Unconventional Paths End in Success for Class of 2026 Grads

By Luciana Chavez

Every Merced College graduate has a story. They’ve set goals and achieved them, encountered obstacles and overcome them, found opportunities and seized them.

From the Class of 2026, we’ve chosen Maria Madrigal, Rosario Damian and D’Andre Johnson to share with this community how they discovered their talents and their futures at Merced College.

Willing Herself to Bilingualism

Two years ago, Maria Madrigal accepted work as a student ambassador with the Merced College Extended Opportunities Programs & Services (EOPS) Office.

Let us be clear: The native Spanish speaker accepted the job communicating with current and future EOPS students even before she was fluent in English.

“I had offered to help with Halloween decorations, and then I got to know everyone there,” Madrigal said. “Then they offered me a position. I was scared because my English wasn’t great. But they gave me that opportunity. They were very welcoming.”

Madrigal worked hard. She wrote everything down at first, so she could read and memorize the information and practice her pronunciation.

“That’s how I learned English, me talking to students who are interested in EOPS and helping them get into the program,” she said.

The young woman who had failed English courses at Modesto Junior College during the pandemic was now guiding fellow students in two languages.

“It was a rough start, but I’m proud of myself,” Madrigal said. “During my first year here, I always needed a translator. A year later, I was translating for EOPS staff and other departments and doing well. It made me so happy.”

Becoming bilingual unlocked so many doors, like her childhood passion for science. Madrigal joined the MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science, Achievement) program, which supports minority STEM students. By the time she took physics, she knew the game and vigilantly attended office hours to get ahead.

“My professor was so patient,” she said. “She explained everything in different ways until I understood. She made me feel comfortable. That was important, because at that time I didn’t talk in class.”

Madrigal, 23, graduated with an AA in Mathematics and an AS-T in Physics. She’s transferring to UC Merced to study electrical engineering, and she hopes to eventually work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Los Angeles and get into space exploration.

As a girl in Mexico, people would laugh at her when she said she wanted to be an astronaut. Then, she found out that the first Mexican woman in space was Katya Echazarreta, an electrical engineer, in 2022. Echazarreta worked at the JPL.

Madrigal has unlocked the doors to her childhood version of a fulfilling life.

“As a kid, I always looked at the stars,” she said. “I was obsessed with the sky and space and wanted to go there. In Mexico, I would share my dream, and people would say it was impossible. Now they believe me. Now I believe me.”

Embracing the Work and Finding Hope

For the first time in a long time, D’Andre Johnson, 36, knows the power of hope.

Johnson earned the right to feel hopeful after acing a 14-class curriculum to become certified as an electrical technician while also earning an AA in General Education from Merced College earlier this month.

Two years ago, Johnson began studying to be an electrician, because he wanted a stable future.

“It’s a field that doesn’t die, it only evolves,” he said. “I know for a fact I will always have a job. I didn’t necessarily like it at first, but it grew on me. Once I learned some things, I was like, ‘Yeah, I get it. I can do this.’”

Johnson is searching for a job as we speak, but he has already signed up for more electrician courses in the fall in case he’s still searching. He’s protecting his future.

“Right now I have the time to get myself all the way together,” he said. “I’m going to take advantage of my chances. I have to do it now.”

Johnson’s life plan includes owning a home and maybe starting a family. He had time to figure out exactly how to build that future while serving eight years in prison from 2015-2023.

“All you can do inside prison is think,” he said. “You can think about what happened and think about what’s next. When I started thinking about what’s next, I asked myself if I wanted to continue how I was going or take a different route. I realized can’t no one change me but me.”

Once enrolled at Merced College, Johnson joined the Rising Scholars program for formerly incarcerated students. There he found people who understood his past and who had experienced it themselves.

“Rising Scholars helped me with everything,” he said. “It’s a safe space. You can go there and sit and if you’re not having the best day, you can take a seat and collect your thoughts and then go back to what you were doing. They let you be yourself.”

Johnson earned this new chance because he has put distance — and tangible achievements like his certification and a college education — between a troubled past and a brighter future.

“I definitely feel hopeful,” he said. “There’s only a right way and a wrong way. I had to learn the hard way to find the right way. As long as I believe in myself and stay on the correct path, then yeah, I’m hopeful. One hundred percent.”

Honoring Second Chances

Rosario Damian thought she was done with education when she dropped out of high school and later earned her GED 23 years ago.

But at 40, battling emotional challenges and working hard hours with the elderly as a caregiver, a scared Damian turned to family, friends and her pastor for advice.

They all said, “Rosario, go back to school!”

After securing her permanent resident status in 2024, Damian took a human services course at Merced College.

“But I never thought the class would go as deep as it did,” she said. “We covered topics that had never crossed my mind before. Like how can we care for people from different cultures when we don’t know those cultures? I have had so many strong conversations with Professor Samantha Prado-Robledo that opened my mind and eyes to the world we live in.”

Seeing the world clearly has empowered Damian. Three years ago, she was an illegal immigrant in the U.S. who had suffered domestic violence. She moved to Los Banos with her three children to get away, then began working as a caregiver, but she remained financially vulnerable.

Then, one night, her daughter begged her to read her a book. Depressed and dozing off, Damian replied, “No, no, you read to me.”

Hearing her daughter’s sweet voice jolted Damian awake. She felt like a horrible mother.

What am I doing?!

Soon thereafter, a stranger invited her to church.

“God started working through me,” Damian said.

The community at Los Banos Word of Life Church took her in. She reconnected with her husband, who had experienced his own awakening. They recommitted themselves to the Lord and to each other.

The couple have served as youth pastors for three years, and Damian has inspired three youngsters there to enroll at Merced College.

“The pleasure knowing I’m helping them to not make mistakes like we did is huge,” she said. “Guiding them to the Lord makes me feel great.”

Damian completed AA degrees in Administrative Medical Office Professional, Human Services, and Administrative Office Professional this spring. She was also one of 59 graduates to receive Superintendent’s Honors (4.0 GPA, 36+ units).

“I believe anyone can do what I’ve done when you put your mind to it and you’re working with the right support system like I did at Merced College,” she said. “I never dreamed I could earn awards. But studying at Merced College has been like a dream. Do not give up on your dreams!”