Painful separation from mother at border fuels student’s dream

ASI President Stephanie Magaña shows others ‘you can fall down and get back up’

By California State University, Bakersfield

June 22^nd, 2021

On her 13th birthday, Stephanie Magaña woke to find a letter from her stepfather on the table.

Mom had gone to Mexico to complete the process of becoming a U.S. citizen, he explained, but there was a problem. Now, she couldn’t return to the United States.

Her stepfather was on his way to the border to see what he could do, the letter said, leaving Stephanie to care for her three younger siblings until a friend could take them in.

“I was crying, confused and scared, thinking I’m never going to see my parents again,” said Magaña, 25, of that harrowing birthday in Texas, where the family had recently moved from California. “We didn’t have a phone, we didn’t know anybody. Losing her, I felt like I lost everything. I felt so alone.”

For nearly a year, Magaña and her siblings stayed with friends and relatives before their stepfather returned, announcing they were selling everything. They packed a suitcase and boarded a Greyhound bus to Mexico to be reunited with Magaña's mother.

“She’s there at the bus station. She starts crying, and I start crying. I’m shaking. I don’t know how anything else in my life can measure up to how happy I felt in that moment.

“I replay that memory all the time. I tell people, to this day, that’s the best moment in my life.”

It was during her five-month stay in Mexico that Magaña's dream of college began – a journey that meant saying goodbye to her mother again, to return to school in Los Angeles and the path to a university education her mother insisted was the only future she wanted for her children.

But Magaña said the sacrifices she has had to make to become a `Runner are not so different from those of other first-generation students.

And it was that knowledge that prompted her to do something so terrifying, she still marvels at how she even attempted it:

Running for president of Associated Students, Inc.

“I felt like I wanted to show students you can fall down and get back up,” Magaña said. “That life can throw things at you, but you can overcome them. You can become everything you thought you could be. I wanted to be a president where students know I’m not perfect.”

CSUB President Dr. Lynnette Zelezny said she is delighted to partner with Magaña during what will be an extraordinary year at the university.

“At CSUB, we share the responsibility and privilege of leadership,” President Zelezny said. “Our students have a voice in charting the course for the future, and our ASI leaders make sure that students have the opportunity and access to use that voice. Stephanie is so committed to issues of equity and inclusion. Together, we will put students first and continue to make CSUB the pride of our region.”

President Zelezny has invited Magaña to Cabinet and committee meetings, helping her to become acclimated to university governance.

“I admire her leadership so much,” Magaña said of President Zelezny. “She leads with compassion but she’s very professional and knows how to get things done and cares about students. She knows our names. It’s the type of leader I would like to be.”

Vanessa Chicaiza, who served as ASI president for the 2020-2021 term, offered advice for her successor.

“As I reflect on this past year, I would encourage Stephanie to continue our legacy of service. I also emphasize the importance of continuing to bridge the gap between ASI and our student body to ensure that communication flows and our students’ voices continue to be at the forefront of all conversations.”

Magaña is assuming the presidency at a pivotal time in higher education, as CSUB and other universities transition back to in-person classes after nearly a year and a half of remote instruction.

“We’ve been hearing from the students that there are fears about the transition,” she said. “Some students don’t feel safe coming back to campus. They don’t want to get sick. They don’t want to be exposed. This year, I want to focus on making students feel safe, not just on campus but wherever they are. I also want them to know they have the resources they need to succeed.”

Stephanie Magana (front) at CSUB's COVID-19 Vaccination Hub

Magaña has first-hand experience with CSUB’s array of resources because she uses many of them herself, including the `Runner Alumni Mentor Program, which has paired her with CSUB and Bakersfield College professor Eddie Rangel, who advises the computer engineering major on books to read, whom to follow on Twitter and other invaluable information on how to connect.

But where Magaña really feels supported is at the CSUB Counseling Center. The caring professionals who staff the center help her deal with her depression and anxiety, which dates back to the separation from her mother and constant relocation as a child; the Highland High grad has been to 13 different schools.

“It was extremely difficult. Sometimes I would get into a school minutes before lunch and I was terrified who I was going to sit with because I didn’t have any friends,” she recalled. “Adjusting fast is something I had to learn.”

When Magaña started college, the depression returned.

“There were points when I felt like I couldn’t do it. My grades started getting bad. I let it consume me. Luckily, I had good people in my life and good friends who suggested I see somebody. The Counseling Center helped me believe in myself again. That’s when I joined ASI.”

Magaña, who works on campus in the Department of Sustainability, looks forward to graduating in spring of 2022, and would like to go to grad school and study project management for engineering. She still thinks back to the day in high school when her calculus teacher sparked her interest in technology and math.

“It’s a very male-dominated field. There are classes where I’m the only girl, but the professor learns your name pretty fast. Sometimes you feel like the other students in class don’t take you as seriously, and that’s a struggle. But I’m learning to raise my voices in those classes. I just kind of decided to not let that affect me, to overcome the fears that I don’t belong there or I’m not good enough.”

When those thoughts return from time to time, Magaña thinks of her mother, Magdalena, and the life of hard work and sacrifice that led Magaña to college.

“When we were in Mexico with my mother, my parents started realizing we were missing school. They started thinking more about our future. Mom said, ‘You can’t go to school here. I want you to go to a good school. I want you to go to a university. I want you to do good things, and you can’t do that here.’”