Alex Davila
10,000 Degrees Alumnus
University of California, Santa Cruz, 2020
Amairani Roman
10,000 Degrees Alumna
University of California, Santa Barbara 2020
Bilqis Askari
10,000 Degrees Alumna
California State University, East Bay 2020
Claudia Campos
10,000 Degrees Alumna
University of California, Berkley 2017
University of Southern California, 2019
Cleo Hadid
10,000 Degrees Alumna
California State University, Chico 2020
Kevin Rojas De León
10,000 Degrees Alumnus
University of California, Berkeley, 2020
As a first-generation, undocumented, woman of color, 10,000 Degrees alumna Ariana Aparicio Aguilar says she didn’t let the fact that she lacked a social security number hold her back from accomplishing her dreams. “ If anything, it has motivated me to go further in life than I expected,” she says.
Ariana’s achievements are beyond impressive – she has diplomas from not one but three universities: Santa Rosa Junior College, Sonoma State University, and Harvard University! And in 2025, she’ll add a fourth, when she completes her Ph.D. from UC Riverside.
Ariana has a message for our college students in the midst of the pandemic: “You are courageous in the fact that you’re in school right now … Don’t give up. Know that you have people in your corner, people like at 10,000 Degrees and other mentors … who want to see you succeed … I know you can do it.”
Ariana, who is now a research assistant at the Immigration Initiative at Harvard, dreams of being a president of a university one day. “I want to impact the majority of students and continue providing access, retention, and support for underrepresented students, not just undocumented students, but all students,” she says.
Meet 10,000 Degrees Alumna and Fellow, Brissa Teodoro, and learn how she is ONE DEGREE of change! Brissa is a Sonoma State graduate (2018) with Bachelor’s in Early Childhood Studies, with an emphasis on Education. She’s currently in her 3rd year working as a 10,000 Degrees Fellow, helping middle school students in Marin City transition to high school.
Brissa co-created a personalized program with her current manager and former advisor, Rondell Gibson – a full-circle moment – focusing on topics she learned and grew from herself, and wished she had known about while in middle and high school. To any student who is facing challenging times, Brissa says, “You have an entire community rooting for you … we are always here for you.”
Meet 10,000 Degrees Alumna and KRON4 News Producer, Cinthia Tafoya! Cinthia wishes to show her family and community that you can achieve all your goals through hard work and determination, no matter where you come from.
With a Bachelor’s in Atmospheric Science from UC Irvine, Cinthia dreams of one day joining KRON4’s weather team. Today, she’s a KRON4 News Producer for San Francisco’s 3:00 p.m. broadcast and occasional anchor for their News App. Cinthia credits 10,000 Degrees support – from introducing her to the UC Irvine campus, to helping her graduate debt-free, to offering her a job right out of college.
Meet 10,000 Degrees Alumnus, Eugen Xie, and learn how he is ONE DEGREE of change! Eugen is a San Francisco native, recently graduated from UC, Irvine with a B.A. in Business Economics and Statistics and is working as a consultant at Oliver Wyman.
His parents were immigrants and instilled the importance of education in him: ” it’s a path for upward mobility, better opportunities, higher quality of life, everything they aspired for and wanted for him.
Being part of 10,000 Degrees allowed him to build life-long relationships with his mentors and advisors who inspired him to become a better version of himself. He is passionate about educational equity and social impact, and hopes to make an impact with organizations close to his heart like 10,000 Degrees.
Join the 10,000 Degrees Alumni Connections group on LinkedIn