Tania Sánchez: “I switched from pre veterinary science to psychology and never looked back.”

Tania Sánchez is a quick learner.

She enrolled at Fresno State determined to become a veterinarian.

“Ever since I was in preschool, whenever someone would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would always say veterinarian,” said Sánchez, 23. “I was really passionate about helping animals.”

She even got a job with the local SPCA to obtain experience.

That passion stuck with her until her first year in college. “I discovered that medicine wasn’t what I wanted to go into. I’m not really good at chemistry or physics or math.”

So, Sánchez figured her backup plan was “to switch to another interest that I have been doing subconsciously, which is helping people.”

“I would always help my friends who were coming into college with their class schedules and they would always tell me, ‘Man! You’re better than my counselor’ or ‘Why don’t you become a counselor?’”

Sánchez figured out, why not?

“I switched from pre veterinary science to psychology and never looked back,” said Sánchez. “I don’t regret it.”

Saturday night, the Fresno native earned her master’s degree in counseling with an option in school counseling with a 4.0 GPA. She previously earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in communication from Fresno State.

She also earned the dean’s medal for the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. Two years ago, she was a candidate for the undergraduate dean’s medal.

That honor, said Sánchez, means a lot “because No. 1, I do the work not to be recognized or for a medal. It’s me just being myself.”

“It’s me making the impact I want to make,” she said.

Sánchez participated in the Kremen School of Education commencement at the Save Mart Center.

She credits her first Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) counselor, Judy Clements, for inspiring her.

“I really like this feeling that she’s given me, and I want to be able to help students just as she has helped me.”

Sánchez, the youngest of four children born to Mexican immigrants (her father is from Michoacán, her mother from Nayarit), served as a counselor intern with the EOP program and worked with low-income, first-generation students.

She was also an ambassador for the school counseling program as the recipient of the Dr. Benjamin and Marion Kremen Scholarship.

Sánchez plans to take a break from school before pursuing a doctorate in educational leadership. There’s a chance she’ll work with the virtual Summer Bridge program this summer in the meantime.

She continues to learn Japanese, a language and culture Sánchez began studying in high school.

“Japanese culture has always interested me. I think it’s so neat how different our cultures differ,” said Sánchez, who went to Japan two years ago. “The Japanese love Mexican culture. It’s so cool.”

Sánchez, who speaks some Japanese and can read the language, is hoping to be fluent by the time she goes back to Japan.

Saturday was the first in-person graduation ceremony for Sánchez. The pandemic wiped out her undergraduate ceremony. Her entire master’s program was online.

“I haven’t met any of my (graduate) professors in person,” said Sánchez. “The schools shut down the last semester of my undergraduate year.”

Sánchez said that was a problem because “I’m very talkative. I love to talk.”

“With Zoom, it just didn’t allow me to make those connections, those friendships,” she said.

She did intern in-person at Sanger High last semester, which allowed her to connect with another intern from Fresno State.

Sánchez was looking forward to combining her undergraduate and graduate graduations on Friday, and then attending Saturday’s Latino Graduation Celebration.

“It’s a little more stressful because now I’m inviting so many people to come and I have so many, especially now that I was selected as the dean’s medalist,” she said. “There are even more receptions, you know. So my schedule is pretty full.”

Tania Sánchez

Honor: Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management graduate dean’s medalist

Family: Parents Luis Sánchez and Eva Becerra; siblings Carlos, Diana, and Jocelyn Ramos

Born: Fresno

Age: 23

High school: University High School (2016)

Hobby: Reading, building computers, doing web and graphic design

Music: “Depends on the mood I’m in. I’m a total geek and listen to classical music most times. Recently, I’ve been listening to today’s top hits, pop music, alternative rock or indie.”

Food: Sushi

Esta historia fue publicada originalmente el 20 de mayo de 2022, 11:21 p. m..