Nora Duenas

Palm Desert Campus student Nora Dueñas, who is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in public administration with a concentration in hospitality management, credits her parents for inspiring her to go to college, as they did not have the same opportunity. A first-generation student, she said her parents have been very supportive of her academic journey and she wants to set a good example for her younger siblings and cousins. She stays motivated by her hope to make her family proud and by her desire for a better future as she hopes to own and grow her own business someday. Nora applies the skills she is learning in the hospitality program to her role as assistant manager at a Panda Express located in Rancho Mirage.