Biological and Natural Resource Sciences<\/a>\u2014the first in his family to earn a college degree. Growing up, he never thought a bachelor\u2019s degree would be an option for him. But he wanted to learn, so after high school, he enrolled in a community college near his home in El Centro, California. When he finished his general education courses after two-plus years at community college, he thought financial realities spelled the end of his educational career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI did think it was going to be super expensive,\u201d he says. Then a friend told him about NAU\u2013Yuma, where he could get a bachelor\u2019s degree from a distinguished institution and have access to scholarships without having to move away from home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u201cAt NAU\u2013Yuma, I could stay home and save money, ” he said. \u201cJust commute here and there.\u201d It\u2019s an hour’s drive between his home in El Centro to NAU\u2013Yuma, but to Noriega, it\u2019s a price he\u2019s happy to pay. This semester he makes the commute every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. In past semesters, it was every weekday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn\u2019t an easy transition from community college to university. \u201cIn community college, they would always say like, \u2018You guys have to put more effort into it because once you get to a university, it’s harder,\u2019” he says. \u201cAnd I think I didn\u2019t really take that into consideration. So when I got here, I did kind of struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because his classes were small\u2014his Genetics class has seven\nstudents\u2014and he knew all of his professors, he felt comfortable asking\nfor help. And he got it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy professors were understanding. I could just go to office hours or\nset up an appointment and get help. It\u2019s not like you\u2019re on your\nown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He now has his sights set on a master\u2019s degree. During his time at\nNAU\u2013Yuma, he discovered he liked working in a lab and is interested in a\nmaster\u2019s in biological science that will allow him to pursue that\npassion. But first: the NAU commencement ceremony. His proud parents\ncan\u2019t wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Noriega is the youngest of three children and part of a large extended family on both sides of the border. His brother works in construction, and his sister is a medical assistant. \u201cIt’s kind of on me to graduate from a university,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s setting an example for his younger cousins, who now have a role\nmodel to show them they have choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI do have younger cousins, and I always tell them to consider\ncollege. I’ve been working in labor jobs. I’ve been working out in the\nfields. It’s an honorable job to do. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s\nhard work. But it\u2019s also good to go to college to get a good job. My\ncollege experience has been positive. So I would recommend NAU to\nthem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the Genetics professor walks into the room, Noriega opens his\nlaptop and gets back to work. He\u2019s almost to the finish line; graduation\nis just a few months away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When Gerardo Noriega graduates from NAU\u2013Yuma in spring 2022, he\u2019ll be the first in his family to earn a college degree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":570,"featured_media":3506,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[190,202,194,203,188],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3494"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/570"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3494"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3650,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3494\/revisions\/3650"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legacy.nau.edu\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}