Before graduating high school, Lourdes Bustamante knew she wanted to work with older adults. That early awareness — and a drive to seize every opportunity available — set her on an exciting professional path.
As Administrator and Director of Hospitality at The Variel of Woodland Hills, Bustamante oversees the first line of services people encounter. Her responsibilities include oversight of the front desk, valet and security. She’s also the go-to for handling concerns and ensuring the right person addresses them.
“My team’s goal is to showcase exceptional customer service and leave a lasting impression on residents, guests and vendors,” she says. With this job, Bustamante also sees a bright future for moving up the ranks in senior living management.
Rethinking senior living
The Variel isn’t your standard senior living community. It’s upscale, contemporary and offers an enriching lifestyle across its independent living, assisted living and memory care options.
The Variel is also innovative in its location. It sits in the heart of Warner Center, a vibrant, planned community for people of all ages. In addition to onsite amenities, residents have easy access to nearby restaurants, parks, shopping, entertainment and health care.
Momentum Senior Living, a company owned by USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology professors Jim Biggs, MPA and Josh Johnson, MAG, manages The Variel. Bustamante took classes from Biggs and Johnson throughout her undergraduate and graduate programs at USC.
“Professors Biggs and Johnson had such an impact on me at school,” Bustamante says. “Their classes were interesting, engaging and helped me figure out that senior living was exactly what I wanted to do.”
In the last semester of her master’s degree, Biggs offered Bustamante an internship at The Variel. That experience turned into full-time work as Move-In Coordinator, which led to her current role in hospitality.
Compressing undergraduate and graduate degrees into four years
Bustamante received a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Aging and a Master of Arts in Aging Services Management from the USC Leonard Davis School. And she did it in four years.
USC offers several programs to help students earn their degrees in less time, including:
- Academic Achievement Award (AAA): For students with a 3.75 GPA or higher, an AAA allows registration of 21 credits per semester at the same tuition rate. This award helped Bustamante complete her undergraduate classes in three years, including a minor in entrepreneurship from the USC Marshall School of Business.
- Progressive Degree Program (PDP): These degree programs are offered across USC. They allow students to enroll in master’s courses while completing their undergraduate degree.
Finding a warm, supportive environment
For Bustamante, one of the best things about her time at USC Leonard Davis School was the personal relationships she developed. Senior Associate Dean Maria Henke, MA, was particularly helpful.
“I’d go to her office often and ask for advice,” Bustamante says. “She helped me find scholarships and make professional connections.”
In the winter of 2021, Bustamante took classes remotely from her home in Texas due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That was the year of the Great Texas Freeze. Several professors, including Henke, reached out to Bustamante to check in and make sure she was okay. “That was pretty special for me,” Bustamante says.
Learning from generous, knowledgeable professors
Bustamante also made a point of getting to know her professors. She’d go to office hours, send them emails and strike up conversations in and out of class. “The faculty were always willing to talk to me and offer advice,” she says
In addition to Biggs and Johnson, some of the professors who were most influential to Bustamante included:
- Tameka Brown, MBA, MAG: Brown is an adjunct lecturer and supervisor at a local senior living community. She gave Bustamante her first glance at the field of senior living.
- John Walsh, PhD: “Dr. Walsh is someone everyone loves,” Bustamante says. “I always recommended his class — The Science of Adult Development (GERO 200) — to my friends in other majors because it was so fun and informative.”
- Caroline Cicero, PhD, MSW, MPL: Cicero’s Senior Seminar (GERO 492) seamlessly integrated the various areas of gerontology. This approach helped Bustamante conceptualize a mock senior living community for her final thesis project.
- Susan Enguídanos, PhD, MPH: Enguídanos’ approach in Social and Psychological Aspects of Death and Dying (GERO 437) was eye-opening, helping Bustamante recognize the potential beauty in what’s often considered a grim topic.
- Elizabeth Zelinski, PhD: Bustamante was interested in Zelinski’s research on dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and was thrilled to take a class with her.
Looking beyond the classroom
Classes weren’t Bustamante’s only focus during her time at USC. She also pursued many extracurricular activities. For example, she worked as a teaching assistant (TA) for GERO 200 during her first semester of graduate school.
“I took the class from Dr. Walsh as a freshman. Four years later, I was the TA grading papers and weekly homework,” Bustamante says. “I enjoyed reading students’ personal stories and helping them learn about gerontology and aging.”
During her five years at USC, Bustamante also:
- Interned for the National Adult Protective Services Association, a group that helps stop the mistreatment of elderly and vulnerable adults.
- Served on the board of the USC Student Gerontology Association, an organization that brings together gerontology students of all levels.
- Volunteered for the Youth Movement Against Alzheimer’s, a national organization that raises awareness about Alzheimer’s disease.
- Worked as a research assistant in Enguídanos’ lab, translating documents from Spanish to English.
Coming full circle
The USC Leonard Davis School faculty have a deep sense of caring and respect for older adults that Bustamante took to heart. “It made me want to set that standard as a USC alumnus.”
Bustamante has also come full circle, mentoring current USC Leonard Davis School student interns at The Variel. “I always encourage them to talk to their professors, reach out to alumni and take advantage of every opportunity,” she says. “I just want them to have the same amazing experience I did.”
To learn more about undergraduate and graduate degrees at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, including the Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Aging and Master of Arts in Aging Services Management, call us at (213) 740-5156.
