HARLINGEN — Estella Oliva is one of the best Harlingen has to offer.
For three years in a row, she has been voted “Best Secretary” by the readers of the Valley Morning Star. That includes last year’s Readers Choice Awards.
Oliva is the administrative assistant to the director of the Radiology & Imaging Center at Harlingen Medical Center.
In addition to her full-time job, Oliva goes out into the community to deliver educational information on health topics. She attends numerous community events, such as health fairs, education expos and private business employee events.
She is a graduate of Texas State Technical College with a certificate in business skills with a minor in data entry.
She was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and was raised in Harlingen and San Benito.
She recently talked about the secrets to success.
Q: Why do you think you came to the attention of our readers?
A: I think because I love to communicate with people and if I can help you in any way, I’m going to.
I don’t just help my department. If somebody stops me along the way and it doesn’t pertain to radiology, which I work in, if I can help them, I will.
I try to expand by helping out other departments, not just the department I work for. So I guess your name gets out there. And I think that’s were it comes from — I’m helping and I’m communicating with other people.
Q: What did you want to be when you were growing up?
A: I wanted to be a veterinarian because I love all kinds of animals. Growing up, you see an injured animal and you want to help them.
So that led me to wanting to be a veterinarian to be able to care for those animals.
The panda bear is my favorite.
I ended up choosing a different career path when I got into business skills when I went to TSTC.
I was taking computerized bookkeeper courses and then I took a human relations course, which I love to this day.
I kept the book because it teaches you a lot about human behaviors and how to deal with and communicate effectively with different people.
And then I just switched careers. I still love animals, but I went to wanting to work with people more than animals.
Q: What is it that makes you the “best secretary”?
A: I want to acknowledge my coworkers, who have a lot to do with it because I feel they give me the opportunity to be able to assist them.
We work together as a great team so I guess we’re able to assist each other in that way to accomplish what we need to get done. I think it’s through teamwork that gets me voted.
Q: Who was your childhood hero?
A: Wonder Woman. Growing up I’d get home from school and watch Wonder Woman.
I guess I was fascinated with how she wanted to help people so much.
She was always about the people and wanting to help them.
Q: What would you advise a student considering a career in the health field or as an administrative assistant?
A: The advice I would say is, of course, have excellent people skills, wanting to be part of a great team and willing to learn new things which help you to grow and help you to contribute in today’s world.
Q: What is the secret to being an excellent administrative assistant?
A: I think the secret is having excellent people skills, being able to meet deadlines, being able to multi-task and being able to provide the best customer service.
Q: What are the rewards to being an administrative assistant?
A: Being able to assist my coworkers to the best of my abilities so that together we can deliver excellent patient care.
