Hector Jácome-Sáenz honors his immigrant parents with dean’s medalist recognition
For Fresno State’s Héctor Jácome-Sáenz, graduating not only from the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology but as the college’s undergraduate dean’s medalist is a huge accomplishment that honor his immigrant parents’ journey the United States.
“It feels awesome. I mean, being a Mexican in this country and actually coming from Mexican parents who had to travel all the way to California from Hidalgo it’s a big accomplishment,” said the 29-year-old Jácome-Sáenz. “It just makes me feel like their American dream accomplished by seeing me walking that stage, that moment of graduation, and especially being recognized with this honor of being the Dean’s medalist.”
“It’s a huge accomplishment. And it just, it’s fulfilling. It makes me feel like their journey finally paid off,” said Jácome-Sáenz, who earned his bachelors’ degree in plant science with a 4.0 GPA.
At the beginning, Jácome-Sáenz said he was surprised that his professors nominated him for the honor and ultimately being selected as dean’s medalist.
“I’m really grateful for this opportunity. And being able to represent the Mexican people and their hard labor and the fact that they don’t get the recognition that they deserve. So I’m actually really surprised by being nominated, selected as the dean’s medalist,” said the first-generation college student. “Being a child of the migrant workers, I’m like, a presentation of their dream.”
He was one of me many graduating college students who took part in the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology graduation ceremony Friday (May 20) afternoon at the Save Mart Center.
Born in Salinas, Jácome-Sáenz was raised in Mexico in a house surrounded by cornfields and worked with his family in the fields.
“It was just part of our everyday lives, just being out there in the field,” said Jácome-Sáenz who came back to Salinas as a teenager.
Jácome-Sáenz, who is the first one of his family to go to college, said when he started thinking about a career in agriculture, it clicked.
“My whole life has been around agriculture and, the fact that farm workers don’t get the recognition they deserve, and actually taking some of those jobs out there harvesting strawberries, artichokes and all those different jobs. And talking to the people actually motivated me to pursue a career in agriculture. To be sort of a voice for the people who are not even recognized,” said the first-generation college student Jácome-Sáenz.
He earned his GED and enrolled at Hartnell College to add to his field worker experience. There, Jácome-Sáenz volunteered for a number of agricultural events where he could promote and teach youth about farming.
He continued that volunteer work at Fresno State as an ag ambassador and by motivating and mentoring future farmers.
After transferring from Hartnell College, the COVID-19 pandemic and doing school virtually from his home is Salinas during his first year at Fresno State didn’t deter Jácome-Sáenz of achieving his dream.
“It was really difficult, especially because where I used to live it was on the rural area. So the internet connection was really, really bad and, and technology in general, I didn’t really have a reliable computer or reliable internet. And it was really, really hard for me to adapt to online learning,” Jácome-Sáenz said. “If it wasn’t for like the programs I have in school, such as the hotspot lending programs or computer devices. And stuff like that. It was really difficult.”
When it all got back to in-person learning, Jácome-Sáenz move back to Fresno.
He is a recruiting coordinator for the Irrigation Club and a member of the Plant Science Club. He also worked as a research assistant studying plant disease and volunteered on a genetic engineering research project on the navel orange worm.
Jácome-Sáenz works at the UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier as a lab assistant for entomology research and will continue working there after graduation.
“What I want to do now is just work and kind of get that experience of actually using my bachelor’s degree and getting some experience out on the field and become a PCA or CCA,” he said of being an agricultural pest control adviser or a certified crop adviser. “So combining those two will make a person like a really valuable asset.”
Jácome-Sáenz said his ultimate goal is to pursue a master degree in plant science and become a professor.
“After a while I do plan to come back to school and pursue a master’s in plant science,” he said.
Héctor Jácome-Sáenz
Honor: Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology undergraduate dean’s medalist
Family: Parents Julio Jacome and Jovita Saenz; Siblings: 3, Julio, Adrian, and Iris.
Born: Salinas, Ca
Age: 29
High school: Obtained his GED in 2015-16
Hobby: Go to the beach, visit new places. The place I liked to visit the most is México, where my family is there, from Hidalgo.
Music: I listen to regional music, Mexican music like Banda, corridos, I listen to jazz or reggae, funk like James Brown.
Food: Mexican food, all kinds.
