Sarah Aranyakul: A Passion for Working with Cañada Students Because She Once Was One

Sarah Aranyakul’s passion for working with students led her from a career in business management to counseling community college students.

“I love working with students,” said the native of Thailand. “I worked in business for about seven years before I realized that I wanted to devote my professional life to helping students.”

Aranyakul graduated from Cañada College in Business Administration 19 years ago before earning a Bachelor’s degree in management from Golden Gate University. She went to work in business before returning to Santa Clara University to work on her Master’s degree in counseling.

She continued to work in business while she performed an internship in counseling but later she received a counseling position at City College of San Francisco and she’s never looked back. She has worked as a counselor at both Gavilan College and CCSF before being hired as an adjunct counselor in the EOPS Program at Cañada last March. Aranyakul has now been hired as Cañada’s new tenure-track counselor.

“I’m very happy to be at Cañada,” she said. “I have a lot of experience working with students from diverse backgrounds. I can also relate to our students as I’m a graduate of the college.”

In addition to the EOPS Program, Aranyakul has worked in the Mathematics Science Achievement Program, Guardian Scholars Program serving former foster youths, and with Basic Skills students.