Mario Mihelcic
About Mario
Role
- Serves as Designated School Official (DSO) and Alternate Responsible Officer (ARO)
- Advises on F-1 and J-1 student immigration matters
- Processes administrative immigration requests (including work authorization endorsements) for F-1 and J-1 international students
- Co-coordinates New Graduate Student Orientation
- Writes and narrates Bechtel’s F-1 and J-1 student immigration YouTube videos
- Collaborates with various Stanford departments to host timely student workshops, primarily on the subject of F-1 and J-1 student employment and general tax information
Background
Mario earned his Bachelor’s in Communication from Santa Clara University in 2000, where, during his time as an undergraduate, he founded KSCU News and was named Student Journalist of the Year for Northern California by the Society of Professional Journalists. Not wanting to get stuck behind a desk or join the first dot-com boom, Mario took his degree and went to work as a mall Santa Claus in San Bruno, a field rep picking up the recently deceased for the Neptune Society, working as a counselor at a group home for youth-in-crisis, and other jobs until he found himself in higher education at College of San Mateo where he created a Veterans Services program before becoming an International Student Advisor. Mario earned a Master’s in Clinical Psychology from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA in 2016. His parents immigrated from Croatia (what was then Yugoslavia) in the late 1960s to the San Francisco-Bay Area. Mario speaks fluent disco-era Croatian.
Fun Facts
Mario has an unparalleled love for karaoke and loves to share his passion for singing by hosting an international karaoke night once a quarter at Bechtel. Mario has a leather pants, cowboy hat, sunglasses-wearing alter ego, but you’ll get to learn his name only if you catch one of his performances at 7 Bamboo in San Jose on some random Saturday night, singing “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” or Rihanna.