Every student is made out of a different mold as they all come from different backgrounds. Student leader Joshua Foronda identifies as Asian-­Pacific Islander (API) and aspires to motivate youth with his testimony.

Foronda was born in Japan and lived in Guam through his high school years. He is a third­year here at CSUSM and majors in criminology justice studies. He is quite involved on campus; he received awards for Fraternity Man of the Year for 2014­-2015 and Civility Champion of the Year for 2015, has been an O-Team leader for three years and has been an InterVarsity leader for two years. On top of that, he is part of the Black Student Union and is president of his fraternity, Alpha Psi Rho.

Being involved in many different organizations is difficult for anyone to manage. Foronda created a way to cut down on the number of organizations he’s involved in without affecting his ability to impact the community.

“My first and second year, I wanted to join everything,” said Foronda. “I learned to organize my priorities. You pick [your] top priorities, really knowing what you’re passionate about… [so] you can grow more in those areas that you care about, and for me, that was Alpha Psi Rho and O-­Team.”

Being president of his fraternity is a large task, and one of his top priorities is establishing philanthropies for Alpha Psi Rho. For their major annual philanthropy event called RHOlympics, Alpha Psi Rho teams up with the YMCA and managed to raise about $1,000 last year, which they gave to the Palomar Family YMCA in Escondido. A big part of Foronda’s fraternity is to spread awareness for Asian­-Pacific Islanders in the community.

He said they spread API awareness “through multiple step performances for several events such as Mr. AXO, No More Campaign, Alpha Xi Delta’s Autism Awareness Month and the Student Org Fair.”

He credits the O-­Team with helping him with his Alpha Psi Rho presidency, as he stated that one of the many things it has taught him is “emotional intelligence.”

As grounded as he is in the present, he has a solid view of what he wants to accomplish in life. Speaking about his future goals and aspirations, Foronda said that he hopes to join the police academy in Fullerton,

Anaheim, Riverside or possibly take a different route and get a master’s in business administration or education. Through his education, he said he hopes to achieve one goal.

“What I really want to do is to be in a position where I can empower lives, empower youth, whether it be as a police officer, teacher or [working] for a non­-profit organization. I also want to be surrounded by positive vibes and empower others, speaking upon my faith and my testimony of how I pushed through struggles and challenges throughout my life.”