Providencia Soto-Alicea
Hello and "hola" to my Spanish speaking friends. This simple website is for highlighting my career and personal experiences. I am bilingual, speaking both Spanish and English. My background is very diverse, since I was raised as a military dependent and traveled a lot, as my father served 25 years in the U.S. Army. My family comes from the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico.
I came stateside when I was 2 years old and lived in many states and countries. I lived in Georgia, Texas, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia and in Stuttgart, Germany before my father finally retired. Our family went back to "Mi isla de encanto" (my island of enchantment) where I completed my last year of high school and I began my university studies. I worked two years in retail before enrolling into college classes at night. Working and studying led me to complete two Bachelors degrees in Fine Arts and in Art Education. I worked several jobs to earn the money to pay for my studies and even when I got some veterans benefits as a dependent I still worked in the college's library as a work/study student.
I was certified as an Art Teacher in Puerto Rico and later found work within the printing industry as a layout and paste-up artist. I learned how to create a concept from its beginning and see it through to the final printed piece, while meeting strict deadlines and making sure the client was satisfied with the results. This experience helped me to fine tune my work ethic skills and prepared me to adapt to fast paced environments without losing my creativity and natural talents to think quickly and bring the wow factor into everything I do.
I worked as an Instructional Designer at Georgia Piedmont Technical College and have over 25 years of experience in the print/media and training fields within higher education. I am always adapting, creating, learning and assisting others to do the same. My creations have won awards, and some logo designs have been used for years. As my designs have inspired, so I was inspired to continue my education, becoming the first in my family to take my education to an advance degree. In 2004, I completed my Masters degree in Instructional Technology with a 4.0 GPA.
Some of my accomplishments include the design and conception of a training lab. The "Teaching New Technology" or TNT lab at the college and later merging it into the current Center for Teaching Excellence. Working with faculty and students to develop banner and t-shirt designs for a National Collegiate Conference and actually winning first place three years in a roll was definitely impressive. Participating in academic, advisory, and community committees also enhanced my leadership skills. Keeping an open mind and having a willingness to learn new innovated things has kept my creative spirit trending and my creative talents going viral:)
Currently, I am working as an Academic Affairs Coordinator at Georgia Piedmont Technical College and implementing my creativity into my new duties assisting both the Director of Online Learning and the Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs.
For more information please contact me directly using my contact information listed on the contact page. Thank you.