Johni Rose Zamorano is a first-gen student majoring in English with an emphasis on creative writing and a minor in psychology. A senior and a transfer student, she is documenting the experience of having her first year on campus, which is also her last. For her, and about 1,500 other senior transfer students whose first year was remote, graduation is rushing towards them like a double-decker Unitrans bus.
Tuan Tat’s journey to the University of California, Davis began 68 miles away. It might as well have been another world.
Growing up in Oakland, California, a city he experienced as “a destitute land of hustlers,” Tat was influenced by the local culture to focus on making money rather than pursuing higher education.
This article originally appeared in the Graduate School of Management Blog. Original Article
Victor Moreno, MBA '21
When I was seven years old, my brother Max and I got our hands on a fun set of candies. Engraved on the flat surface of the circle-shaped lollipops was a short message, sort of like a fortune cookie. I forget what my brother’s “fortune” was, but mine was pretty cool. It said: “Viajaras pronto,” Spanish for: “You will soon travel.”
I grew up in a Mexican immigrant family household in Southeast Los Angeles. I am the oldest and the first to attend college in hopes of being a role model for my younger siblings. I was encouraged to go to college by my middle school teachers and my dad, who told me to aim higher and never give up. Because of them, college was something I knew I wanted, and I got it. And I never gave up on school, even in those moments when it got tough and I was worried about failing.
You have to be better than us: These are words that I heard often when I was growing up. My family made incredible sacrifices that have afforded me the education I have today. Most of my ancestors worked in physically-grueling jobs for menial wages, and my great-grandfather worked so hard that he passed away from exhaustion. My parents had to drop out of community college to support their own parents.
I grew up in a rural logging town in coastal Oregon. I come from four generations of loggers and log truck drivers. In high school I was exposed to geology by a teacher on a field trip to the beach that left me with a set of questions: "Why are there sea shells in rocks on the top of the mountain? Why are those rocks tilted on their side?"
Sometime during high school, I decided I was going to go to college to study geology.
Irving Huerta '20 - Sustainable Environmental Design and Political Science - Public Service
By Irving Huerta with Hailey Chatterton '20
I graduated in the middle of a pandemic with two degrees in hand, and my dream job as an urban planner. I could not be more proud of how far I have come.... If I made it this far, I know that you can too!
Maybe that’s an unusual statement for 2020, but looking at the bigger picture, I have a lot to be grateful for. Not only did I graduate from my dream college, but I have a new goal and a plan I’m proud of, and I’ve had some memorable experiences along the way.
Wilbert De Leon '20
B.A. Communication, B.A. Economics - Behavior and Strategy Emphasis
This stole is a symbol of my perseverance, grit, and determination to meet my goals — an artifact to display on my wall for years to look at and tell myself, "I did that."
My first-gen story does not start with me. It starts with my parents.
Ten years ago I arrived alone in the US with nothing but a dream. Now I am proud to call myself a scientist, a PhD student, and a mentor. My family, while loving and supportive, never imagined that I would become a scientist. To be honest, neither did I.
The two hands represent my parents, and the rag being twisted holds everything that represents my parents such as their hardships, sacrifices, and dreams. By twisting the rag, both hands “shower” me with love, support and most important of all, an opportunity. At the bottom is a representation of me in my graduation gown holding my diploma while I receive my parents loving gifts which all contribute to my growth of who I am today.
