Congratulations to the staff and faculty who are earning degrees this year. While graduation ceremonies are canceled, we still want to celebrate you and your accomplishments.

Name: Frank Puccio
Department: Continuing and Global Education
Current job title: Director of Finance Administration and Global Operations
New degree earned this year: Doctorate in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.)

Frank will earn the doctorate in educational leadership this semester. During his studies, he continued to serve in a leadership role in the division of Continuing and Global Education while completing his degree. His mastery of higher education finance became central to his dissertation interests. His colleagues are beaming with pride!

Name: Mellissa Jessen-Hiser
Department: Jan & Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning
Current job title: Assistant Director
New degree earned this year: Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

Mellissa earned her Bachelor of Arts in English in 2001. Later, she attended the University of Denver and earned her Master of Arts in International Human Rights in 2007. Now, she returns to her English Department roots to earn her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. Regarding her experience in the MFA program, Mellissa writes, "I was constantly inspired by the super-talented students and received unmatched teaching from an outstanding faculty. The experience not only helped me stretch as a writer, but served me well in my role working with students."

Name: Ruby Sangha-Rico
Department: Learning Center
Current job title: Director
New degree earned this year: Doctorate in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.)

Although the journey to this degree has been incredibly demanding, it has supported the refinement of my leadership philosophy and lens. For this, I am grateful.

Name: Michele Falk
Department: Social Work Education
Current job title: Administrative Support Assistant II
New degree earned this year: Associate in Arts, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arts and Humanities (Clovis Community College)

I went back to college in 2012 at Fresno City College, and started with one class since it had been over 20 years since I had studied at Fresno State. I added an additional class each semester and attended full time (and worked full time) from 2014-16. I made the dean's list all four full-time semesters, and earned an A.S. in library technology in May 2016. I continued to enroll in more classes and earned an A.A. in liberal arts, social sciences in December 2018. I changed campuses in spring 2018, and earned a third associate degree from Clovis Community College. Even though I continue to work full time and participate in various music groups, I was able to graduate each time with high honors.

Name: Adriana Mendoza-Gurrola
Department: Central California Training Academy
Current job title: Training Projects and Operations Coordinator
New degree earned this year: Juris Doctor (J.D.)

Name: Kim Cubre
Department: University Advancement
Current job title: Executive Assistant to the vice president
New degree earned this year: Master of Arts, Education: Higher Education Administration, Leadership Pathway

Name: Gena Lew Gong
Department: Asian American Studies, Department of Anthropology
Current job title: Lecturer
New degree earned this year: Doctorate in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.)

Finishing this degree is a tremendous feeling of accomplishment, particularly because I've had to overcome some major challenges along the way. When we began on this journey, our program was called the Collaborative Online Doctorate in Educational Leadership (CODEL) as a partnership between CSU Channel Islands and Fresno State and designed for working professionals. I enrolled as a doctoral student while still maintaining a regular teaching load of three to four classes per semester in Critical Thinking and Asian American Studies. Halfway through our program, CSUCI dropped out of the partnership so we are now graduating as solely Fresno State students from a program that no longer exists.

On the personal front, I began experiencing debilitating headaches in late 2019 and underwent brain surgery in January 2020. By the time I came off medical leave in mid-March, everything was shut down due to COVID-19. Still, our Ed.D. program continued and my online teaching continued, so I just kept on working on our coursework and my teaching responsibilities, while also focusing on finishing my dissertation.

All told, it's been a long journey and I'm both proud and relieved to finally be done. I am grateful for the support of my friends in my cohort, my dissertation chairs, my committee members, and most of all, my family for enduring this three-year marathon with me.

Name: Angel Langridge
Department: University Communications
Current job title: Executive Assistant
New degree earned this year: Bachelor of Arts, Media, Communications and Journalism, Public Relations Option

My journey to get a degree took 19 years. I was determined not to waste my benefit of getting my degree for free, no matter how long it took. I did not earn this degree alone. I have so much gratitude to my sons for putting up with my late nights away from them, countless amount of hours on the computer, and helping me with my math homework, and my co-workers and classmates for helping me navigate a world that I didn't fully understand. I hope that I have and will continue to pay it forward. You can read my story here.

Name: Hiromi Kubo
Department: Henry Madden Library
Current job title: Subject Librarian
New degree earned this year: Ed.D. Educational Leadership

Name: Denise Ramirez
Department: Kinesiology
Current job title: Faculty
New degree earned this year: Ed.D. Educational Leadership

Name: Rosanna Ruiz
Department: Recreation Administration
Current job title: Faculty
New degree earned this year: Ed.D. Educational Leadership

Name: Talar Terzian
Department: School of Nursing
Current job title: Faculty
New degree earned this year: Ed.D. Educational Leadership