honest with ourselves and with each other, we really have an opportunity to really find what matters to us and why it matters to us.”
Love’s whole department team came to support her, they sat in the front row.
“It’s a really good opportunity to get to know her a little better and kind of see what it is that makes her tick, especially since I get to see her on the daily,” Hope Thompson, financial aid adviser said.
“So it’s kind of nice to see her behind what makes her such a special person.”
Julieta Venegas, associate director of outreach and advising, who has worked with Love for about five years also shares a close friendship outside the office.
“It was really great to see all the different employees at the University and the world that she interacts with that I don’t get to see all the time, so it was cool,” Venegas said.
Love has spent over a little of five years here at the University of La Verne supporting and guiding students through their educational journey.
“She has done so much for me to attend here and it was a difficult process getting here so she was such a big help and she means so much to me,” Jordan Garrison, a junior business major said.
“She has helped me if I had any questions about something or needed advice in college.”
Garrison attended in support as he and Love are family friends.
“She really cares about her job not just because she has to show up but because she really cares about the students and that made me feel better about myself because it really shows that you do have people who care for you,” Garrison said.
Cassidy Diaz can be reached at cassidy.diazgomez@laverne.edu.
Cassidy Diaz is a senior journalism major with a concentration in print and online journalism. She is also news editor for the Campus Times, and previously served as an assistant editor and a staff writer.
