College of Social and Behavioral Sciences’ top graduates want to make life better for others

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif- The desire to make life better for the people they help is a characteristic shared by two students named the outstanding graduates for the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Cal State San Bernardino.

Alex Reyes is the college’s outstanding graduate student who earned his master’s degree in social work, and will be honored at the commencement ceremony for graduate students on Friday, June 13, at 6:45 p.m. at CSUSB’s Coussoulis Arena.

Yuliana Diaz is the college’s outstanding undergraduate who completed her bachelor’s degree in psychology. She will participate in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Commencement ceremony on Saturday, June 14, also at Coussoulis Arena beginning at 7:45 a.m.

“The core values of the Social Work profession: service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence,” said Reyes, a resident of Coachella, explaining why he chose social work as a field of study and a career.

“Every day, people are facing situations that leave them vulnerable, oppressed, or in poverty,” he said. “I was in a vulnerable spot at one point in my life and I was treated with these values and I truly believe it was a life changing experience.  So as a social worker, I will care about the people I serve, I will walk side by side with them, and together we will face these challenges.”

It was a long road for Reyes, who has worked for the Riverside County Department of Mental Health for 20 years. In 2001, 12 years after graduating from high school, he enrolled at College of the Desert, and after another eight years, he earned his associate’s degree, graduating with high honors in 2009 and a member of Phi Theta Kappa, the Two-Year College Honor Society. The road to his bachelor’s degree in psychology was much shorter, however; in 2011, he graduated from CSUSB’s Palm Desert Campus as a Rogers Scholar and a member of the Golden Key Honour Society with a degree in psychology.

As a graduate student at CSUSB’s School of Social Work, Reyes worked with fellow student April M. Marier on their thesis examining the impact that incarceration and reintegration into society has on the mental health of an individual. Their conclusion, he said, “We believe that support and rehabilitation services are more effective than incarceration.”

Reyes said that his family – his parents, wife and children – have been his biggest inspiration as he pursued his academic goals. “My family knows how much I value higher education today and I hope they use my experience for inspiration as they pursue their own higher education and future goals,” he said. “The icing on the cake is that my wife and children have been by my side the entire time and each of my children at their young age are talking about their own college dreams.”

His future plans are to continue to work for the Riverside County Department of Mental Health, where he credited his supervisor, licensed clinical social worker Anne Chicoine, as his role model and mentor because of her professionalism on the job. Reyes has accepted the position of clinical therapist with the department, will also work to become a licensed clinical social worker, and hopes to one day earn a doctorate specializing in addiction studies.

Diaz, an Upland resident who graduated from RialtoHigh School, studied psychology, “because I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. Based on my own past life experiences, I wanted to be able to help other people who may have gone through the same or similar experiences that I have, learn to cope and become resilient.

“I want to help empower people to have the best quality of life they can have,” she said.

Like Reyes, she also faced challenges working toward her degree.  A first-generation immigrant from Colombia, she struggled with English when she first entered college to the point that it affected her self-esteem, which led to her dropping out of school for two years. But once she felt more comfortable with the language, she re-enrolled for classes.

Since then, Diaz has pursued her research interests that focus on empowering women, depression, sexual assault prevention and topics related to mental health. While she credits many people with her academic success, she singled out three psychology department faculty members as her mentors: Michael Lewin (her honors mentor), Manjieh Badiee and Dani Hodge.

“I am very proud to be graduating with my bachelor’s degree, being the first one in my family to ever do so,” Diaz said. “Especially because I feel that I am taking advantage of the opportunities I had by immigrating to the United States.”

She plans to continue her education by pursuing a master’s degree in experimental psychology, then a doctorate in clinical psychology.

Cal State San Bernardino will bestow Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters to Hardy Brown, philanthropist and Inland Empire publisher of The Black Voice newspaper, during the College of Arts and Letters commencement ceremony; and to entrepreneurs Jesus (posthumously) and Luz Cardenas, founders of Cardenas Markets, at the College of Business and Public Administration’s ceremony.

Other commencement exercises on June 14, in addition to the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, include the College of Arts and Letters at 11:45 a.m.; the College of Business and Public Administration at 3:45 p.m.; and the College of Natural Sciences at 7:45 p.m.

The Palm Desert Campus will hold its commencement exercises on Thursday, June 12, at 6 p.m. at The Show at Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa in Rancho Mirage.

All of the ceremonies at Cal State San Bernardino’s Coussoulis Arena will be streamed online on the Creative Media Services live webcast page.

For more information about the June 2014 graduations, visit the CSUSB Commencement website.

For more information on Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Public Affairs at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu.