Staff Series: an Interview with Lourdes Sanchez Guerrero
Felicia Lee
Lourdes Sanchez Guerrero is a professional staff at the School of Linguistics and Languages, University of Melbourne (and a polyglot who can speak English, Catalan, Spanish, Polish and Russian!) She takes charge of all events happening at SoLL and finds immense joy in doing so.
Felicia interviewed Lourdes about her role as Executive Support Officer at the school, her prior work experiences, as well as her very vibrant personal life.
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So Lourdes, could you fill us in about yourself and what you did before you joined the school in your current role?
I grew up in Spain, and I moved to Australia in November 2005. My husband got a scholarship to do his PhD in Australia, and he tricked me because we were supposed to come here only for five years and then go back to Europe. And as you can see, that never happened (laughs).
I did a degree in Slavic languages and specifically, I majored in Polish. I actually received a scholarship to study my PhD in Poland, but after I did, I dropped out. It wasn’t something that I enjoyed doing so I felt that it wasn’t meant for me at all. That was when I decided to do my diploma in teaching Spanish as a second language. I taught Spanish for many years.
In Australia, I taught at RMIT as a sessional tutor teaching Spanish, worked at the Victorian School of Languages teaching Spanish to children and teenagers, and worked as a language coach at a Spanish company dedicated to renewable energy.
I love teaching languages and I really enjoyed the job, but due to bread-and-butter issues, I had to find something more permanent so that was when I decided I had to change roles.
Yeah, sometimes reality gets to us and we have to stop doing what we love for a while. So besides teaching languages, what other industries have you worked in?
Apart from language teaching, I was involved in different roles in Europe and Australia. I was a translator and an interpreter. Then in the past seven years, I have been in an executive support role and events management.
In what ways have your previous experiences helped you with your current position at SoLL?
As part of my role of Executive Support Officer I organise events for the school. Let me start by giving you some of my first experiences with hospitality and events management.
My family used to run a very famous café in the Gothic Quarter in Barcelona called El Paraiguas so I grew up observing how my parents run huge events.
When I arrived in Australia, I was the representative of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce here in Melbourne, so I used to run events for the chamber members as a volunteer. I enjoyed that a lot.
Then I worked at Swinburne University at a small research centre called the Centre for the New Workforce as Executive Assistant and Project Officer. One of the biggest events I organised was the launch of the Centre in conjunction with multinational companies From 2020 until July last year, I worked at the National Institute of Circus Arts as the Executive Officer, and now I’m here. Besides my experience managing events, I have supported five directors in my role as Executive Assistant as part of my portfolio.
I would say that all these experiences helped me to realise how much I enjoy managing events and after every successful event I’d feel a great sense of joy and achievement. The experiences also helped me to gain more exposure to fulfil my current role.
Speaking of your work here, what do you enjoy most at work?
Like I said, I really enjoy managing and organising events. I may have a long list of things to do before an event but it’s very rewarding to see that the event has turned out well in the end. It’s worth to see everyone happy with the outcome so all the hard work is worth it. The school has some big events in the pipeline such as SoLL celebrating its 30th anniversary on 3 November this year so keep your eyes peeled on the emails coming in.
At the school, I support our Head of School and the Executive Committee among other tasks. I feel a sense of satisfaction knowing that my support lessens their massive workload.
Apart from the fact that I enjoy the work, this school has a very caring environment. I feel that I’m very supported in the office. I’ve got a fantastic team; everyone here in this school is so caring and so supportive that it doesn’t feel like I’m coming to work. I’m happy to see the people at the office every day.
We look after each other and I know that I’ve been reminded so many times to seek help I need. You can always ask for help. I have worked in different environments and sometimes, you know, it’s different. You are not left alone to do the job here because you can actually tap on people’s shoulders saying, ‘Hey, I need a hand.’ Yeah, I’m very happy working here at the university and especially in SoLL.
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That’s wonderful to hear. You’re far away from your hometown, Barcelona, now, so how do you cope with not being able to meet your family and friends more regularly?
To be honest, I have been living abroad more than half of my life. I’ve lived in Russia, Poland, the United States, and now Australia, and the truth is, when I was younger, I didn’t miss home. But now that I’m getting older, I’m getting more homesick. So I try to keep in touch with my family as much as I can and reach out to friends back home. I could contact them via social media or just give them a Zoom call to find out how they are. That helps me feel less homesick.
And what do you miss most about home?
Oh Spanish food! I miss my mom’s cooking. And some food items, for instance, jamon ibérico. You can find it in Australia, but it’s so expensive!
And growing up in Barcelona, there’s so much sunshine even during wintertime. I miss the sunshine and all.
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Final question! What are some things that you are actively involved in outside of work?
This year, I’m volunteering for the 2023 professional staff conference that the university organises. I volunteer in two streams, logistics and sponsorship. That keeps me quite busy as well.
In terms of hobbies, I pretty much enjoy being outdoors, especially bushwalking. If the weather is nice, I just love to go for long walks. And lately I’ve just discovered running so I try to run at least three kilometres every day. Hopefully, you know, maybe in a year or two years down the line, I will be able to run marathons.
I’m also very family orientated; as a mom of two lovely daughters, I just love to be surrounded by them. Hence whenever I can, I like to spend some time with my husband and my kids.
Finally, I’m also considering a master’s in marketing and communications. It’s all in the plans but not right now because I don’t want to overcommit.
It’s always exciting to have plans and I hope you see them to fruition when the time is right. Thank you for speaking with me, Lourdes!
Thank you, Felicia.