For more than 50 years, Cañada College has provided enriching and life changing educational opportunities for the residents of San Mateo County. Here are some of the stories of our current students and Alumni who exemplify success and inspire us.
The strong groundwork laid by service in the 75th Ranger Regiment equipped Tristan Benz with invaluable experiences that prepared him for success within the San Mateo County Community College District. Furthermore, the supportive community environment of the District, characterized by its welcoming atmosphere and dedicated professors and staff committed to student success, has also greatly contributed to Tristan’s community college journey.
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As a kid back in Mexico, Jose Rodriguez discovered his passion for sewing when he watched his Aunt make clothes for people. He was impressed to see how a piece of fabric could become a garment. In 2006, Jose moved to San Francisco where he finished high school. In 2010, he began fashion classes at Cañada College and again realized how much he loved sewing. He completed three Fashion Degree certificates: Fashion Merchandising, Custom Dressmaking/Small Business and Technical Design.
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The NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) aims to build a diverse future STEM workforce by providing community college students the opportunity to work under NASA employees who serve as program mentors. This opportunity opens doors for community college students seeking a STEM degree. NASA has reached out to community colleges in the area in order to provide students with opportunities for successful future careers. Cañada College Physics major Thien Kim Le took advantage of this opportunity when she signed up for the NCAS program. She is interested in space so participating in the program is very fitting for her. Before participating in the program, she traveled to Air Force bases to view launches of rockets. She has studied space throughout her school career and was very honored to get the opportunity to work with people at NASA. Thien Kim is grateful to Professor Susan Mahoney who mentioned the program to her and also wrote a recommendation letter for her. She was accepted into the program and from there she conducted her own research and work with a team on their mock mission.
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Daniela Sanchez-Sevilla is a Cañada College alumna and aspiring trial attorney. Daniela shares, “Time out was an integral part of my childhood, but not in the traditional sense. I vividly remember sitting tall at my kitchen table as the ominous lighting washed over my investigation face. After looking over my evidence I had decided. GUILTY! My dad drank my chocolate milk and he was irrefutably guilty. As Judge Judy taught me late at night on CBS, actions have consequences. I made the fair decision to punish my dad by making him take me to Chuck E Cheese’s. Justice was undeniably served. At the ripe age of five, I fell in love with law and justice.”
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Naomi Levine Sporer is a Cañada College alumna and aspiring teacher. Naomi shares, “Every time I help children learn and I see them master a new concept that I am teaching it makes me very happy and proud of myself for being part of their learning experience.” Another motivating factor for Naomi is when her students say, “Teacher Naomi!” When this happens in the classroom, Naomi gets an amazing feeling that she is working the right job. Naomi explains she has been fortunate enough to have had several opportunities to work with children.
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Marta Marcos is a Cañada College alumna and aspiring Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) recipient in Special Education. Marta became involved at Cañada as an adult student looking to become fluent in English. After enrolling in the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at Cañada, Marta discovered her affinity for Early Childhood Education and decided to begin her career journey with this as her focus.
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Lucila Tafolla Delgado is a Cañada College alumna and aspiring special education teacher. Lucila’s career ambition is to further her studies and receive a Master's Degree in Art Hispanic Studies. At Cañada, Lucila achieved her career goals thanks to the various support resources on campus such as technical assistance, financial aid, and the English as a Second Language Program (ESL). The ESL Program at Cañada prepares immigrant and international students to achieve their academic, vocational, and personal goals.
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Adriana Najera is a Cañada College alumna and aspiring social worker. Adriana is working towards a leadership position in which she can promote and encourage long-term stability for all families. Adriana shares, “I aspire to be an advocate of change for the disadvantaged and marginalized communities that I myself have grown up in.” Adriana has achieved her career goals through her personal motivation, work ethic and passion for her chosen career where she plans on making an impactful difference.
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Madison MacLeod is a Cañada College alumni and Doctor of Jurisprudence candidate of Golden Gate University’s School of Law Class of 2023. At Cañada, Madison was supported as she decided to return to school and finish her degree. Madison shares, “I went to Cañada part-time while working full-time as a veterinary technician. Cañada undeniably helped me build the credits and grades necessary to transfer to the University of California, Santa Cruz.” Cañada guided Madison during her college transfer by offering various informative transfer workshops.
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Ruby Rubio is a Cañada College student majoring in Animal Psychology and minoring in Sociology. Ruby is involved at Cañada as a Student Ambassador in the Outreach program. As an Outreach student ambassador, Ruby’s responsibilities include guiding students in finding resources that will help them solve any academic, social, or personal problems. Ruby says, “as an Outreach team, we make sure to guide all students and help recruit prospective Cañada Middle College students.”
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Yesenia Mercado is an outstanding Cañada College Alumni and Bachelor’s degree candidate for Criminal Justice and Sociology at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Yesenia’s career ambitions include working in the education system and utilizing her passion for social and criminal justice reform in her career. At Cañada, Yesenia achieved her career goals through, “The help of counselors on campus and a great relationship with my former director I was able to develop a healthy work-school balance in order to complete my Associate’s degree from Cañada and successfully transfer to San Francisco State University last fall.”
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Matthew Lee is a remarkable Cañada College alumni who is proud to serve his alma mater as the College’s Interim Dean of Kinesiology, Athletics, and Dance. Matt earned his Associate of Arts degree at Cañada College in addition to a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Master of Science in Sports Business, with a concentration in Professional and Intercollegiate Operations, at New York University.
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Rohndell Goodwin is a Cañada College Alumni and former member of the 2014-2015 Cañada Men’s Basketball team. At Cañada College, Rohndell led the Colts to their first California Community College Championship Final-Four appearance since 1998 and has been recognized as the Northern California Junior College Player of the Year. Rohndell says, “My Cañada teammates and I had the opportunity to build strong relationships on and off campus and I know I can always count on my Cañada community to cheer me on as I continue to pursue my lifelong dreams.”
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Alessandro Riva is an aspiring Web Designer and hard working Cañada College student whose career ambition is to work as a Web Designer in a startup and one day begin his own Web Design company. At Cañada College, Alessandro is currently completing his Web Design certificate and will be transferring to a four-year institution as a Communication Design major in the Fall of 2021. Alessandro plans to achieve his career goals through absolute focus on his education and personal development as a Web Designer.
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Pisith Keo is a tech-savvy international student at Cañada College who aspires to
become CEO of an innovative company that helps improve lives within the community.
More specifically, Pisith aims to create a successful company which is focused on
developing childhood education in developing countries. Pisith’s goal is to advance
their technology and researching materials with low cost of production to give the
youth better opportunities, education, and transferable skills.
Kasea Lamson is a hardworking Cañada Middle College High School student on the pathway to achieve her scholastic goals. Kasea’s career ambition is to work as a children's therapist. Middle College High School is a nontraditional high school collaboration between Cañada College and the Sequoia Union High School District. Through this unique alternative high school program, students have the opportunity to explore new challenges that are not available in a traditional high school where they complete the requirements for high school graduation while enrolled in college courses.
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Autumn McMahon is a Retention Specialist for Working Adults at Cañada College. After graduating from UC Berkeley, Autumn missed being part of an academic environment. To remedy this, she began looking for job opportunities at Cañada College. Autumn says, “It is inspiring to support students who work hard everyday and continue their education.” As a Retention Specialist, Autumn’s role is to help students navigate campus resources and assist in setting/achieving their academic goals.
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Alma Angel grew up and attended local schools in Redwood City. She is a first generation Mexican-American, and the first in her family to go to college and earn a Bachelor’s degree. In 2008 she started her college education where she took business, studio, and field production courses. In 2012, Alma received her AA in Business Administration and transferred to California State University, Northridge; majoring in Finance and graduating spring of 2014.
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Bibiana Oseguera was born in Bogotá, Colombia and moved to the United States when she was six years old. After graduating from high school, she studied to become a licensed Cosmetologist. When she had her two children, she stayed home to raise them, returning after some time to work as a preschool teacher’s aide. After a few years, she began taking classes at Cañada College in the summer of 2010 to better her education while also working full-time. She received a Certificate of Achievement in Early Childhood Education/Child Development on May 26, 2012.
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Carmen Zhou has worked in the Office Administration field for 10 years. She realized it wasn’t her true calling and she wanted a career change. She has always been fascinated by interior design, so she took a leap of faith and graduated from the Interior Design program in Fall 2017. Throughout her 2 years at Cañada, she has received multiple scholarships, student life leadership recognitions, and was on the Dean’s honor list for both academic years.
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Efleda Bandeo was part of the last cohort of Cañada College’s Career Advancement Academy (CAA) program for Administrative Medical Assisting. After finishing the CAA program, she continued taking Medical Assisting classes while completing her nursing pre-requisites. Efleda received her Associate in Medical Assisting at Cañada College with honors (Magna Cum Laude) in December 2016, and thereafter obtained her Clinical Medical Assisting certificate from California Certifying Board for Medical Assistants (CCBMA).
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Elise McClure was a San Francisco resident who attended Cañada College between 2012 - 2014. She was working towards her Associate’s degree in Business Administration. While she was a full-time student at Cañada College, she was also working full-time as a manager at a restaurant in San Francisco’s Mission district, and had a part time job on top of that. In 2015 she relocated to Melbourne, Florida, with her partner Ryan Verzaal (who also attended Cañada College) and they opened up Backwater.
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Every fall, Cañada students put their talent to the test and created films during Campus Movie Fest, the world’s largest student film festival for the next generation of filmmakers. The Cañada Campus Movie Fest, hosted by Cañada Student Senate, was a weeklong film competition where more than 200 students created and shared their stories. At the red carpet finale, in 2018 the College selected the films “Heroism” and “PhotoCorpse” as the winners.
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Elizabeth Jonas was born in the Bay Area, and raised in Seattle. She graduated from Western Washington University with undergraduate degrees in History, as well as in Modern and Classical French Language in 2006. In 2011 she returned to the Bay Area, seeking and achieving several degrees from the Cañada Fashion Department, including Technical Design and Merchandising.
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Every Fall, Cañada students put their talent to the test and created films during Campus Movie Fest, the world’s largest student film festival for the next generation of filmmakers. The Cañada Campus Movie Fest, hosted by Cañada Student Senate, was a weeklong film competition where more than 200 students created and shared their stories. At the 2018 red carpet finale, the College selected the films “Heroism” and “PhotoCorpse” as the winners.
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Izamar Nieto was born in Queretaro, Mexico. She moved to the United States when she was 1.5 years old and has lived in California ever since. She currently works as an Associate Teacher at the Mary Meta Lazarus Child Development Center located in the College of San Mateo. Izamar attended Cañada College and received an A.S. in Early Childhood Education/Child Development and an Early Childhood Education/Child Development Certificate of Achievement.
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Julie Burns graduated from the Medical Assisting program at Cañada College in December of 2015. After earning her Associates degree, Julie was accepted into San Francisco State University where she majored in Recreation. Focusing primarily in Recreational Therapy, Julie dedicated much of her time to volunteering at therapeutic recreation facilities such as BOK Ranch in Woodside. She was also an intern for the Coastside Adult Day Health Center in Half Moon Bay where she designed and implemented the Music and Memory Program. Julie currently works for Stanford Children’s Health as a Training Coordinator in the Information Services Department.
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In the school year of 2010-2011, Karin Martinez decided to take a bold step and leave Menlo-Atherton High School to join the Middle College Program at Cañada College. In fall of 2012, she began the journey of pursuing her Associate’s Degree in Medical Assisting. She graduated from the program is employed at her my dream job location, Stanford Health Care.
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When Laura Rodriguez was nine years old she was diagnosed with Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM). As she struggled to stay alive, she began go appreciate all the love and attention provided by the medical staff who was taking care of her and providing support to her parents. Her appreciation for the work of the medical assistants and nurses fueled her desire to learn about medicine herself. The Medical Assisting Program at Cañada College was the right program for her to pursue her career goals of working in the medical field and helping people.
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Mary Granados was born in Texas and raised on a farm in Arkansas. She moved to California when she was 11 years old. Because of family circumstances, she dropped out of high school during her Freshman year. Working hard for many years as a Nanny/Family Assistant to make ends meet, she finally had the opportunity to further her education at the age of 45. She is an excellent example that it is never too late to pursue your dreams! Mary is currently working on her Associates of Science degree in Human Services and a Community Worker Certificate.
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Miata Richards was born in Pacifica, California and is the oldest of her parent’s five daughters. Through the help of the financial aid programs offered by the SMCCCD district, she went to Skyline College to finish her general education. She then attended Cañada College from 2012-2014, graduating with an A.A. in 3D Videogame Art and Animation while making the Dean’s List every semester in attendance. She transferred to San Jose State in 2015 where she is currently in her fourth year working on her five-year B.F.A in Animation/Illustration.
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Rose Hamzelue was born and raised in San Mateo, California. Being half-Salvadorian and half-Palestinian, she speaks Spanish fluently and has a goal to learn Arabic as well. Rose is a determined, thoughtful, and patient individual who thoroughly enjoys learning new things and being able to teach and guide others. During her time at Cañada College, she was able to be part of the Dean’s list for four consecutive semesters. She received an Associate’s Degree in Medical Assisting.
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Samuel Alexandro Trujillo is a successful Cañada College student who aspires to receive a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science. Samuel’s career ambition is to be employed by a security company such as Lockheed Martin, as he is inspired by their innovation in aviation and space. Samuel is in the process of achieving his career goals by taking advantage of Cañada’s incredible STEM Center.
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Truman Simpson is a Bay Area native who did odd jobs here and there while he was unsure about how to go about learning how to pursue his dream of making video games. He eventually ended up working at Sony in Foster City for several years until they closed the department he was working in. This was a catalyst for him to return to school, and finish his education. He leaned about Cañada College’s Digital Art & Animation Program and started taking classes right away.
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Xiomara M. Hernandez was born in El Salvador, Central America. She moved to the United States when she was 12 years old, and learned English shortly after. She currently works as a finance associate for the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Previously she has worked as an administrative assistant in the Stanford’s School of Medicine Pathology Department, and was an account manager at the Stanford Blood Center. Xiomara attended Cañada College and received an A.S. in Accounting and Business Administration.
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Choosing to attend community college after high school was a very tough decision for Tamarik Rabb because of how uncommon the path was for graduates at his private high school. After researching the public and private universities that he was accepted into as a high school senior, he chose not to attend because of the financial burden and the more advanced opportunities that were available at a community college.
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Adrian Afif is a 20-year-old Cañada College student who aspires to work in the film industry as a director and screenwriter. In pursuing this endeavor, Adrian recently created a film at Cañada College in 2019 as part of Campus MovieFest, the world’s largest student film festival. Through Campus MovieFest, Adrian earned an exclusive invitation to the 73rd Annual Cannes Film Festival, which is scheduled to take place from May 12-23, 2020.
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Tabitha Liu is a 25-year-old Cañada College student who aspires to work in the Animation industry and become an Animation teacher. In pursuing this endeavor, Tabitha recently created an animated film at Cañada College in 2019 as part of Campus MovieFest, the world’s largest student film festival. Through Campus MovieFest, Tabitha earned an exclusive invitation to the 73rd Annual Cannes Film Festival, which is scheduled to take place from May 12- 23, 2020.
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Alina holds a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Business (Marketing), a Certificate of Interior Design and a Certificate of Kitchen and Bath Design. She is an Allied member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and a member of the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA). She recently won two national 2018 ASID Silver Awards for her work.
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As an EOPS student, Benita was constantly, and positively, pushed to be a better student and was reminded that the program was there to help her to successfully achieve her academic goals. When the time came for her to apply to transfer to a four year university, Cornell University was her top choice as it is one of the best institutions that offers her major, International Economics and Development.
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Gerardo continued on his educational pathway at Cañada where he earned his Associate in Arts Degree in English with High Honors and transferred to San Francisco State University (SFSU) with a scholarship.
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Dominique Franceschi was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Unlike many others, she didn't discover her passion and love for performing arts until her senior year of high school. After high school, she enrolled in MISI, one of the most complete four year musical theater conservatory programs offered in Colombia. While the training program at MISI was a wonderful opportunity, Dominique decided that her calling was to pursue a degree in dance theatre.
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Eli holds a Bachelor's degree in Spanish from San Francisco State University and an Associate's Degree in Paralegal Studies from Cañada College. After a career in corporate sales, he founded TheBestNotary which helps companies of all sizes increase their profits by dramatically reducing the time it takes to schedule mobile notary appointments and secure Apostilles in all 50 states.
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Sarah earned an Associate's Degree in Theater Costuming, and is now traveling with one of two U.S. tours of the Broadway musical mega-hit Hamilton and having the time of her life.
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