Officer Spotlight
Carmen Seto
Executive Council
UC Irvine
Class of 2019
How did Heart In Motion impact your life?
Honestly speaking, Heart in Motion is where I’ve met the most amazing, inspiring people ever as well as the place where I pretty much met all of my best friends. Heart in Motion joins students from all over the Bay Area at volunteer events, and through those events, I’ve really made “friendships which last a lifetime.” None of us really knew each other before meeting in leadership, and we didn’t even go to the same schools, but after working with them at volunteer events and doing leadership tasks together, we’ve built a strong bond between us. Even now after we’ve all graduated and moved on to different colleges throughout the state, we still stay in contact with each other and hang out whenever we can. I want to say that Heart in Motion was really a starting point for me to open up to others and start getting involved.
Why do you continue volunteering with HIM now that you are in college?
Why? Well why not? To me, volunteering was never something I did because “it looks good on college apps” or because it was a requirement to graduate. I continue to volunteer because I genuinely find it fun and because it’s something I am passionate about. I don’t care if I have to wake up at an ungodly hour like 4 AM and do some manual labor like setting up tables and handing out food to runners--okay, maybe I do care a bit since I do enjoy sleeping, but that’s not the point--because all those unpleasant thoughts just disappear when thousands of runners come down the row thanking YOU for being there. Yes, the actual participants cheer for you while you cheer for them, and that’s the kind of amazing environment I get to work in when I volunteer. What’s there to hate?
What are your hobbies?
My life revolves around anime, manga, dramas, and K-pop. Seriously, K-pop and anime is life. I will proudly state that I’ve written essays based on those topics for school and I received very nice scores in response. Anime has also taught me many topics essential to school and helped me pass some classes, so I will deny every person’s attempt at trying to convince me that I’m wasting my time. TV is my greatest teacher and it’s going to stay that way. On a side note, I also enjoy playing the violin, baking desserts, and going on dessert dates with friends.
What is one of your favorite memories or events from HIM?
I don’t know if this is exactly my favorite memory, but it certainly is one which appeals to me the most. Quite a few of the marathons we volunteer at get international runners and well let's say I’ve had the weirdest interactions with those internationals, especially when they don’t really speak English. So usually when I get Chinese internationals, I break out those near nonexistent, broken Chinese speaking skills and work my way through explanations. But one time I got Spanish speakers, and I have absolutely no ability to speak Spanish, so I explained everything with over exaggerated gestures. I had to explain to them how to use the time tag, so I literally lifted my foot up to where they could see it (basically the height of the table in front of me) and show them that the time tag goes on the shoe. It wasn’t awkward at all for those around me ;).
