University of California, Merced - Jody Murray

Exhibit Traces the Heartbeat of Merced Through Sound

Anonymous — Tue, 12 May 2026 23:04:57 +0000

By Jody Murray, ɫ��ӰƬ

May 12, 2026

Family and friends gather to sing Mexican rancheras at a Merced horse ranch. The event was among dozens of recordings made for the oral history that underpins the "Soundscapes of Merced" exhibit.

On a spring day in Merced’s Applegate Park, the man sat in front of a camera, spinning memories. He described decades of Latin music and dance pulsing in the city, moments drawn from eight decades of life and stories told by aunts and uncles.

His two interviewers took notes and checked the microphone’s levels. All good.

Then came a sound that smothered his voice — the blast of a horn and clatter of rolling steel as a train passed, only two blocks away. They waited. When it was quiet again, the man, David Soria, smiled.

His family lived near the tracks for generations, he told them. “When I hear the train,” he said, “I feel the spirit of my grandfather.”

Patricia Vergara and a student assistant were recording Soria as part of the ɫ��ӰƬ professor’s project to build an oral history of music in Merced County. But her subject’s words hit home. Vergara realized her project should capture more than music. She saw the power of sounds that trigger memories, sounds that evoke times and places long gone.

Her project would be more than a musical score. It would be a soundscape.

On Thursday, May 14, the product of four years of research and more than 60 interviews will debut at the Merced County Courthouse Museum. “Soundscapes of Merced” weaves words, images and sounds into a presentation that spans decades of a culturally rich and diverse community.

An opening reception is scheduled for 5-7 p.m. in the museum’s ground floor gallery. The event will include live spoken-word performances and multimedia presentations. The museum’s regular hours are 1-4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. There is no admission charge to the reception or the exhibit, which will run through Nov. 30.

Trains and Merced have intertwined through the decades. Pictured is the Central Pacific Railroad station in the late 19th century.

Display panels present Merced and its surrounding communities in words, pictures and sound — visitors can scan a QR code with their phone to access sound clips.

"One of the main goals of the project was to have us understand the sonic presence within all the diversity of this community,” said Vergara, a professor of music with a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology — the study of music in social and cultural contexts. She is also a jazz pianist who studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

“When you do this kind of research, you tap into deep, personal memories. The people we interview want their stories recorded, which is a gift to us.”

There are trains in the “Soundscapes” exhibit, of course — railroad lines have defined the city since its birth in the 1870s. Soria said his grandfather came from Mexico at the start of the 20th century to work laying track for the Southern Pacific Railroad.

Other sounds evoked in the exhibit include military planes from Castle Air Force Base, the rattle of farm machines, the thrum and crash of old neighborhoods coming down and new ones going up, and the rustle of tall grass.

Music remains a big part of “Soundscapes.” Venues such as the Merced County Fairgrounds and the American Legion Hall showcased local acts, along with national talent such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. The Joaquin Club, located on East 16th Street, hosted jazz, Latin, R&B and rock acts for decades; it was torn down in 2000. The oral histories delve into contemporary music makers such as hip-hop artists.

Numerous cultures weave through the exhibit’s narrative — Indigenous people; Mexican Americans; Sikhs; Hmong; and descendants of early immigrants from Portugal, Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands.

The “Soundscapes” project includes a digital archive of music, sounds and interviews that Vergara is curating with support from the ɫ��ӰƬ Center for the Humanities.

“There’s a different kind of knowledge you can access through sound,” Vergara said. “When you ask people about sounds they remember, you get answers you wouldn’t get otherwise.”

Five ɫ��ӰƬ Faculty Members Earn Early Career Research Awards

Anonymous — Tue, 12 May 2026 18:04:00 +0000

By Jody Murray, ɫ��ӰƬ

May 12, 2026

ɫ��ӰƬ professors who won an Early Career Faculty Research Excellence Award (from left): Adeyemi Adebiyi, Beth Scaffidi, Matthew Hutchinson, Andrea Polonijo, Myles Ali.

Five ɫ��ӰƬ faculty members are among the first awardees of a UC-wide honor given for exemplary research in budding academic careers.

The Early Career Faculty Research Excellence Awards, launched last fall, support commitment to scholarship and creative activity across the 10-campus system. The awards build on a range of programs and initiatives across the system designed to support thriving faculty careers at UC.

“These exceptional early career scholars exemplify the tremendous talent and creativity that drive ɫ��ӰƬ’s success,” Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Betsy Dumont said. “I look forward to hearing about their discoveries.”

Awardees will receive $50,000 to support research proposed in their nomination. The awards are sponsored by the UC Office of the President, which said in a statement that the recipients represent the breadth of excellence in UC’s professoriate.

The ɫ��ӰƬ awardees:

Professor Adeyemi Adebiyi, life and environmental sciences

Project: “Consequences of Sustainable Groundwater Management Act: Climate and Health Impacts of Dust from Fallowed Agricultural Lands in California.”
Quote: "Thank you so much for this wonderful recognition. I am deeply grateful to the selection committee for their support of my research on the impacts of dust from fallowed agricultural lands, work that I believe carries meaningful implications for both environmental science and public policy in California. This award will be instrumental in advancing our understanding of how sustainable water management decisions intersect with air quality, regional climate, and human health, and I look forward to making the most of this opportunity."

Professor Myles Ali, history and critical race & ethnic studies

Project: “Captive Lives: Experiences of Slavery and Freedom in Colonial Sierra Leone.”
Quote: “I am honored to receive this award from UCOP. I am thankful for the support of my colleagues in the Department of History and Critical Race & Ethnic Studies. I look forward to carrying out my research agenda, which reaffirms 19th-century Sierra Leone as a seminal historical site in Atlantic-wide and global struggles of freedom and liberation.”

Professor Matthew Hutchinson, life and environmental sciences

Project: “Behavioral Strategies Underpinning Rewilding Success: Mule Deer Recovery in the Central Valley.”
Quote: “It is humbling to be recognized, among all the incredible research being conducted at ɫ��ӰƬ and throughout the UC system, with this award. We are using it to accelerate our research on how wildlife adapt to and thrive in the Central Valley’s unique landscapes.”

Professor Andrea Polonijo, sociology

Project: “Testing Prosocial Vaccine Messages to Reduce Disparities in Older Adults.”
Quote: “I am honored to receive this award, which comes at a pivotal stage in my career.” The award will support research that studies ways to talk about vaccines that convince older adults to get vaccinated, especially people who have been left behind by the healthcare system.”

Professor Beth Scaffidi, anthropology and heritage studies

Project: “Reassembling Looted and Lost Skeletons in Legacy Archaeological Collections: The Andean Paleomobility Unification Project for Repatriation.”
Quote: “I am grateful for this award, which fills a critical funding gap for chemical analyses I will conduct under a fellowship to the Field Museum of Chicago. It will also permit me to develop a project of pinpointing where Andean skeletons in collections in the U.S. and abroad were originally discovered.” Scaffidi said the award also will help support graduate and undergraduate students who will work with her over the next year in the Skeletal and Environmental Isotope Lab.

Writing Students Help a Merced Arts Center Find a Fresh Voice

Anonymous — Mon, 04 May 2026 20:06:06 +0000

By Jody Murray, ɫ��ӰƬ

May 4, 2026

Students in a ɫ��ӰƬ writing course gather at the Merced Multicultural Arts Center to start a semester of creating promotional assets for "the MAC."

Students in a ɫ��ӰƬ course stepped off campus and into the real world, developing flyers, website pages and even a TikTok account for a downtown arts center.

Staff at the center became clients and the students contractors in a spring semester project that produced marketing materials, forged relationships with the community and gave students an experience that in-class exercises can’t provide.

“It’s writing not just for a grade, but for people who will be impacted by it,” said Sophia Milton, a first-year writing studies major. “I’m not trying to please a class prompt, I’m trying to please a real person.”

The project is an alliance between the Merced Multicultural Arts Center and Continuing Lecturer Yogita Maharaj, who teaches the Introduction to Professional Writing undergraduate course. Needing a partner to fulfill her goal for the course, she reached out to the center’s staff.

“She said she wanted to connect the course to real life and the community," said Colton Dennis, executive director of the center known around town as the MAC. The center has been a hub for arts and culture for nearly 30 years. It has four art galleries, a black-box theater, and spaces for classes and meetings. The MAC is run by a six-member staff under the Merced County Arts Council.

"We had a Zoom meeting and we said, ‘Yeah, I think there's something here,’” Dennis said. “Then she brought her class for a tour of the building, and we settled on what our needs were and what they could provide.”

Maharaj divided her class into two-person teams and paired each with a MAC staffer. The results were remarkable. Students Conner Chen and Amy Peetaneelapalin built a timeline for the MAC's website tied to its 30th anniversary activities. Jonah Borja and Adrian Ortiz Jr. developed promotional materials for a downtown art walk.

A event flyer on a door to the Merced Multicultural Arts Center was designed by ɫ��ӰƬ students.

Sirinity Thomas led the MAC’s introduction to TikTok. The center has a Facebook page and an Instagram account, but hadn’t tested the waters of the youth-oriented, trend-happy social platform. One day, Thomas and some classmates went to the MAC to capture visuals for a TikTok post. MAC Education Director Lisa Gilliland-Viney said she received a text message that the students were coming.

She texted back that she was teaching a class and couldn’t join them. “‘It’s OK,’ they said. ‘We’ve got it.’ And they did.”

Another project captured the spirit of the collaboration.

Each month, Gilliland-Viney organizes a family-day event around artists from various parts of the world. She needed help getting the word out. "My brain was going in 100 different directions," she said. "Having them promoting the events, I thought, ‘Oh, thank goodness.’"

Students designed flyers and brochures for each month’s event. One flyer covered a lobby door. Another, for a Lunar New Year event, landed in Gilliland-Viney’s inbox about 2 a.m. the day before. “The email said, ‘Is this OK?’ I thought, ‘This is brilliant,’” she said.

For the students, the collaboration has been like a job rehearsal. Borja, a fourth-year English major, is considering a career in public relations. "Delving into this professional partnership gives me hands-on experience and a good background for the future,” he said.

Clement Ankomahene, a fourth-year student majoring in management and business economics, said working with the MAC staff was “super revealing.”

“Having real stakes, in which we have to get our product delivered, helps put into perspective how real life works versus learning in a classroom,” he said.

Those dynamics are exactly what Maharaj was after. "Instead of sitting here and lecturing them about how to write a press release, I had them go out, research the genre, put together a presentation and then develop the actual document with the MAC," she said.

For Dennis and his staff, the students have been a genuine asset. "I would get busy and not answer my email, and they would follow up,” he said. “They were really great about communicating, sharing their ideas, and going above and beyond."

ɫ��ӰƬ Students, Directed by Jenni Samuelson, to Perform Letters from War

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 01:01:13 +0000

By Jody Murray, ɫ��ӰƬ

April 23, 2026

Students gather with their director, Continuing Lecturer Jenni Samuelson (right), for a rehearsal of "If All the Sky Were Paper."

Jenni Samuelson watched intently as a handful of students rehearsed a final scene. The lines were brief, bouncing from actor to actor, several voices working as one. Samuelson leaned forward, smiling, her eyes willing them on.

When they finished, she threw up her hands, sprang from her chair and showed the students the hairs standing on her forearm.

“You’ve got it,” she told them. “Lock it in!”

The 20 ɫ��ӰƬ students in Samuelson’s advanced performative storytelling course were nailing down details for public performances less than a month away. The production of “If All the Sky Were Paper” will be a payoff for months of preparation. However, it is equally rewarding to work with Samuelson, a continuing lecturer in global arts studies, and dive into the emotionally powerful scripts she chooses, students said.

"If All the Sky Were Paper" reflects the work of literary historian Andrew Carroll, who has spent decades tracking down and preserving correspondence written by Americans touched by war. Carroll gathered letters and emails from conflicts spanning the American Revolution to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The stage adaptation gives those voices — soldiers, families, caregivers — expression through performance.

A performer playing Carroll serves as the narrator, sharing the author’s personal journey of discovery as he introduces the writers and tugs on the threads that connect them.

The ɫ��ӰƬ Arts production of “If All the Sky Were Paper” is set for the first weekend of May at the Merced Multicultural Arts Center, 645 W. Main St. Performances are 7 p.m. Friday, May 1, and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 2 and 3. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online or at the door.

The advanced performative storytelling course attracts some students with an extensive background in theater, but most have little or no experience. Alberto Maniscal’s last time on stage was in eighth grade.

“I wanted to revisit that,” the fifth-year mechanical engineering major said. “I’m super excited for what’s to come, and I love the people in this class.”

Andrew Seal, a fourth-year cognitive science major, will make his theater debut with this production. He has taken two other courses taught by Samuelson.

“She’s just super positive,” Seal said. “She’s a delightful professor to have.”

Students rehearse a scene in "If All the Sky Were Paper," a play that presents corrospondence during war.

Many of the cast members took Samuelson’s performative storytelling course in the fall. The course delves into techniques, movement, vocal expression and stage spacing. Unlike the advanced course, it doesn’t include a public performance.

Sonny Yang was one of Samuelson’s students last semester.

“Being in this production has lit a fire in me,” the fourth-year global arts studies major said. “It’s so interesting, getting into a process and sticking with it, working with so many people.”

Yoli Espindola had a similar story. She took the fall performance course partly to become more comfortable speaking to an audience, a talent the second-year political science major needs to become a successful lawyer. Espindola credited Samuelson with building her confidence.

“She helps you progress as a person and learn from your mistakes,” she said.

Espindola said the letter writers in “If All the Sky Were Paper” stirred her emotions.

“These soldiers were people. They have families, they have children, wives, husbands. And those people get these letters and don’t know if their loved one is safe.”

The production is supported by the Peter J. Gallo Memorial Foundation, Merced Sunrise Rotary, the ɫ��ӰƬ University Friends Circle, the Central Valley Opportunity Fund, Laird Manufacturing, the Merced County Education Foundation, the Merced School Employees Federal Credit Union, Amie Marchini Senior Care, Professor ShiPu Wang, Barbara Hoffman and Carolyn Vara.

At Bobcat Day, Students Explore Opportunities, Picture Their Futures

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 21:08:57 +0000

By Jody Murray, ɫ��ӰƬ

April 20, 2026

ɫ��ӰƬ students (and Rufus) welcomed the opportunity to tell the unique story of the Central Valley's only research university.

A throng of people came to ɫ��ӰƬ on a crisp, blue-sky Saturday for Bobcat Day. More than 7,000 were registered to attend the April 18 event for admitted and prospective first-year and transfer students, along with their families.

The day was an opportunity for people to meet professors, advisors and service providers; talk to current students from clubs and organizations; tour the campus and its residence halls and labs; and see in person (many for the first time) one of the nation’s top 25 universities, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Here are some sights, moments and people from Bobcat Day 2026:

In welcoming remarks, Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said prospective ɫ��ӰƬ students sometimes tell him a University of California education seems too costly or that they aren’t the UC type. “I respectfully tell them we are here precisely for them,” he said. “The majority of our students graduate with no debt and, with generous financial aid, many have little or no costs at all. Second, you have been accepted. You earned this. You belong here.”
Gia Sanni of Sacramento plans to major in biology and wants to become a pediatrician. She was inspired by the Medical Education Building, currently under construction and scheduled to open for the next academic year. “I really want to jump into research in my first couple of years,” Sanni said.
In a talk called “The Journey of a Former Student,” Bobcat alumnus Giovanni Gonzalez Araujo recalled how, in his second year, his major wasn’t working out; he sought a quick switch to public health. An advisor slowed the student’s roll, sending him to the Career Center for an assessment. The result: Araujo switched to computer science and engineering. Today, he’s a ɫ��ӰƬ professor in that discipline. “That advisor changed the trajectory of my life,” he said.
Leo Arriola, dean of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, told a full auditorium of future Bobcats and their parents that “the aim of SSHA is to build the skills needed to navigate the real world.” This can include combining disciplines; a public health major and Spanish minor, for instance, can prepare for a fulfilling career at a rural or urban clinic, Arriola said.
On stage in another packed auditorium across campus, Professor Michael Findlater, interim dean of the School of Natural Sciences, said undergraduates have life-changing opportunities. “What sets us apart at ɫ��ӰƬ is not only the amazing research our faculty does but also” — Findlater swept a hand toward several young people in the front row — “the amazing research these people do, these undergraduates.”
Another major-minor combo suggested by SSHA Dean Arriola: business administration and psychology. The result: a career as an analyst who studies how people make financial choices.

James Khalar came to Bobcat Day with his mom, unsure if ɫ��ӰƬ was the right fit. Someone at a table caught his eye, asking for two minutes of his time. They told the Turlock High School student about the Yosemite Leadership Program. The timing was uncanny: Khalar aspires to be a park ranger. “That was amazing to me,” he said of the encounter. “Hearing about that program was a great selling point.”
At the Experimental Smart Farm table, students handed out 2-inch sprouts of pepper plants. The Merced Pre-Law Society table featured a wooden gavel begging to be rapped. At the Vietnamese Student Association table, dragon heads in vivid red, yellow and blue sat on the sidewalk, waiting for their performance.
The Associated Students of ɫ��ӰƬ ran the Catcave, where attendees could sit down, pick up a controller and play a few minutes of Fortnite or Mario Kart.
Two future Bobcats who plan to major in political science explained what drew them to ɫ��ӰƬ. Yanexy Franco of Orange in Southern California said he received “generous” financial aid and that studying in the Central Valley “will open up new horizons for me to explore.” Maddie Hewes said ɫ��ӰƬ’s campus and class sizes will make for an easier transition for a teenager from Hilmar, a town of about 5,000 northwest of Merced.
All manner of bones covered the table of the Paleontology & Life Organization, but the eye-grabber was the fearsome skull of a smilodon, better known as a saber-toothed cat. “It’s kind of our club mascot,” student Quinn Cartwright said.
ɫ��ӰƬ is 20 miles from Livingston — a big plus, Marilyn Guzman said. “I didn’t want to be too far from my parents.” She said the financial aid offered was generous; for example, her housing is paid for. And then there’s her major. She chose aerospace engineering because she is fascinated by rocket science. “I want to see where it takes me.”

Author Mark Arax Wraps Up Residency with Lecture on California’s ‘Last Extraction’

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 17:02:27 +0000

By Jody Murray, ɫ��ӰƬ

April 20, 2026

Author Mark Arax, ɫ��ӰƬ writer-in-residence for the 2025-26 academic year, talks to a history class. Arax will give a closing lecture April 22.

Spending an hour with one of California’s most accomplished storytellers left a mark on Rowan Alcocer.

“I was impressed by his ability to find a metaphor in almost anything,” the ɫ��ӰƬ student said. “He made his points in a way that was easy to understand.”

Alcocer, a first-year political science major, and other students in a California history class heard a talk by author and journalist Mark Arax, whose deeply reported stories reveal the people and paradoxes that stir the Central Valley he calls home.

Arax is wrapping up an academic year as the university’s writer in residence. In this role, he has given students up-close views of how he researches and writes, bringing the lessons to life with his gift for detailed, layered storytelling. Or, as was the case in Professor David Rouff’s class, Arax weaved history and his lived experience into an engaging talk about California’s unique tapestry.

His visit to the class was one of Arax’s last stops before a final lecture scheduled for Wednesday, April 22. Arax, author of landmark books about the Valley such as “The King of California” and “The Dreamt Land,” will speak in the Lakireddy Auditorium (Room 102 in Classroom and Office Building 1). The two-hour event will start at 3:30 p.m. and will be followed by a reception. There is no admission charge; an RSVP is requested.

The lecture will center on what Arax calls “the last extraction.” He explained that California is a contradiction — a world leader in social acceptance and environmental stewardship, as well as in military development and artificial intelligence.

Over the centuries, people in California have extracted Indigenous people from their land, slaughtered animals for fur coats, panned rivers and blasted mountains to oblivion for gold, and diverted Sierra water to thirsty coastal cities.

Gold, as a metaphor for discovery, riches and power, persists in California “like dust in the air,” Arax said.

He said the state’s last extraction is the human mind, prey to smartphones, social media and AI’s potential to turn our lives inside out.

“AI has already taken the whole of humanity and turned it into something that just makes money,” he said. “It’s here to exploit and extract from humanity.”

Arax said he found hope in the engaged, young students he met at his workshops and around the campus.

“It’s been a learning experience for me,” said Arax, who gave as good as he got. At one workshop, he talked about his 1997 Los Angeles Times article about the state champion McFarland High School boys’ cross country team (their story was developed into the movie “McFarland, USA”). At another, a former correctional officer joined him live online to flesh out a discussion of his Times exposé about guard brutality at Corcoran State Prison.

“The students have been deeply attentive to the story of Mark’s journey as a journalist and writer,” said Emily Lin, the ɫ��ӰƬ Library’s director of strategic initiatives, archives and special collections. The library and the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts co-sponsored Arax’s residency. “They’ve seen how Mark continues to grapple with making sense of current events and issues that resonate with all of us.”

“I worry that technology has taken so much from them,” Arax said of his young listeners, “but I found there’s a lot of fight left in them, a lot of curiosity.

“I mean, they just blow you away with how bright they are.”

New Liberal Studies Major Expands Paths for Degree Completion and Future Teachers

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 15:03:24 +0000

By Jody Murray, ɫ��ӰƬ

April 13, 2026

The new liberal studies major is offered through the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts.

A highly customizable degree that rewards curiosity, reaches out to a diverse set of learners and prepares scholars for people-centered careers has arrived at ɫ��ӰƬ.

Liberal studies, a bachelor’s program that taps into disciplines in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, debuts in the fall 2026 semester. Students can parlay the degree’s flexibility with core ɫ��ӰƬ attributes such as undergraduate research and easy access to professors and advisers.

A liberal studies program has qualities for a range of scholars, but is particularly attractive for students:

Transferring coursework from a community college
Resuming an academic career that life had put on hold
Preparing for a career teaching elementary or middle-school children

Catherine Koehler led the effort to add liberal studies to SSHA’s degrees. She said the major grew out of the university’s Degree Completion Program, which she leads as executive director.

“We expect it to serve a lot of different students, including those who are looking for efficient pathways back to the university to finish their degrees,” said Koehler, who is also a teaching professor of writing studies.

Flexibility is the key advantage. Transfer students and those returning to college after a long break often have a patchwork of credits, sometimes from different institutions. Liberal studies can accept a wide range of prior coursework, creating a faster path to graduation.

In addition, transfers or returning students who haven’t set a career direction can explore across disciplines in the social and natural sciences without having to switch majors and lose time.

The degree joins initiatives that invite students to continue their higher education at ɫ��ӰƬ. The university offers transfer students streamlined paths into dozens of disciplines. It has agreements with several California community colleges to accept qualified transfers. On campus, the Promise Housing project will provide apartments for hundreds of transfers from Merced College.

Koehler said the degree’s goals of broadening paths to four-year diplomas and preparing people for teaching careers fit ɫ��ӰƬ’s mission for the Central Valley.

“We were founded to expand access to a UC education for students in the Valley, and that includes adult learners who are trying to return to campus,” Koehler said. “We want to create economic mobility through degree completion and career readiness.”

The coursework is customized to a student’s needs and interests, drawing from disciplines ranging from economics and history to cognitive science. Koehler will teach two bookend courses: an introduction to liberal studies and a “capstone” course that pulls together everything the student has learned.

Students who aspire to be teachers can use liberal studies to pave a smooth career path. Broad, interdisciplinary coursework satisfies requirements for a multiple-subject credential, good for teaching kindergarten through eighth grade. Graduates can waive the California exam usually required to earn the credential, saving time and money.

The new degree received an infusion of support in February when the Degree Completion Program received a two-year, $550,000 grant from the College Futures Foundation. The grant will clear paths for adult learners to teaching careers and other jobs available in the Central Valley. ɫ��ӰƬ was among eight agencies or higher education institutions in California to earn the award.

The degree works alongside CalTeach, a program that trains future educators with an on-campus learning lab and experiences with young students at Valley schools. The university’s numerous research opportunities, along with annual events such as the Bobcat Summer STEM Academy, help students expand and fine-tune their teaching skills.

“We have a big need in the Valley for early childhood and elementary educators,” Koehler said.

Nancy Myrick recently resumed her academic journey after years of focusing on parenthood. She lives in Merced, attends Merced College and wants to become a teacher. Myrick attended a recent ɫ��ӰƬ event for transfer students and talked to SSHA faculty and CalTeach representatives.

She has been accepted to ɫ��ӰƬ and just needs some financial aid assurance before she enrolls.

“I was really impressed by what I heard,” Myrick said. “Since I’m a Merced native, I would be proud to graduate from my hometown.”

Her ɫ��ӰƬ Path Changed But Stockton Student Stays on Track

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 15:05:02 +0000

By Jody Murray, ɫ��ӰƬ

March 25, 2026

An obstacle led to personal and academic revelation for Taliyah Miller, who will graduate in four years with two majors.

Taliyah Miller would be the first to tell you she arrived at ɫ��ӰƬ with an unwavering, long-range goal: become an anesthesiologist. What she could not have predicted was that a difficult roommate, a therapist’s question and a job she forgot she applied for would upend that goal and leave her better for it.

Miller was raised in Stockton, the third-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley. As the youngest of three with siblings several years older, it was like being an only child. She developed an independent personality early on.

All the Miller children attended Stockton Collegiate, a K–12 charter school. By 11th grade she was deep in its International Baccalaureate diploma program. She credited one course, called Theory of Knowledge, for preparing her for the future.

“That class set me up for college so well,” Miller said. “It touched on every single subject you learn in school and why we study them. I felt almost over-prepared for college coming in.”

Miller applied to nearly every UC campus with the aim of majoring in biological sciences and starting down the path to anesthesiology. ɫ��ӰƬ’s growing medical education program caught her attention, as did the financial aid package, which settled a final choice between ɫ��ӰƬ and the University of San Francisco.

Time for a Reset

“It felt like I could get a fresh start,” she said of attending the Valley campus. “I wouldn’t be far from home, but it was far enough for me to gain independence. I was getting a reset, which I really needed.”

Her first year went generally as planned. Her second did not. A conflict with a roommate sent Miller into a tailspin. She began attending sessions with the university’s Counseling and Psychological Services. What started as a response to a difficult living situation evolved into something more: a guided examination of who she was and what she wanted.

Her therapist made a game-changing observation: Miller seemed more interested in the history and culture behind biology than in the science itself. Sit in on an anthropology course, the therapist said, and see what happens.

Miller found that biological anthropology wove together what she loved about science with the historical and human dimensions she was drawn to. She switched her major to anthropology. She later added a second major in critical race and ethnic studies (CRES). The two disciplines spoke to each other, she said, particularly around anthropology’s complicated historical relationship with eugenics and indigenous communities.

The pivot changed everything. Her new double major felt like a conversation she had been trying to have her whole life. The crisis that brought her to counseling had reset her purpose.

Mentoring Other Students

Around the same time, Miller applied to be a peer navigator with the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts. It was one of many campus jobs she applied for, so when a callback came from SSHA she scrambled to research the role before an interview. She turned out to be an ideal fit.

“Taliyah brings a positive and collaborative energy that students and staff naturally gravitate toward,” said Destiny Dias, a SSHA academic advising support specialist. “She is willing to step in wherever needed, and she approaches her work with professionalism and genuine care for the students she serves.”

The job altered the trajectory of her academic career in a second, quieter way. Working alongside other students to map out their degree pathways, she turned the same skills on herself. She ran her own degree audit, identified the overlap between her former pre-med coursework and her new anthropology and CRES requirements, and learned that graduating in four years was still achievable.

“I feel like it’s one of the most educational jobs you can have on campus,” Miller said of the peer navigator role. “Without it, I don’t think I would have known that I could double major and still graduate on time.”

Miller will walk in spring commencement, then complete two courses this summer to close out her degrees.

After graduation, she plans to take a gap year before pursuing a master’s in library and information sciences, with her sights set on archival work. It is a destination she found through anthropology and CRES, through a therapist’s insight, and through years of letting herself be surprised by where curiosity leads.

Ripon Student Turning Heart and Heritage into a Path of Healing

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 16:04:24 +0000

By Jody Murray, ɫ��ӰƬ

March 19, 2026

Grace Grinder carries lessons learned in her Central Valley hometown of Ripon and through her membership in an Indigenous tribe.

As a child of the Central Valley and a member of a Native tribe, Grace Grinder developed an early awareness of health care disparities affecting rural regions and underserved communities.

While in third grade, Grinder lost her grandmother to what she described as too few physicians nearby to provide timely, quality care. That loss planted a seed.

Today, Grinder is a third-year biological sciences major with an emphasis in human biology at ɫ��ӰƬ. She aims to be a physician. Grinder carries with her the lessons learned in Ripon, a small city about 12 miles north of Modesto, and through her roots as Karuk, an Indigenous people from the mountains and rivers of Northern California.

Childhood dreams about becoming a doctor were sharpened at Ripon High School, thanks to an anatomy and physiology class taught by a teacher named Ann Pendleton.

"Learning all about the human body and all of the different fields you can go into helped solidify that this is something I want to do, and that I can make a difference," Grinder said.

Conversations with Pendleton, along with stories from classmates whose families also experienced inadequate medical care, made clear to Grinder that the Valley needs more physicians — and that she could be one of them.

Her Karuk heritage added another dimension to that calling. Though the tribe's homeland is hundreds of miles north of Ripon, Grinder engaged with her roots through advocacy for Indigenous life and by recognizing that tribal communities face the same medical shortfalls as the Valley. Being a voice for underserved communities, she said, has always felt natural to her.

When the time came to choose a university, Grinder had options — many of them. The Native American Opportunities Program, which covers tuition for students with Indigenous roots, opened doors at schools across the state. She was accepted at six UC campuses, along with the University of Nevada, Reno. She chose ɫ��ӰƬ.

"I wanted to be a part of something where I could lead change for my community," she said, referring both to her hometown and to the relatively young ɫ��ӰƬ campus.

The university’s smaller scale, the approachability of the faculty, a sense that students could do far more than just attend classes — all of it resonated. She accepted her admission offer on March 1, the same day it arrived.

That instinct has paid off. Grinder said she is now on a first-name basis with most of her professors and has taken advantage of several opportunities.

During her second year, Grinder used a writing course to research the prevalence of human trafficking in the San Joaquin Valley. Her paper examined the shortage of resources available to health care providers and public health workers confronting trafficking in rural areas, and pushed back against the widespread tendency to underestimate the problem.

Today, she is vice president of Fashion Forward, a new student-run program built around clothing and community; a member of the crochet club; and an active participant in the American Medical Student Association. She serves as a mentor in the university’s medical education program, organizing Zoom calls and helping keep students on track.

She recently started working as a scribe at Memorial Medical Center in Modesto and will shadow a neurologist there — a connection she made through ɫ��ӰƬ's medical education mentoring program.

Statistics estimate that less than 1% of U.S. physicians identify as Indigenous Americans. Grinder wants to do what she can to move the needle, with ɫ��ӰƬ playing a big role in that effort.

"Every day I step onto this campus,” she said, “I know that I made the right choice."

Delhi Student Made the Leap to ɫ��ӰƬ and Hasn’t Looked Back

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 18:04:38 +0000

By Jody Murray, ɫ��ӰƬ

March 17, 2026

Nayelyi Salazar has made her mark at ɫ��ӰƬ as a peer navigator, Honors Program student and cheer team member.

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard. A few more taps and Nayelyi Salazar would be a community college student — a big step for the high-schooler from Delhi, a town of 10,000 that hugs California’s Highway 99.

She hesitated. Days earlier, she received an acceptance letter from a University of California campus. Awesome news, but she couldn’t shake doubts about being UC-worthy. What to do? She leaned back from the laptop. It was a Friday. She would take the weekend to think it over.

Should she go straight to ɫ��ӰƬ?

“In the end, I thought, ‘Let’s do this,’” Salazar said.

Today, evidence supports Salazar being UC-worthy, and then some. The second-year public health major is in the University Honors Program. She helps fellow students navigate the twists and turns of academics. She’s on the ɫ��ӰƬ cheer team.

Salazar wants a career in medicine but insists on the university experience being more than a pre-med grind. She enjoys the rich mix of cultures and backgrounds that make up the student body. She gives herself the OK to have fun (she was also a cheerleader at Delhi High School). She likes the idea of taking a year off between her bachelor’s degree and medical school.

Last August, she began working as a peer navigator for the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts. From a desk in the school’s advising office, she counsels students on decisions about major or minor degrees, or double majors. She answers questions about courses and about the school’s culture. She works behind the scenes to ensure workshops for students run smoothly.

"Nayelyi demonstrates exceptional dedication to supporting students," Student Services Director Brenda Maldonado-Rosas said. "Her strong attention to detail contributes to a smooth and positive experience for them."

"She always goes above and beyond," added Carolyn Barranco, academic advisor and student engagement coordinator.

Salazar said she was inspired by Jonathan Mesa Marquez, a peer mentor who supported her in her first year. “He really understood what we first-years were feeling,” she said of Marquez, who mentored in the NextGen Health Professionals Living Learning Community. “He would go out of his way to make sure we had opportunities.”

Salazar grew up in Delhi, a tightly knit, largely Latino Central Valley town located 20 miles north of Merced and 20 miles south of Modesto. She’s the youngest child of a large family that spoke Spanish at home. Her elementary and middle schools used a dual-language program that taught her core subjects, such as math and history, in Spanish to increase comprehension.

Dual-language programs don’t extend to high schools, so Salazar had to sharpen her language skills as a Delhi Hawk. An already challenging transition was made tougher by the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone attended classes from home as freshmen. She could have rejoined her classmates as a sophomore, but stayed home for half the school year to protect her grandparents, who lived with her family.

“When I was finally able to be a high school student in person, it was like, ‘Ready or not, here I come,’” Salazar said. People she knew from elementary and middle school, along with other students, became fast friends. She added college-credit courses to her class load and joined Future Business Leaders of America.

Nevertheless, she still felt that community college was her next destination. “I just didn’t feel prepared for the UC system yet,” she said. Teachers and friends urged her to take the bigger leap. Her older brother, who attended California State University, Stanislaus, chimed in. “He said, ‘If you have the opportunity to go straight to a UC, why not try it?’”

And, of course, she did. Salazar encourages others to follow her lead.

“ɫ��ӰƬ is all about diversity and respect,” she said. “It has done so many great things for me. If you are a high school student or a transfer, I say, ‘Go for it.’”