Clovis “Senior” in the Spotlight: Moniqua Randolph

My name is Moniqua Randolph, also known as Moni. I was born in Santa Barbara on March 18, 1981. My parents decided to relocate my family from Santa Barbara to Sanger in 1989. We later moved to Clovis.

I’m the first-born in my family and have two siblings. Once we moved to Clovis, I attended Temperance-Kutner Elementary School when I was in the fifth grade. The school itself was different compared to the elementary school I attended in Sanger. Clovis schools seem to have a better academic curriculum than Sanger Unified School District.

I no longer faced a language barrier, which was an issue. The only issue I had at the time was the fact that I was the new kid at school, so making friends was an obstacle. I decided to play basketball in the fifth grade and my teacher at the time was my coach. His name was Mr. Johnston and he was the one who came up with my nickname, “Moni.” Since then that name just stuck with me and I have used it ever since.

Once I completed the sixth grade, it was time to venture off into intermediate school. I went to Clark Intermediate. There were so many kids on campus and the school itself was so big. At that time, I started meeting new kids and creating new relationships that blossomed. My new relationships moved forward as I entered into high school. I then attended Clovis High School in 1996 as a freshman and graduated in 1999.

As a kid in high school, I attended football games, played basketball, enjoyed pep rallies and was occasionally late to my English class, which so happened to be right after lunch. Hey, weren’t all kids late to some of their classes in high school? I had an amazing group of friends that still play a major role in my life today in which, I’m truly blessed.

I decided at the age of 16, I wanted a summer job. I started working for the City of Clovis during the summer of 1998 for the Clovis Recreation Center. I am now 35 years old and I have been an employee with the City of Clovis for 18 years. Throughout the years, I have had the opportunities to further my career with the City of Clovis and decided to take a different career path. I graduated from Fresno State in 2004 with my bachelor’s of science degree in criminology.

I was the first in my family from both my father and mother’s side to graduate from college. I had my own personal goal that I wanted to set within my family. I wanted to be an example for my brother and sister and set the bar high for them to focus outside the box after high school. I wanted to show them that anything is possible and with the support of our family, goals can be reached.

Both siblings ended up graduating from Fresno State. My brother is now a retail manager for Smart & Final and my sister is a Registered Nurse. I’m extremely proud of my siblings and the more I think about their accomplishments, the more I’m grateful for the blessings that my entire family has received.

I recently got married to my college sweetheart, Anthony Randolph, in March of 2015. We met in 1999 at Fresno State when we were both 18 years old. We had a relationship that lasted for 16 years before we decided to tie the knot.

We spent our honeymoon in Dominican Republic at a lavish five-star resort for an entire week. We both enjoy traveling and plan to travel as much as we can, before we start having children. Within our first year of marriage, we purchased our first home. We added a new addition to our family, an 8-week-old German Shepard pup name Morpheus. He’s such a joy and a handful at times. It’s a great way to practice our parenting skills before having our own children. Overall, I truly love my life and the people that are in it. I try my hardest to live each day to the fullest because tomorrow is never guaranteed.

This story was originally published November 21, 2016 at 10:18 AM with the headline "Clovis “Senior” in the Spotlight: Moniqua Randolph."