- Author: Julienne Cancio
Saoimanu "Saoi" Sope, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources digital communications specialist, was born on Aunu'u, an island in American Samoa, but raised in Southern California. She attended UC Santa Cruz for her undergraduate degree in film and digital media. While in the program, she felt lost compared to her peers.
“I didn't know what type of stories I wanted to tell through film, especially compared to my other classmates,” Sope said. “For a lot of them, it seemed like they had been planning on being filmmakers their entire life. This major was my backup plan.”
To gain more perspective, she took on a second major in community studies, a unique and interdisciplinary field that prepares students to apply the lessons they learn in the classroom to the real world, through a six-month field study.
Sope completed her field study at the RYSE Youth Center in Richmond, teaching Black and Brown youth how film can be used as a tool to navigate their trauma. Through this experience, Sope learned about public health, which she pursued in her master's program at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
In 2018, Sope learned about UC ANR as an employee of Driscoll's. Her boss at the time coordinated a field trip to the UC ANR office in Davis to learn more about successful agriculture communications. Four years later, in June 2022, Sope joined the Strategic Communications team. 
“It was a full-circle moment,” she said. “When UC ANR posted the job description for the role I have now, I saw it and applied like anyone else. Luckily, I got an interview and now I'm here.”
When talking about her interactions with Southern California researchers and staff as a digital communications specialist, Sope attributes much of her success to her culture and upbringing. “I think one of my superpowers is that I can work with people in a way that makes them feel valued and seen and heard,” she explained.
She talked about her Samoan background, one that emphasizes the importance of hospitality. Known as the “happy people of the Pacific,” Samoans are very big on caring for and hosting others, Sope said. “How we treat others reflects our value of community,” she explained.
Sope brings this into the room with the people she is interviewing and to the impactful stories she is writing. She makes it known to her interviewees that their time is valuable and their story is worth reading.
As she grows older, Sope said, she realizes how much of her culture has influenced her work ethic. She appreciates that May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, an opportunity to celebrate and bring recognition to the beautiful and diverse cultures of marginalized communities in the U.S.
Although AAPI communities are clumped into one phrase, it is important to remember that there are many diverse groups of people within this term that are often overlooked, such as Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.
When speaking about her Polynesian culture, the saying “it takes a village to raise a child” really speaks to Sope. In Samoan culture, it is common for parents to give legal guardianship of their child to other family members. In the U.S., this is formally known as adoption. This is the case for Sope; she was “gifted” to her adoptive mom by her birth mom.
“But one thing that's really beautiful about the Samoan culture is that we always know where we come from,” she said. “We know who our birth parents are…it's not a secret, and it's not shameful.”
Overall, Sope is most proud of coming from a culture that places such a high value on community. This can be seen through her influential writing, bringing awareness and attention to UC ANR staff and researchers who make great contributions to the academic world and the greater SoCal communities.
In conveying their stories, Sope said she hopes they realize and reflect on their potential and the importance of their own work.
