CSUSB Palm Desert Cum Laude criminal justice graduate shares plans for future

California State San Bernardino Palm Desert campus celebrated students during a virtual graduation commencement ceremony Saturday morning.

News Channel 3’s Caitlin Thropay spoke with one of the graduates on their plans are for the future.

“My name is Alejandro Ramirez. I’m a criminal justice major and I’ll be graduating from CSUSB Palm Desert campus,” Ramirez told News Channel 3 during a Zoom interview.

Ramirez is one of about 500 people from CSUSB Palm Desert campus graduating virtually this weekend.

“It’s definitely different you know coming in as a freshman I didn’t expect we were going to go through a pandemic and not have a commencement,” Ramirez said.

These graduates also consist of those who graduated last June after their commencement ceremony was canceled due to the pandemic.

Ramirez who graduated Cum Laude with a GPA over 3.5 said the pandemic actually helped him to graduate a semester early by allowing him to take more online courses.

Not only that, Ramirez is a first generation graduate.

“I’m a first-generation college student from a family and I take that in pride because my parents didn’t even graduate high school," Ramirez said. "They came from Mexico so being able to graduate I see that puts a smile on their face and they feel proud and so that makes me happy that I’m doing something that they weren’t able to do,” Ramirez said.

Now, he has his sights set on a career in law enforcement.

“I’ve applied for City of San Bernardino, City of Riverside, and City of Indio,” he said.

He also hopes to one day get his Masters degree and PhD and become a professor.

“I’ve been inspired by my professors I’ve had at Palm Desert one being Manny Bustamante who’s a former prosecutor,” he shared.

Ramirez hopes to one day make a difference in the lives of others like his professors made in his.

“Obviously I’m disappointed I can’t celebrate, but I’m proud of myself that I still finished strong,” he said.

According to CSUSB Palm Desert, graduates who participate in the virtual ceremonies will also be invited to participate in-person when the university returns to that format.

To view the ceremonies visit: https://www.csusb.edu/commencement