By Xiomara Abud
This is what I will always remember about Alicia:
Her selfless generosity; never expecting anything in return. Her face, always portraying a beautiful smile. I loved teasing her whenever I wore pink, her favorite color. We also had discussions about the president of her country, Venezuela, and she’d always very expressively respond, ” don’t ruin my day!”
Even from far away, I could tell when Alicia was in the office. The sound of her joyous hellos as she greeted everyone and her jokes made us all feel relaxed and at ease. I also loved seeing her outside of work, since she lived in my area. I will always remember the many times we met and exchanged a few words and had a good laugh.
Her support for the adjuncts, of helping us selflessly in the online work process truly touched my heart. On one occasion, a group of us met with her online and she was explaining details to us. I asked her to show me again, I needed a simple way of integrating the videos on Blackboard and at that moment my computer battery died and I was unable to see the explanation. I wrote to her explaining what had happened and she immediately sent me the time and day to show it to me again. Unfortunately, I had issues with the internet that day and was unable to meet her. I sent her a message apologizing and explaining what had happened, never expecting her to reschedule. She wrote back sending me a Zoom invitation for a Sunday at 10:00 a.m.! The “short” meeting went on for over an hour, she made me practice countless times in front of her until I learned the task and then she went as far as to share her own page with me. She was quite the teacher role model we should all aim at becoming!
All of this happened a week before her departure to the arms of God Our Father. I am confident she is now in His loving arms.
Xiomara Abud
