By Nada Sewidan

Staff Writer

As CSUSM student and ASI Vice President of Operations Cipriano Vargas gets ready to graduate and move on to the next step of his life, he muses over the past couple of years at CSUSM.

Vargas has achieved numerous goals throughout his career at CSUSM including serving on the ASI Board of Directors for three consecutive years. He explained that classes, internship opportunities, the mentorships from faculty and staff and leadership involvement have all given him a well-rounded framework for the real world.

“I have had the opportunity of mentoring many students, I see their growth and development,” Vargas said. “Having a mentor makes a huge difference and I am proud to see my fellow student leaders continuing this work of mentorship.”

The years he spent at CSUSM have produced numerous memories for Vargas; however, his favorite memory happened while serving on ASI. During an ASI meeting in his first year on the Board of Directors one particular event stood out the most. It was a heated meeting in which everyone present had differing opinions but afterwards the whole board went to grab dinner. Vargas conveyed that it didn’t matter what their differences were as long as they came together at the end to serve their purpose—the student body.

“At the end of the day we hope to do what is best for the students and put ideologies aside and be able to come together as a family,” Vargas said.

Vargas explained that his biggest accomplishment while serving on ASI was being able to register as many as 1,600 students to vote. Along with ASI Board of Directors, Vargas supported Proposition 30 and was able to stop CSU budget cuts.

“I hope that other students are inspired to get more involved on campus because of the things we are accomplishing as student leaders,” Vargas said.

Cipriano is graduating with a Sociology degree and a double minor in Women Studies and Spanish.

After graduation, Vargas will be joining Teach for America as a corp member in San Antonio, Texas for the next 2 years. “I will be teaching kindergartners with a focus on a dual immersion bilingual program,” explained Vargas. Afterwards he will be applying for a joint program to get his Master’s in Education.

“I truly believe that education can be transformative and my journey at CSUSM is a story of transformation through experiences,” Vargas said. “As I get ready to go into ‘real world’, I hope to use my knowledge as a sociologist and a scholar to be an agent of social change.”

Vargas advises CSUSM students to not be afraid to fail. “Sometimes [failing] is the best thing that can happen,” Vargas said. “As an individual I have learned a lot from my own failures as a student leader and these experiences have helped me become a better person.”