Ramiro Medina is a first generation student from Oxnard, California. He has two older sisters, one who is actually a graduate from Cal Lutheran and the other is a lash tech. His parents were both born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and they both immigrated here to the United States. Ramiro enjoys traveling to new places and spending time with friends. He’s really into fashion and his favorite food is sushi. Medina enjoys going to concerts, his favorite has been Camp Flog Gnaw, which he attended this past year. Read on to learn more about this adventurous first year student!HCCLU: What does being a first generation student mean to you?
RM: Our parents came here to give us the opportunity to get a good education, they sacrificed their own education for us. They could’ve easily stayed in Mexico and gotten their own education but they came here for us instead. In a sense, I feel that being first generation, I’m doing it to repay my parents for their sacrifices.
HCCLU: Why CLU?
RM: I have two reasons. My sister, she’s a graduate from here. She shared her experiences with me and it was something that I wanted to do. Also, I had the opportunity to be part of TRiO Upward Bound, it was a six-week program here on campus, when I was in high school. Being familiar with the campus and knowing what it’s like to live here was a big part of the deciding factor for me.
HCCLU: I know that one of your sister’s attended CLU, did that have any influence on your choice to come here?
RM: I would say yes; my sister was a deciding factor because she shared her experiences with me. I feel that if she hadn’t shared her experiences, I wouldn’t have been able to make my decision. Although, I have always wanted to come here since I was young. When I was in AVID in middle school, this was one of the first schools I visited.HCCLU: What’s your major and how did you decide on it?
RM: Computer Information Systems. When I was in Upward Bound, I had the opportunity to take a STEM course and in that course I got introduced to all the fields and careers within the STEM Field and computer programming was something I wanted to learn. Also, I excel in math, it comes easy to me. And I was told that it would benefit me with programming.
HCCLU: Your first year is coming to an end, is it what you expected? Why or why not?
RM: I would say the beginning of it, yes. Towards the end, it has gotten a little harder, out of nowhere. It wasn’t what I expected, class wise. My first semester I had a pretty doable course load and this semester I’m taking eighteen units.
HCCLU: Are you involved in anything on campus?
RM: I play intramural soccer. I’m part of Student Support Services. I have the opportunity to go to the Alternative Spring Break in Cambodia.HCCLU: What are your plans for Spring Break?
RM: I’m going to Cambodia, it’s a service project. I will be spending all of Spring Break there. We are building a home for a poor community.
HCCLU: Who inspires you the most in life and why?
RM: My entire family, they all inspire me in different aspects. My dad is one of the most hardest working individuals I have ever met; he provides for all of my family. My mom is fortunate enough to be a stay at home mom. I feel that having my mom at home was really beneficial to me because she was able to be there to give my sisters and me advice with whatever we needed, like if we had a bad day at school. I feel that others don’t have that opportunity because their parents were always working. My mom has always pushed me to do the best, and reminds me that I have to work hard to get what I want. My dad inspired me through his actions and my mom inspired me through her words of encouragement. My oldest sister was the first in my family to go to college, she inspired me to go to college just like her, and to do something just as good if not better than her. She always pushes me to do better than she did. My other sister started her own company and she’s really hard working. Her work ethic has been really motivational to me; I feel like she’s a really hard working person.HCCLU: If you could meet any famous person in the world, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
RM: I would say Kid Cudi. I grew up listening to his music at a really young age. I can relate to a lot of his music. I would want to ask him what inspired him to write his personal lyrics and show his vulnerability to his fans, because not everyone can do that.
HCCLU: What’s on your bucket list?
RM: I would say travel to Tokyo, Japan. The architecture in Japan is intriguing to me, I would really like to see it in person. I would want to travel to as many places as I can. Japan is just one of the specifics, one of the places I would want to go to first.
HCCLU: What’s your dream job?
RM: An Information Analyst, for any company, it doesn’t matter which one. Something else I would like to do is to incorporate my skills I learned in this field and try to help others with it. I would also like to work for a non-profit organization.