Volunteer of the Quarter: Caroline Torres Marin
We love to celebrate our hard-working volunteers at MSAN. Our Volunteer of the Quarter recognition for the first quarter of 2024 was given to Caroline Torres Marin!
As a member of the HUB since 2021, Caroline chose to become a mentor in 2023 and is now heading up the entire Navy mentorship team as the Navy Branch Mentor. We appreciate all of Caroline’s contributions and her enthusiasm for providing support to the entire crew.
Tell us about your background. How long have you been a military spouse?
I have been a milspouse for over seven years, but it feels longer than that because I had supported my husband as a friend and later as a girlfriend when he joined the military almost 15 years ago. My background is lengthy, but let’s begin by saying that I am a foreign-born spouse, and I am originally from Costa Rica. I worked as a science teacher for 15 years and always knew that teaching and science are embedded in who I am. I loved it because science is constantly changing, improving, finding better ways, and those characteristics align with my values, which my parents instilled.
However, I felt my cycle as a teacher reached an ending point. When I moved to the US, I decided to pursue another field. So, in seven years, I learned English and got a Bachelor’s degree in computer networks, and I am still a work in progress every day.
Tell us some fun facts about you!
I am unsure if these are fun facts, but I like to sing. I won a local, regional, and national contest during high school. I am crafty, and I know how to sew clothes, knit, and embroider. I love cooking and baking, which my husband loves because he says it is like having a personal chef.
Photo courtesy of Caroline Torres Marin
What is your favorite aspect about military life?
I don’t think I have a favorite aspect. I believe military life has positive and negative things. Having said that, I would say the positive thing I like the most is moving every three years because it has allowed me to visit beautiful places, national parks, islands, and historical sites that I only dreamed about or read about as a child.
What led you to join as a mentor?
I saw it as an excellent opportunity to start brushing up my social skills again because although I am social, I am highly introverted. As a member, I observed MSAN for a while to see if I liked the community. As time went by, I liked to see the posts with helpful information that I didn’t know existed. So, I wanted to join in spreading the information to other spouses, and I wanted to do something just to help others. Although I didn’t know many resources initially, I am an excellent researcher (the scientist in me), so I knew I could research and find what my mentees needed. So far, it has been a rewarding experience.
Now you are the Navy Branch Mentor! How exciting! What does this mean for you in terms of how you support the mission of MSAN?
I know, right? The position has been an unexpected outcome of my work in MSAN. It makes me feel good that my experience has helped me so much that MSAN leadership thought I could support them as a Branch Mentor. As a Branch Mentor, I believe that the challenge now is to find ways to support, motivate, and help the Navy mentors in my team keep giving valuable mentorship to our spouses to the best of their capabilities. In doing so, we can keep empowering and educating our military families.
Congratulations on earning Volunteer of the Quarter! What would you like everyone to know about volunteering with MSAN?
Thank you very much! That was another unexpected reward. I would like everyone to know that volunteering with MSAN is very easy if you have the self-discipline to create and stick with your own schedule. It also allows you to tap into your creativity when creating graphics for your posts and writing stories, which is something I love doing. Lastly, I would add that volunteering at MSAN is an opportunity to give back to other spouses and help them to endure military life from a vantage point that most of us didn’t have when we became milspouses, which offers an indescribable rewarding feeling.
To connect with Caroline and other Navy mentors, be sure to join the HUB!
If you’d like to request a personal mentor, email the MSMP team.
If you are interested in becoming a mentor or volunteering with MSAN, please click here.
Stephanie Allen is the Communications & Marketing Director for the Military Spouse Advocacy Network. She is a proud Navy wife and mom, a writer, blogger, success coach, and the Content Manager for Tidewater Family Plus magazine. Follow her on Linkedin & Instagram!
