May 18, 1998
Contact: Carmen Ramos Chandler or
Mayrene Barker or Steve Gelhaus,
(818) 677-2130
cchandler@exec.csun.edu
More than 1,000 graduating seniors and master's degree recipients have been invited to participate in the event, which kicks off CSUN's 1998 commencement celebrations.
John B. Slaughter, president of Occidental College and an active community leader, will give the keynote address.
Seven $1,000 awards will be given to individual outstanding graduates during the event.
Wargo, a child development major with a 3.97 grade point average, has been on the Dean's List every semester since she enrolled at CSUN as a freshman in the fall of 1994, gaining her membership in three honor societies--Golden Key, Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Alpha Theta.
A history minor, Wargo wants to get a master's degree in early childhood education and a doctorate in the history of early childhood education.
Wargo has served on the Burbank Youth Board for five years, including two as president, and as a docent at the Doctor's House Museum in Glendale. She also has volunteered at local elementary schools and tutored other CSUN students.
"Even though I have won awards of scholarship, I feel that it is my duty to help out other students who are not doing well," she said.
As a Minority Access to Research Education fellow, she conducted independent research into parental protectiveness in Latino families, the results of which were presented at professional conferences. She also assisted a professor in examining the transition to adulthood by physically challenged adolescents.
Beginning this fall, Hernandez, a native of El Salvador, will teach at Hoover Elementary School for a year. Then, she has been accepted into a doctoral program in education at the University of Michigan. Eventually, she said, she wants to organize and implement high-quality educational centers for children who live in poverty.
"I'm planning to teach kindergarten," Hernandez said. "That's my passion."
Aquino, 24, hopes to become a professor in history and Asian American studies at CSUN. He plans to pursue a master's degree in Asian American studies this fall at UCLA and then a doctorate in history.
His mother, a Filipino immigrant who died when he was 15, inspired him to attend college, Aquino said. "She strived every day to instill in me a distinct sense of values, knowledge of my family's history and a firm pride in my identity," he said.
Aquino credits his first class in Asian American studies at CSUN with awakening in him a passion for learning and broadening his view of history, life and society. As a result, Aquino was granted permission to custom-design a special major based on Asian American history.
LePoint, the first in her family to graduate from college, plans to attend graduate school to obtain a master's and doctorate in statistics. She eventually wants to be a university professor.
"With my degrees, I will set up nationwide programs that will help ease and eliminate the math phobia adults and young students possess," LePoint said.
Before LePoint began her CSUN education as a 16-year-old freshman in 1993, she said she feared she might become a statistic. "I read 'one in 1,000 African-American Los Angeles Unified School District students make it to a Cal State campus' and it continued, 'one in 31,000 African-American women will earn a Ph.D. in mathematics or the natural sciences'," she said, adding she is pleased to have beaten the odds.
Martinez, a music performance major, plans to attend graduate school at CSUN in the fall, pursuing a master's degree in music performance and education. He wants to get a doctorate of musical arts, audition for a position with a national orchestra and teach music at a college or university.
Unable to afford college when he graduated from high school, Martinez enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and trained as an accountant. After his discharge, he climbed the corporate ladder from accounting clerk at a local newspaper to assistant general manager of a national trucking firm.
"However, something was missing in my life and I was not happy with my career," Martinez said. "In May 1993, I made what was probably the most important decision in my life at that time. I decided to resign from my position as assistant general manager to pursue my college degree in music performance and music education."
At CSUN, he is a founding member of the Tres Vive Woodwind Trio, which visits elementary schools and retirement homes to give special concerts, and a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society. He also started a clarinet teaching studio, where he teaches privately and has a special program for historically and economically disadvantaged families.
Scott wants to work in the health sciences field for a year and then return to school in USC's nursing program or CSUN's master's degree program in public health.
But health education was not always her career goal. By her junior year of high school, Scott was an accomplished opera singer who had trained and performed with the Los Angeles Music Center and Berlin Opera companies.
"This career was lost when my throat constricted shut due to an extreme allergic reaction that risked my life," Scott said. "I was devastated, and it took three years to recover from this loss, to discover new dreams, and to look for a new direction in life.
"I found this direction in health science where I have learned to help other people live happier, healthier and more complete lives."
Kramer, 48, entered the master's degree program at CSUN in 1995 after working many years as an information specialist with the Los Angeles Police Department.
She was accepted into the doctoral programs at five universities, including three that offered her full scholarships. She will attend American University in Washington D.C. in the fall and plans to become a research historian.
"CSUN maintains very high academic standards and expects their students to meet them, but they're flexible in helping their students prepare an academic schedule to fit their needs." Kramer said. "They don't compromise their high standards."
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