Yesenia Mercado

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.”

 

 

One of the biggest challenges Yesenia faced during her academic endeavors was making the difficult decision to go back to school after being out for some time. Yesenia says, “It was mostly an intimidation factor of figuring out if the balancing act between school, work, and a family would work out the way I wanted it to.” Cañada supported Yesenia during her college transfer by reminding her she must continue to work diligently to reach her goals. At Cañada College, Yesenia met with knowledgeable counselors, talked about her goals, and learned she only had two courses left to complete her Associate’s degree. This motivated Yesenia to finish the necessary courses to receive her degree, and explore options to pursue a Bachelor’s degree. Yesenia remarks, “Before I knew it, I had received my acceptance letter to SFSU, finished my first semester with a 4.0 GPA, and started my second semester with only 21 units left before I finish my program.”
 
Yesenia has been involved at Cañada College as a former Vice President of the Classified Senate and CSEA leadership council member where her mission was to work with the administration, faculty, and students in the interest of enriching the educational and social environment of the College. Yesenia was also a member of the Planning and Budgeting Council who oversees and facilitates the institution's integrated planning and budgeting processes. Yesenia is also an active member of the DREAMers Task Force where her responsibilities include addressing issues related to immigrant students by educating and training faculty, staff, and students, conducting outreach and raising awareness among campus and community members through printed materials, special events, and workshops.

Yesenia’s motivation to pursue employment at Cañada College was due to her love of the community and family-based teaching skills. Yesenia exclaims, “Cañada always felt like home. Both my parents and older sibling attended Cañada and finished their degrees at the College. Growing up, it always was the next right step after high school. That said, once I enrolled at Cañada, took interesting courses, and worked as a student assistant I knew I had found my niche. I was determined to grow in this institution as a former student and passionate employee.”

Yesenia hopes to be an integral part of the great work Cañada has been doing for over 50 years. Yesenia attributes her motivation to, “The growth we have had as a college, and the monumental changes we are making in student’s lives. My niece is the next member of our family to enroll at Cañada and I am confident she too, will have an amazing experience.” Yesenia admits, “It took a village to help me reach this point in my career. If it weren’t for my family, partner, colleagues, supervisors, mentors, and friends, I would not be here today. I am very thankful to have that unwavering support. It is that same support that I vow to provide for hardworking Cañada students as well. Through this journey, I have been able to share my successes and be part of theirs.”
 
Yesenia advises students with similar goals to herself, “To try it all! Explore all the great courses, programs, support services, clubs, job opportunities Cañada has to offer. Don’t worry about deciding your path because your natural passion will guide you to your destined career path. Yesenia affirms, “The dedication our college staff and faculty possess to see our Colt Community reach their highest potential is unique to this campus. We’re all fighting the good fight, together! I can attest from my own experience, from here you can truly go ANYWHERE!”