My Five: Let’s take a peek into Hiya Intern Jess Fernandez-Erazo’s life
MY FIVE: A series where we ask Omahans to share their five favorite things
We’d like to welcome one of our newest interns, Jess Fernandez-Erazo, who is a rockstar at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and an exceptional writer. We just know she’s going to WOW you with all of the content she’ll be creating for our client Hiya, which is an online boutique that focuses on mental health awareness and self-care goods.
Jess, a passionate third-year double major and double minor at UNO, is a first-generation Latina pursuing a degree in International Studies and Latin/Latino American Studies with minors in Environmental Studies and Sustainability. She’s been a powerhouse on campus working with the Office of Multicultural Affairs (MCA), an American Multicultural Student (AMS) board member, the rising historian for the Association of Latin American Studies, and an incoming College of Arts and Sciences student government senator.
She is quite the event planner and project manager. She’s helped facilitate a leadership conference with MCA, and event programming with AMS from a Women’s History Month luncheon to an eco-workshop aimed to discuss the intersection of environmental issues. In her free time, she often travels to the Nebraska State Capitol for hearings on anti-abortion and anti-trans legislation.
She’s an avid thrifter, a foodie, and enjoys hiking. Jess is quite the community leader who has developed a rich desire to help others and be a voice for the voiceless. She’s a fierce addition to the Hiya team and we’re thrilled to have her.
Let’s get to know her a little better by taking a peek into her life by checking out her five favorite things she totally couldn’t live without…
Backpack
Whether I’m walking on campus, at a coffee shop, or in the Old Market, my backpack’s black canvas provides an ability for me to express myself when I’m commuting. My backpack allows me to share my convictions with outlookers who gaze upon my colorful pins and messages on it like “ask me how to aid and abet abortion,” and “smash the cistem.” Since I can’t be yelling across a coffee shop on a Tuesday at 3 pm my pins can speak my truths. So, I let my bright pink button do it for me. I let these inanimate objects yell, scream, stomp, and riot for me.
Aquaphor
I have a very serious and very real condition called “chronically dry lips.” Although it may not be categorized under WebMD, my dry lips have caused havoc in my life, and sometimes I feel ungrateful for the times I didn’t have to bathe my lips in Aquaphor. My 20 oz Aquaphor is constantly the butt of the joke to my friends as I lug it around in my bag. But, what can I say Aquaphor has been a lifesaver in making sure my lips don’t feel dry and stiff and I don’t think I could live without it. Unless it gets categorized under WebMD and there’s an actual remedy.
Waterbottle
Just like my backpack, my unusually large magenta Hydroflask shares a different side of my personality. It’s slowly being covered in stickers that I’ve accumulated in the past years like a squid Hello Kitty, Frida Kahlo, and an anti-capitalist sticker from Upstream podcast. Although my water bottle is something I always carry around as a security blanket so I am keeping my hands busy, it also allows me to communicate the way I'm feeling in my macroeconomics class without being a heckler to the professor.
Ticket Master Account
I went to my first concert to see Flo Mili, Tai Verdes, and Waka Flocka Flame over a year ago – unfortunate to my wallet, but fortunate to me I have attempted to go to as many concerts as I can. My TicketMaster account symbolizes my infatuation for music and going out and listening to it in an immersive way. Being able to transport my self to a world where it’s just this artist, the music, and the audience for two hours is as cathartic as it gets. Some notable performances have been Harry Styles, Wallows, Suga from BTS, and Pitbull. Concert-goers are usually in queues to get their hands on the best tickets, but concerts are piling up in my queue of possibilities for the next years as artists come out of a Covid-restricted world to show their music to feining fans.
Spotify
I often take the ability to listen to music for granted, but it’s such a privilege to be blessed with rhythm, poetry, and the art of in-between on a daily basis. I listen to music in the shower, commuting to work, and in the shower when I think I can hit Lauryn Hill’s whistle tones. Even as I write this piece, I am listening to the way things change-yellow days. Spotify symbolizes music in a quick and accessible way, and it’s a privilege to be able to listen to music on the go from wherever, whenever.