In light of Tommy Pohlman’s departure from Carmel High, the Carmel Unified School District has hired Julia Fausti to continue helping students and faculty with Chromebook and computer issues.
In addition to being the new technology assistant at CHS, Fausti, whose office is located just beyond the reception desk in the library, will also be working at the Cachagua Center every other Wednesday.
Fausti attended college in South Dakota and eventually made her way into tech support during a time when it was a smaller profession.
“I started doing it as a part-time job in college and then I took a full job. I’ve done it ever since. I did internet support for a couple years. Then I started doing desktop support at South Dakota State University for 16 years in the Department of Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science.”
Fausti first began her work with technology in college with her part-time job in 1996. At this point, many people were beginning to buy laptops, and tech support jobs were a much-needed profession. Now, a typical day for Fausti involves fixing student Chromebooks, working with the librarians and attending meetings with the technology department at CUSD.
“I’m working on a project to do a visual exam of each Chromebook. I’d really like to make the Chromebook system more efficient for students and hope they understand that I am always here for help with their issues.”
Fausti had previously worked with fixing laptops, which are a little more complicated than Chromebooks. CUSD technology specialist Erik Halbrend also taught her how to fix all three types of the Chromebooks used in the district.
“Mrs. Fausti has been working out really, really well,” Halbrend says. “She’s very organized and had a lot of prior experience, so she is very knowledgeable.”
Born in Korea, Fausti was adopted and migrated to America at nine months old. She lived in Nebraska and South Dakota for the first 17 years of her life and moved later to southern California where she found work as a nanny in Orange County. After moving back to South Dakota, Fausti’s husband moved to Marina, California in August, and she followed him there a few months later in early January.
Fausti says that the change in scenery was not too drastic.
“The climate was probably the biggest change, and there are just a lot more people. Because my husband is a college professor, I know that most college towns are pretty much the same.”
Fausti has two kids who both live in Minneapolis. The family is a big fan of the Minnesota Vikings and Twins and the North Dakota State University Bisons.
She is an avid baker, movie watcher and reader, and her favorite book is Giants in the Earth by Ole Edvart Rølvaag, a tale of Norwegian immigrants to South Dakota, similar to her story as a young child.
-Evan Patel
