Articles tagged with 'Alumni' | CSUSM

It’s been more than three decades, but Mary Gonzales still remembers the Friday meetings with Star Rivera-Lacey at an IHOP in Oceanside. Gonzales referred to these regular meetups as her “counseling sessions” because Rivera-Lacey always shared sound ...

Cal State San Marcos has launched the Alumni Outcome Dashboard, an informative platform that leverages data from a third-party vendor called Lightcast to display a collection of career data for alumni who earned a bachelor’s and/or master’s degree fr...

While Ricardo Scheller was studying at Palomar College during the late 1980s, he heard about a new university being built just around the corner.Once he read a newspaper article about it being a reality, he went to the closest public library to get a...

On Friday, a new concert venue will open in Del Mar with a performance by reggae star Ziggy Marley, an eight-time Grammy winner.The Sound is a $17 million facility with a footprint of 9,500 square feet and capacity for 1,900 spectators. Open to all a...

Everyone knows about the life-or-death danger that military members are exposed to when they enlist. Perhaps less appreciated is the everyday wear and tear that their bodies absorb because of the physical rigors of the job. Bob Smetanka is all too fa...

The way that Logan Davidson kept his demons at bay was by never stopping to consider them. He was the kind of person who lived his work and took pride in the constant thrum of action.  Then the pandemic happened, and the world slowed to a crawl. Livi...

Greg Reese loved the outdoors as a kid growing up in Orange County. It didn’t matter if it was the beach, camping or the river. And when he wasn’t enjoying nature, he was busy playing soccer, including two seasons for Cal State San Marcos after trans...

Roberto Cano and Edgar Salazar are about to launch a business that has the potential to transform scientific research in Mexico with one simple goal: making it more affordable.Cano and Salazar are developing a Tijuana-based company, SinerLab, that wi...

In 2019, Christopher Do saw the trajectory of his career transformed when he switched his major to computer science and joined a program that links STEM students to industry mentors.Less than two years later, Do reconnected with Cal State San Marcos ...

Two of the biggest achievements in Jacob Thum’s life to this point can be traced back to the motorcycle accident he survived when he was 17.Thum’s injuries left him in a wheelchair, wondering if he would ever walk again.A year after the accident, aft...

Jimmy Thai wants to do his part to motivate and help the next generation of leaders make a positive impact on society.Thai, who earned his MBA from Cal State San Marcos in 2000, is doing that in myriad ways. That includes recently establishing the CS...

During her improbable climb from a poor girl growing up in China to a partner at one of the largest accounting firms in America, Annie Norviel can point to many significant milestones along the way. One of the foundational ones from her perspective w...

Cal State San Marcos again stands among the national leaders in the social mobility of its graduates, according to new rankings by the online publication CollegeNET.  CSUSM ranks 32nd nationally out of more than 1,500 schools measured in the eighth a...

Stanley Rodriguez, a lecturer in American Indian studies at Cal State San Marcos, has been appointed to the California Native American Heritage Commission by Gov. Gavin Newsom.  Rodriguez was one of six appointments announced by Newsom last month. Fi...

James Oakley woke up on Oct. 6 figuring it would be like most mornings when he needed to prepare for the weekly group meeting he attends with his fellow Princeton University graduate students who are members of chemistry professor David MacMillan’s l...

Cal State San Marcos professor Bonnie Bade is part of a team of academic researchers who came together last year to study the effects of COVID-19 on the vulnerable population of farmworkers throughout the state.  The COVID-19 Farmworker Study (COFS) ...

Mental health has always been important to Antoinette Chanel, but it has taken on a deeper meaning for her over the past 18 months.“Getting a handle on my anxiety and my depression is something that has been big for me,” said Chanel, who graduated fr...

Christina Drumm is no stranger to umpiring major softball events. In her 27 years as an umpire, she has officiated everything from the NCAA Women’s College World Series to prestigious international tournaments, including the World Cup of Softball.But...

It isn’t the knowledge gleaned from textbooks while attending Cal State San Marcos nearly two decades ago that Tony Pecora carries with him. Rather, it’s the exposure he had to implementing the principles he studied.“Learning how to think for yoursel...

For most graduating students, receiving the opportunity to sing at their university’s commencement would be the performative highlight of the year, if not many years.For Rachael Groeneweg, it was merely the kickoff for what will surely be a summer to...

One of the foundational rules of improvisational comedy is to say yes. To use a common example, if you’re performing a skit with a partner and they point their finger at you and exclaim, “Freeze, I have a gun,” the scene won’t go very far if you obse...

The electrical engineering program is among 17 teams from colleges and universities across the country selected to participate in the 2022 Marine Energy Collegiate Competition: Powering the Blue Economy.The competition, which is hosted by the U.S. De...

Growing up in San Marcos, David Gonzalez II had no plans to attend college. In fact, he dropped out of high school then left continuation school to work for his father’s landscaping business.But there was something missing in Gonzalez’s life. Maybe i...

Six years ago, two students from faraway nations met as part of the orientation day of the Office of Global Education at Cal State San Marcos.Khyati Kansagra hailed from Gujarat, a state on the western coast of India. Bayan Sairafi was from the Easte...

Kamilah Brown graduated from college in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in communications, but it was a sage piece of advice and a twist of fate that led to her true calling.Just a month after earning her degree, the 9/11 terrorist attacks shocked the ...

Elizabeth Castillo’s battle with COVID-19 began gradually. San Diego County was enduring gusting Santa Ana winds in early December, and Castillo thought she might be having a reaction to weather conditions.A few days later, she knew it wasn’t the wea...

As a member of the inaugural women’s soccer team at Cal State San Marcos in 2006, Marika Patterson learned firsthand the importance of time management, working hard at one’s craft and showing up every day ready to give your best.As a law enforcement ...

Cal State San Marcos alumnus Alfredo Aguilar has been invited to attend one of the most prestigious creative writing programs in the United States. Aguilar, who graduated from CSUSM in 2013 with a degree in literature and writing studies, recently re...

Gwendalyn Wulf visited the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park countless times with her grandmother as a child.So it was only natural that Wulf immediately called her grandmother a few months ago to share the news that she had landed a dr...

The question might have been considered predictable, coming as it did at the start of a course in American Indian studies. After the professor, Joely Proudfit, proudly declared her Native heritage, she asked the students whether any of them were Nati...