Cal State San Bernardino’s Palm Desert Campus has named Magdalena Martinez as its Outstanding Undergraduate Student and Frank Uribe as its Outstanding Graduate Student for 2016.
Both spoke at the campus’s commencement ceremony on Thursday, June 16, at The Show at Agua Caliente Resort Spa Casino in Rancho Mirage.
Martinez, who lives in Palm Desert, received her bachelor’s degree in graphic design and marketing, and graduated cum laude, or with honors.
Martinez is a graduate of Coachella Valley High School and a veteran of the U.S. Army. After being deployed to Afghanistan, she was discharged and returned home to the Coachella Valley. She says that her attachment to art allowed her to adapt back into society.
In her time at the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus, she has been an active team member with campus clubs, has contributed almost 150 hours of volunteerism to the community and has been selected for the Dean’s List. She is also the graphic design student assistant at the campus – creating graphics and layouts for fliers and posters.
Uribe, who lives in Palm Desert, received his blended bachelor’s and master’s degree in accounting.
Uribe is a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the chest down, after being shot, and uses a wheelchair to get around. He says that one of his best qualities is his optimism. He never lets anything bring him down and always keeps a positive attitude in any situation.
One of his favorite quotes is, “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.”
When he first came to CSUSB Palm Desert Campus, he says his future was blurred. He wasn’t completely certain of what a degree in accounting would do for him and wasn’t sure how far he would go.
Graduate school has prepared him for what is now his ultimate goal – a certified public accounting license. He believes he is doing everything that is necessary to realize this goal and one day wants to be able to say, “I did it, now it’s time to give back to those who helped me along the way.”
Located in beautiful Palm Desert, the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus offers bachelor and master’s degrees, a doctorate degree in educational leadership, and teacher credentials and certificates. With more than 1,200 students, it is the only four-year public university in the Coachella Valley and plays a vital role in educating and training the region’s growing population.
For more information about the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus, contact Mike Singer in the campus’s Office of Public Affairs at msinger@csusb.edu or (760) 341-2883, ext. 78107 or visit the campus website at www.pdc.csusb.edu.