Dean’s medalist puts her best foot forward to serving people with degree
Something that inspires Fresno State undergraduate Dean’s Medalist Desiree Galván to keep going is the fact that there are people that need help in some way.
“Knowing that I can help them with their schoolwork or being there to listen and to give them advice on maybe what path they can take or just to help them with their communication barriers with my degree, that’s kind of what inspires me to keep going,” said Galván, who completed her bachelor’s degree in communicative sciences and deaf studies, speech-language pathology option, with a 4.0 grade point average.
“Knowing that people are in need of help and also want to get, that’s something that fuels me to keep going to serve kind of as a person for them to come to.”
Galván, of Bakersfield, was selected the undergraduate Dean’s Medalist for the College of Health and Human Services.
The 22-year-old is a first-generation American who wants to use her English, Spanish and American Sign Language skills to communicate with others. Her mother, Deisy Galván, who works in education, is from el Salvador. Her father, Victor Galván, is a correctional officer and is from México.
Galván said she was so shocked when one of her professors emailed her letting her know that she has been selected by the department to represent them for the university’s highest honor.
“I was really shocked to know that my professors recognized me in that way,” Galván said of learning what that award means. “I didn’t realize what they saw in me, I didn’t see their perspective of me, so that was really amazing to get to see.”
Galván came to Fresno State to try to conquer her fear of going into the unknown and going into a field that she didn’t know too much about.
“And I was just trying to get past that hurdle that I had for myself. And so, knowing that I conquered that fear and also went past that fear and was recognized for what I did was so humbling and just very honorable to know,” said Galván, who transferred to Fresno State from Bakersfield College after two years.
Galván said when she went on campus, she had a lot of questions and talked to professors and students about what to expect, what classes to take and what her path would look like for her major.
She said the department went above and beyond to help, showing her what she would be doing on the daily basis and things that she should get involved in.
“And to me, that was very valuable because it showed me that they cared about my needs and they also care about making me feel like I was part of a family there, and that’s an important value that I have,” said Galván, who has a passion for helping children, which led her to volunteer and work at a counseling center where she developed group therapy sessions for children.
Getting into speech pathology, Galván said her mother who has worked as a teacher, vice principal and migrant education coordinator, suggested that it would be a good fit for her because she likes to work with kids and likes to help a lot.
“I feel like this career really fits in with my goals personally,” said Galván, whose goals are to go back to Fresno State to work on her master’s degree in speech-language pathology, get a job working in a school setting and then in the future pursue her doctorate in counseling.
Her ultimate goal is to teach at Fresno State as a professor in the department and work with college students like her.
Galvan served as vice president for Fresno State’s Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and participated in the TRIO Student Support Services Program, which provides academic support for first-generation, low-income students and those with disabilities.
Galván has a desire to help others overcome challenges, having faced her own struggles with depression and anxiety.
“I feel that this career has helped me come out of that mental health room that I was kind of in. And the reason I think for that is because I’m focusing a lot more of my attention on other people,” she said. “I come across a few people where their communication struggles or barriers can or are one of the reasons why they have mental health issues. And that just goes to show that communication is not only about the physical aspect of communication or the language or the speech, it’s also about the emotional barriers that they face with it.”
“This kind of gives me a better understanding of the people I’ll be serving, and it also allows me to really put my best foot forward for them because I know how it can be,” Galván said.
Finishing her last year as an undergraduate student in the middle of the pandemic was very challenging with the transition of in-person to distant learning, Galván said.
“I think that transition was kind of hard because the work was the same and the rigor was the same and it was kind of maximized a little bit because a lot of students, we had to learn how to teach ourselves some concepts because it just wasn’t the same. It doesn’t always translate exactly the way it does in a classroom,” said Galván, who moved back home to Bakersfield during the pandemic and helped her older sister with childcare. “So, having that challenge plus also new personal life challenges, was very difficult to transition.
“I don’t have kids, but I learned what it’s like to have kids and to juggle a job and school. It became a lot because trying to help your family and still stick to your morals and values while trying to be successful is really hard,” Galván said. “But I think that was definitely something that I learned a lot from for sure.”
Galván was invited to do a speech for her College of Health and Human Services which was prerecorded and was shown during the May 14 evening graduation at the university’s Bulldog Stadium.
“We are a community of givers and we get to support and care for the people that need our help the most,” said Galván in her speech. “We are a group of spectacular, intelligent, kind hearted, and tenacious individuals with the opportunity to make monumental differences in the lives of the people we serve everyday.”
María G. Ortiz-Briones: 559-441-6782, @TuValleTuSalud
Desiree Galván
Age: 22
Birthplace: Bakersfield
High school: Liberty High School, Class of 2017
Parents: Deisy Galván, and Víctor Galván
Siblings: Ashley Galván
First job: Babysitter/volunteer which turned into her job.
Favorite meal: “My tía’s enchiladas. They are so good. She definitely puts love in there to make them good because they’re not like any others that I tried.”
Who inspires you? “I feel like there’s no one person that I can pinpoint. I know that my mom gives me a lot of inspiration.”
Esta historia fue publicada originalmente el 14 de mayo de 2021, 10:40 p. m..
