Ren Faith Sano was an intern with the A Reason To Survive (ARTS), a 2024 recipient of the Prebys Foundation’s Youth Workforce grant.
This grant supports nonprofit organizations providing paid internships and apprenticeships to advance early career opportunities for youth in San Diego County.
Ren’s Story:
“I was born in the Philippines, and I’ve been here for like 11 years. I did my whole elementary to high school here and now I’m in La Jolla going to UCSD.
Growing up here, I felt like I couldn’t give or contribute to the direct environment I was seeing.
But now I give part of who I am to this place. It’s like I made my mark on my own town, and it feels really great. It’s amazing to be given an opportunity to contribute to something that’s bigger than you. Especially the place where I literally walk, drive, and get food. You sit back and reflect and you’re like, wow, I did something.
It has been two years, and National City has reused three of the structures for Día de los Muertos. It’s so nice when the holiday comes around and I see people posting with it and seeing my name on the little plaque because they credit all the students who made it.
It’s so amazing to see that people still appreciate it, people still see it, and they go out of their way and they’re like, wow, this is cool.
With the internship called ARTS @ Work, I was put into the welding team who would make the structures and the bases for the xolo, the abuela, the pan de muertos, all that. We were a cohort of 12 to 13 students from the Welding and Engineering Academy and Program. We took the elements of Día de los Muertos and made structures to decorate the whole festival that the city was holding. So, we decided to create 5 to 6 huge structures that have a significant role in Día de los Muertos.
And so, I directed all my welders, and I marked everything out. They would let me know what was possible to weld and we basically worked around what I know about engineering and what they know about welding and their own skills.
What I like most about the arts is the creative freedom of being able to improvise. We had to do a lot of improvisation for both my first internship and second internship here. Both had to utilize arts, painting, and creativity.
The main thing that brought me to engineering was that I wouldn’t have to give up creativity. You’re always going to make a mistake, and I think the best thing about engineering is having to be comfortable making mistakes. The way I make mistakes in art is the same way I make mistakes when I’m doing circuits or soldering.
I chose computer engineering because I like having both worlds — having art and having engineering. I like having both software and hardware. By choosing engineering, I’m never going to get bored. I’m always going to be curious. I’m never going to give up art. I’m never going to give up creativity.”
- Ren Faith Sano, UCSD Student, Former ARTS @ Work Intern, A Reason To Survive (ARTS)
This profile is a feature for People de San Diego, a storytelling project by the Prebys Foundation highlighting valuable community members of San Diego County.
