Eight Mesa College students who embody equity and excellence (2024)

In honor ofMesa College Giving Day, the Newsroom features the accomplishments of several amazing San Diego Mesa College students. The eight students featured here have distinguished themselves, but they represent just a fraction of what Mesa Olympians achieve every day here on campus and in the world. To celebrate them and the future students who will call Mesa home, consider joining us to celebrate #MesaGivingDay.Give nowuntil Saturday May 25, 2024 to double your gift and support Mesa students.

Alexis Primo-Hawkins

Alexis Primo-Hawkins is likely a familiar face to most Mesa students, faculty, staff, and community members. Throughout her time here, she has served as a Project Assistant in the office of President Ashanti Hands, participated in Honors Society, Parent Café, CDAIE (Committee for Diversity Action, Inclusion, and Equity), Diversity Club, the Associated Student Government, and is a Student Parent Fellow with Generation Hope.

Born in Guyana and raised in Barbados, Alexis is a proud first-generation Afro-Latina student-parent. In fact, her favorite memory from Mesa College was attending the 2024 Scholarship Award Ceremony. Alexis’s two children joined her at the event to celebrate her achievements, and even accompanied her up to the stage to receive the prestigious President’s Award for Academic Excellence.

“They love to hold mommy's certificates and smile for the photos,” says Alexis. It was, “a great opportunity to expose them to higher education and what it means to be committed, then rewarded for hard work!”

She will now graduate with three associate degrees- in Black Studies, Social Work, and Psychology. And, next semester, she will transfer to San Diego State University to pursue continuing education in both Africana Studies and Urban Studies. At SDSU, she will continue advocating for student-parents as the Pregnant and Parenting Students Initiative Lead with the Women's Resource Center at SDSU.

Oleksandr Sharlai

Oleksandr Sharlai was a budding young scientist in the mid-sized, Western Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi when, in Feburary of 2022, Russo-Ukrainian war exploded from the Crimian region to engulf all of Ukraine as the Russian army launched a large-scale invasion of their neighbor. Oleksandr eventually fled his home, leaving his family, friends, and everything else behind. He ended up in San Diego as a refugee, and, last year, came to San Diego Mesa College to continue to further his science passion.

He will finish his first year at Mesa this May. Here, he pursuing dual degrees in Neuroscience and Psychology. Passionate about research and discovery in these fields, he has been mentored at Mesa by Professor Inna Kannevsky, who is also passionate about research. He also joined Psi Beta, a national psychology honor’s society for community college students.

These opportunities and encouraging support structures led him to join PSYC 101 as an honors student with Professor Kannevsky in Fall 2023. Together, they embarked on a research project, which led them to presenting a poster at the Western Psychological Association Convention in San Francisco alongside fellow Mesa Psi Beta student s Douglas Jenks, Tami Patterson, Anastasia Wilson, and Barbara Jarvis.

Oleksander won second place in the Psi Beta contest, joining Douglas, Tami, Anastasia, and Barbara who took fourth, in an impressive showing by Mesa students at the annual conference of psychology professionals, researchers, and students.

Denisse Rodriguez-Lizarraga

Growing up, DenisseRodriguez-Lizarragawas constantly reminded of the limitations imposed by her undocumented status. The prevailing narrative was one of closed doors and unattainable dreams. However, deep within her burned a fierce determination to defy these expectations and forge her own path. She entered Mesa as a first-generation, undocumented student, and has thrived thanks to Mesa’s supportive community and programs.

“Like many Mesa students, I navigated through uncertainty and doubt, unsure of what the future held.” Says Denisse, but “They call it community college for a reason – because it truly is a place where you find not just education, but also a sense of family and belonging.”

Denisse will now graduate with an AA in Liberal Studies Elementary Education Preparation andtransfer to SDSU to finish her degree in Elementary Education in order to become an elementary school teacher.

“If it were up to me, I would never leave Mesa.” She said, “I just love it here.”

Gregory McKnight Jr

Many Mesa students experience a roundabout journey to Mesa, and this includes Gregory McKnight Jr. After a series of personal losses including his business and his father, he was left with no savings and the difficult task of workingto provide for his family-his wife, Mona, and two kids named Diana and Cyrus.

He worked two, sometimes three, jobs to make ends meet, including on the facilities staff at Mesa. There, he cleaned toilets and mopped hallways while watching others invest in their education. It inspired him. He looked into classes at Mesa, and realized that education was not out of reach. With the help of financial aid, the San Diego promise grant, and online courses, he began to work towards his degree.

Now, he will graduate with two degrees in Black Studies and Communication Studies with honors and a GPA of 3.94. Then, this fall, he’ll begin classes at San Diego State University.

Sophia Kaplan

Sophia started at Mesa in the Spring of 2022. Then, she felt like her life was a puzzle she couldn’t figure out. As a child, Sophia had had a speech impediment. Even though it no longer affected her speech, this childhood adversity created long-lasting effects.

But at Mesa, Sophia blossomed while taking Oral Communications, taught by Professor Scott Plambek and joined the Speech and Debate Team.

“The instructors at Mesa have a profound way of uplifting students, so they can grow academically, professionally, and personally.” Says Sophia.

She will graduate May 24^thwith an Associates in Arts in Communication Studies degree.

Allegra Pompeo

Have you ever had teachers that make your life better? Allegra Pompeo has.

“The staff at Mesa College is unlike any other.” Explained Allegra about why she choose to attend Mesa College. “Profesora Padilla-Barajas offered to help me when she saw my car die on the 805 on my way to school, Professor Lesson told our class about available scholarships, and offers financial advice at the Stand, and Profesora Shoenberg-Fernandez helped students apply for the Pell Grant so they could afford to study abroad.”

“These are teachers who genuinely care about their student’s well-being and educational experiences, and who know that everyone deserves a quality education regardless of extenuating financial circ*mstances.” Says Allegra.

While at Mesa, Allegra pursued a degree in Spanish. As part of her pursuit, she studied abroad with the Mesa Study Abroad program in South America. Allegra plans to transfer to San Diego State University to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality.

Anika Goel

Anika Goel was sixteen, still in high school, when she began taking classes at Mesa. It was a step that presented challenges both academic and personal, but also opened her eyes to the discipline that is her calling, Physics. The combination of challenging problems, interactive experiments, and the curiosity all good physicists need was alluring to Anika. And supportive professors helped bring learning to life. She names Professor Michael Crivello’s introductory physics class as one of her favorite classes and professors ever.

“Pro. Crivello wasfunny, engaging, and made learning physics interesting and fun. I loved his class!” she shared.

Later, faced with roadblocks from the Covid-19 pandemic, Anika enrolled in the remote BSc in Computer Science program at the University of London. She competed in Gymnastics and practiced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. She also participated in internships at AMD and Intel. However, she always planned to finish her A.S. in Physics at Mesa when in-person classes opened up again. And this year, she will graduate with an A.S. in Physics in addition to her recently awarded BSc in Computer Science from the University of London. Next, she plans on furthering her education by pursuing graduate-level degrees in Business or Physics.

Sarah Diot

The journey to graduating from San Diego Mesa College has been marked by unique challenges for Sarah Diot. In 2014, she stepped away from education. Originally intended to be a temporary pause, the detour extended over a decade. Within that period, she experienced incredible trauma when she suffered a brutal assault that almost turned fatal.However, she continued to hold her head up and fight for her dreams, beginning studies as a finance major at Mesa.

“The return on investment in education is immeasurable.” She explains. “As a finance major, I've learned that investment isn't just about money; it's about where we place our time, our energy, and our passion. [Education] yields not just financial stability but also personal growth, confidence, and the knowledge that we can face adversity head-on and emerge victorious.”

Sarah will graduate this May with an Associate Degree for Transfer in Business and will transfer to San Diego State University to continue her educational journey.

About #MesaGivingDay#MesaGivingDay honors the accomplishments and hard work of this year’s graduating class and paves the way for the next generation of Olympians by offering the opportunity to give back to San Diego Mesa College. Our goal is to reach as many people as possible! We want #MesaGivingDay to be a day where everyone in San Diego and beyond can honor the work Mesa is doing to empower minds, transform lives, and shape our community.

About Mesa San Diego Mesa College

San Diego Mesa College is a fully accredited, comprehensive college committed to equity and excellence. We honor our diverse community of students, faculty, professional staff, and administrators who collaborate to foster scholarship, leadership, access, and innovation in an inclusive learning environment. By promoting student learning and achievement that leads to degrees and certificates, transfer, workforce training, and lifelong learning, we empower our students to reach their educational goals and shape their future. Among the largest community colleges in California, Mesa serves approximately 20,000 students per year, 25% of whom are full-time. Mesa offers over 200 associate degree and certificate programs and is one of 15 California community colleges offering a four-year baccalaureate degree. Mesa ranks as one of San Diego’s top transfer institutions, is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI), and a Military Friendly Gold Status School, serving nearly 2,500 active duty, veterans, and their families.www.sdmesa.edu

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Tags:Press Release, Giving Day, Scholarships, #students