Hundreds Gather at UC Merced to Explore Graduate School Pathways

UC Merced buzzed with energy as nearly 800 students and 200 recruiters, staff and volunteers from across California converged on campus on Oct. 18 for the California Forum for Diversity in Graduate Education - a dynamic event dedicated to inspiration, inclusion and academic ambition.

Diversity Forum is a collaboration with public and private colleges and universities from across California.

"This is a day to celebrate diversity, graduate education and the greatness of education right here in California," said Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Education Hrant Hratchian during the morning kick-off and introduction of UC Merced soil biochemistry Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, who gave an uplifting plenary session

"The graduate school journey is not necessarily easy, but it is so worth it," Berhe said. "You are where you are because of your brilliance, your potential, your unique contributions that that are desperately needs."

Berhe wove insights from her family's heritage and the wisdom she's cultivated through her work with soil.

"Keep pursuing education because education is the only lasting wealth in this world… be purposeful in building and nurturing a supportive professional community," she said as she described plants that share resources through connected roots. "The most successful plants aren't the ones that try to do it all by themselves. They're the ones that are connected to a robust network.

"I wouldn't be where I am today without my village: my family, my mentors, my colleagues and collaborators. Be purposeful about building and nurturing a professional community. Seek out mentors who will see your potential, find peers who will celebrate your wins and support you through challenges."

Following Berhe's talk, students chose from workshops ranging from "Keys to Success and Survival in Graduate School" to "How to Finance Your Graduate Education" to help demystify graduate school.

"Today's workshops help students get more insight about what's involved in going to graduate school: what that process is, how to get there and what you can expect once you get there, how to better prepare for it, and thinking beyond it in terms of careers," said Pamela D. Jennings, associate vice provost for Graduate Studies for the University of California Office of the President.

A key draw for the day was a recruitment fair with more than 100 graduate program representatives from across the nation, including University of California campuses, California State University campuses, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Michigan State University among others.

Representatives were on hand to answer questions and help demystify the process to apply and succeed in graduate school.

"They're getting that opportunity to meet their, you know, their peers, whether they're from their home campus or from other campuses," said April Lane, graduate student resource specialist in the Office of Graduate Studies at Cal State San Bernardino. "And they're getting a chance to talk to some of the leading institutions in the country."

Emely Echavarria, a psychology and child development fourth-year student from Chico State University, said the forum allowed her to get out of her comfort zone.

"It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know more about UC Merced as well as the different graduate programs that came today," she said. "I've learned it's possible to go to graduate school and even with the struggles, there are a lot of resources schools offer."

Third-year statistics student Chris Liu, who attends Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, said he was excited to speak to representatives from UCLA and learn about the campus's new data science graduate program.

"I wanted to network with people from other schools, and this seemed like a great opportunity to learn more about grad school and prepare myself," he said.

Karla Ruiz Vega was one of more than 100 UC Merced undergraduates in attendance. The fourth-year management and business economics student learned about the Diversity Forum as an intern with UC Merced's Graduate Division.

"It was the perfect opportunity to network with other schools and see the resources they could provide me," she said. "I've been able to network not just with representatives but other students as well. That gives me a different perspective to the possibilities for different programs."

Lisanny Manzueta Custodio, associate director of Graduate Student Support and Diversity for the Graduate School at University at Albany, said the day was an excellent opportunity.

"We're super interested in recruiting amazing talented students. This is a great opportunity for students to be able to connect schools from all over the country and for us to reach students who we might not otherwise be able to connect with," she said.

The day concluded with more workshops and discipline panel sessions featuring faculty and graduate students from UC Merced and others.

"It's so important for universities to come together in spaces like this so students know that there's a future, that there's potential, and there are so many people who want to support them on their journey," Jennings said. "And that's particularly important now that students get that encouragement and that universities understand that they have a role to play to make sure that our state and our nation is supporting and uplifting all people."