Southern States University’s Alumni provide a living link to the College’s rich heritage and legacies, as well as a key to ensuring a bright, prosperous future.

Evelyn Rodrigues

Evelyn Rodrigues is a Brazilian journalist based in Las Vegas. She graduated in Journalism from Cásper Líbero College in 2004, but began her career as a trainee reporter for the newspaper “Diário de Osasco”, in 2001. For years, she worked as a reporter and producer for TV and radio shows in Brazil. She has also developed a career in Corporate Communication, managing internal and external communication, corporate reputation, branding transition, and social media for over 15 years. In 2009, Evelyn moved to Las Vegas to improve her English at the IAE (International Academy of English). Since 2011, she works as an international correspondent for the Brazilian media in the US, covering combat sports. In fact, she was the first Brazilian female journalist to come to America to report mainly MMA and boxing fights. In 2013, she started working for Combate.com (the biggest MMA website in South America) interviewing some of the biggest personalities of boxing and MMA, such as Floyd Mayweather, Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, etc ( the list goes on!). In November of 2016, Evy began her collaborations as a reporter for TV Globo International, covering subjects related to the Brazilian community in America. Today, she is one of our first students in the Las Vegas Campus doing the MBA in Business Administration program.

Learning a new language in another country and starting a new career was one of the biggest challenges I overcame in my life. However, I still wanted to challenge myself. Once more I wanted to leave my comfort zone to keep improving as professional and opening new opportunities for my life. That’s why I did the MBA in Business Administration at SSU. I am confident that this course will bring me to the next level in my career, wherever it might be“, Evelyn Rodrigues

Twitter and Instagram: @vevyrodrigues

Oral Yilmaz

One day while working back in my country, I started thinking about my future. I decided the best way to have a better future for me and for my family was to improve my English and further my education. It did not take long for me to decide and execute my new plans. Some can say this decision was a big risk, but I knew it would come back with lots of rewards and it did.

I arrived in San Diego on 4th of July 2010. Back then I did not know I had arrived on the most important day of the year. Today for me the 4th of July is not only a celebration of Independence Day, but also my arrival date and the day my life changed. When I first came to the USA, I attended a language school to improve my English. Within a couple of months, I decided not to spend more time on the English program. Instead, I decided to pursue my degree, which led me to the Southern States University  MBA program.

During my studies at SSU, I not only built business skills, I also built life long relationships both professionally and personally.

I graduated from SSU’s MBA program in 2012 and my secondary life in business started immediately. If one takes it seriously and works hard towards his/her goal, the MBA program brings big opportunities upon graduation. I got a job in one of the biggest transportation companies on the West Coast. In a matter of months, I decided to take one more risk and opened my own business. While mentioning the past it seems like a fairytale that came true, but it is my obligation to say you must work hard and dedicate all you have to achieve success in business. Today I have several successful businesses, but in order to achieve this, I had to work over 100 hours a week.

My MBA degree from Southern States University led me to this success. I am proud to be graduated from SSU.

Isabel Treidl

Isabel Treidl is part of the National Council at the United Nations Association of the United States. She is also currently serving as Chair of Young Professional at the Southern California Division. She is also Director of Young Professionals and chair of Education of the United Nations Association – Orange County Chapter. Additionally, she works with developmentally disabled people at NALAS ARF. This year, she received sponsorship to attend the UNA annual meeting in Washington D.C where she represented the Orange County Chapter at Capitol Hill. Since young, she has always been motivated by social issues and has worked to improve the quality of people’s lives. During college, she participated in several conferences, seminars and national publications that spearheaded the development of cheaper prosthetics to replace the knee. She worked with the Colombian Army to help veterans who had lost their limbs due to land mines. She won local and national awards for biomedical research and entrepreneurship. In 2008 she received a scholarship from the Inter-American Development Bank National Young Entrepreneurs Award for a cultural mission to China in order to enhance her entrepreneurial skills. In 2009 she started working as a consultant and developed projects for the Colombian Government and private companies and became a member of In-Nove, a Latin American consulting firm. Isabel Treidl has a Bachelor’s degree in Product Design Engineering, a Master’s in Business Administration. She is an instructor at FIDM in Los Angeles and currently is an administrator certified by the Community Care Licensing Division to work with developmentally disabled people in California. Isabel Treidl currently joined the Halsten Enterprise to serve as an international consultant and currently is getting a certification in marketing at the University of California Berkeley.

Faruk Öztaş

My name is Faruk Öztaş. I was born in TURKEY in 1983. I studied Business Administration at Black Sea Technical University between 2002-2007. After having graduated from university, I received an acceptance from Southern States University for MBA Program. I received master’s degrees at Southern States University in 2009.

After all this, I started to work at the Ministry of Economy in Ankara in 2010, formerly known as Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade. Firstly, I was assigned to Directorate of Personnel Department as a Data Preparation and Control Management. My responsibility in this department was especially personnel benefits and appointments. After working in this department for about 2 years, in 2012 I was assigned to the Department of International Relations under the General Directorate of Product Safety and Inspection. I have been working in this department for almost 5 years. My responsibilities are prevention of technical barriers to trade for Turkish exports as well as the pre-shipment inspection programme implemented by countries such as Irak. During my term in the department, I was also responsible for our official web-site www.teknikengel.gov.tr  and the periodical notification of Turkish technical legislation to the WTO.

Lastly, I just got married so mostly I spend time with my wife without going work. I like playing the guitar, watching a film and discovering a new place.

My experience with SSU:

After completing my undergraduate studies in Business Administration in Turkey, I joined the MBA program at Southern States University in San Diego/USA in 2007. This was the turning point of my life. Briefly, the MBA education I received at SSU (between 2007 to 2009) provided me not only just academic competency but  I also had the finest opportunity to discover and enhance my leadership and improve my knowledge in the management field.

Besides, I would like to extend my special thanks to Daany Ruddick, who was also my thesis advisor. And still, I can not forget his speeches that have always inspired me.

Lastly, I feel so honored to be part of the SSU family.

Indeed, my good wishes are always with the SSU family.

Mohammed Mannoubi

Mohamed Manoubi, a Tunisian engineer based in Irvine California.

On 2/10/2017 the airplane took off from Tunis Carthage full of dreams, where the destination was los Angeles California USA. My story started from that moment…

I was 27 years old, and had just graduated in mechanical engineering with a master’s degree in engineering and management of industry quality systems at ENSIT university. It was a hard decision for me to leave my country, but the American dream was stronger. I was a young engineer, driven by his illimited ambitions and strong desire to succeed.

March 2017: I started with the ESL program and then IELTS program at Mentor Language Institute in Beverly Hills.

After completing the program, I decided to transfer to a renowned university as the SSU of Irvine to study MBA Master Business Administration in the Winter of 2018.

January 2019: I got hired by an American company SEFB Co to get my first professional experience in the USA under the part-time CPT program.

My dedication and enthusiasm at work motivated this company to sponsor me and get me a promotion as a General Manager in Fall of 2019.

Working and studying at the same time was a challenge for me and at the end of the journey it was a must to succeed in both of them.

Summer 2020: I graduated from SSU with a high GPA to be one of the ALUMNI students and a leader in my job and was such a proud moment for myself and my loved ones.

My experience at SSU has not only provided me with the learning tools necessary to do my job more effectively and efficiently, but it also has given me a sense of personal gratification and the confidence to be whoever I want to be.

The majority of my success has come from hands-on experience. However, the legal and professional components of my skill set have been improved dramatically during the last year.

My desire is to reach toward a higher standard and prove to myself that I have the talent and skills to realize my dreams, while also setting a positive example for those that come after me.

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