lune II, 2014
®,t Çnrtlanh (Obstruer
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
Alberta
North Portland
Yesenia Herrera o f north Portland is Portland Community College’s student speaker for Friday’s commencement ceremony at Memorial Coliseum. Herrera is being
honored for her work ethic, professionalism and leadership skills while studying at the PCC Cascade Campus where she served as director o f student programs and
diversity retention coordinator for Latino students.
Fitting College In
Student speaker no
longer has to put her
dreams on hold
After graduating from Lincoln High
School, Yesenia Herrera wasn't sure how
college fit into hei life. Now, she can't imagine
it not fitting in.
The 20-year-old St. Johns resident was
named the student speaker for the Portland
Community College’s commencement cer
emony on Friday, June 13, at Memorial Coli
seum. She was also recently awarded the
retention coordinator for Latino students
where she mentored and tutored fellow stu
dents. Heavily involved with student gov
ernment, she helped organize clubs, program
activities and direct social outings such as
Cascade's Dollar BBQ and the college's End
of Year Party.
Community College President’s Award at
Washington State University-Vancouver.
"I no longer have to put my dreams on
hold," Herrera said. "I'm very excited to be
student speaker, which is a bit of an under
statement; more like I'm ecstatic. I want to talk
about my journey, how I got from here to PCC
from high school and the difficulties 1 had to
face in getting to college being a first-genera
tion student. I want to encourage people to
take chances and see the different opportu
nities that are out there."
Herrera's development in work ethic, pro
fessionalism and leadership skills has been
impressive while studying at the Cascade
Campus, 705 N. Killingsworth St.
She served as Cascade's campus director
of student programs and then as its diversity
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