California State University, Bakersfield student Emma Barnes graduated from high school in a class of fewer than 30 students. This May, she will be among more than 1,000 students who will be graduating from the university.
Barnes — born and raised in the small community of New Cuyama just southwest of Kern County along Highway 166 — will be graduating with a bachelor’s degree in history after spending two years at CSUB.
“I’m a little scared, but mostly really excited,” she said. “It’s been a great experience here at CSUB.”
Barnes transferred from Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria to CSUB in fall 2020 during the height of COVID-19. At that time, she was still living in New Cuyama while she attended her courses remotely, an experience that proved to be challenging at times.
“When everything is online, it can be difficult to keep things on track,” she said. “It was hard for me to pace myself, especially when I didn’t have regular class meetings. I found myself falling behind in my work and doing things last-minute.”
To help stay connected with campus outside of her online classes, Barnes worked with some of her fellow history students to develop online groups through the Discord app, which allowed students to study together and share their interests and passions.
It wasn’t until fall 2021, after Barnes had already been a CSUB student for a year, that she decided to move to Bakersfield.
“It was kind of weird being from a place where I know everybody and then coming to Bakersfield and not knowing anybody,” she said. “It’s definitely different living in the city, but it’s not a bad different. It’s really nice being closer to school.”
Besides excelling in her classes, Barnes has also gotten involved in several organizations on campus, serving as president of the university’s chapter of the national history honors society Phi Alpha Theta and as vice president of the History Book Club.
“Emma is a star in the History Department, not only because of her strong academic performance but also because of the many ways she has jumped in to serve our program and students,” said Professor and Department Chair Dr. Miriam Vivian. “The energy Emma has brought to the department can best be measured as ‘exuberance.’”