From a young age, Mariah Sarabia understood that education was a vital lifeline to the future she envisioned for herself.
“I knew the value of higher education,” she recalls. “When my parents immigrated from Mexico, they didn’t have any education at all. My mom didn’t even speak English when they moved here.”
Sarabia’s mother served as an inspiration, taking ESL courses to learn the language before attending nursing school and eventually becoming a licensed vocational nurse. “I saw how valuable higher education is, especially as a woman of color,” says Sarabia. “I knew that if I had an education and got a good paying job that I was happy at and interested in, no one could take that away from me.”
Clearly, the lessons on the importance of education made a big impact on Sarabia, who graduated from CSUDH in May 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology—at the age of just 19.
“I got here at Dominguez Hills in 2022 and just hit the ground running,” she laughs.
Sarabia’s success at CSUDH was an extension of her hard work in high school. She attended Dr. Richard A. Vladovic Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy in Wilmington, Calif., which partners with Los Angeles Harbor College and allows students to take courses which fulfill both high school and community college requirements.
“They set high expectations for us,” Sarabia says. “I was taking honors classes, AP classes, and college courses at the same time. On top of that, I was also doing extracurricular activities. It was definitely really tough.”
In 2022, Sarabia graduated from high school — and community college, with an associate’s degree in psychology. Having been born and raised in Carson, she didn’t have to think twice about which university to attend. “I always knew I wanted to go to Dominguez Hills, because I grew up right down the street.”
When she arrived on the CSUDH campus that fall, “I just hit the ground running. I thought, the sooner I finish this, the better for me and my family.” Sarabia wanted to help take the financial burden of college off of her parents’ plate, so she dived headfirst into her academic journey, taking night classes and working hard to make sure she was on the right track.”
Although she was initially hesitant to take night classes, Sarabia is glad she did. It let her meet classmates with a wide range of backgrounds and situations, many of them non-traditional or returning students.
“I’ve met some great classmates with really interesting stories,” she says. “It helps to realize that there are people who have had a harder journey, to meet parents or single mothers who are getting back into school. It’s really inspiring, too. I feel like seeing them working so hard pushed me to continue, as well. If someone who’s in a harder situation than me can do it, without much support, I can definitely do it, too!”
Even though she graduated from CSUDH in May, Sarabia can still be found on campus every day – she works as an assistant in the Human Resources office in Welch Hall.
“Dominguez Hills has such great workforce integration because of the student assistant positions they make available,” says Sarabia. “These jobs are such a great way to get students acclimated to the workplace. Knowing that I’m capable of doing administrative work, overseeing projects, or taking the lead on certain tasks – It’s like, wow, I really am more than just a student now!”
Sarabia has been accepted into the CSUDH Master of Social Work program, and will start pursuing her advanced degree in Fall 2024. “I’m really excited,” she says. “I’m glad I get to stay close to home, and it’s a great program.”
Although she hasn’t settled on a specific career path yet, Sarabia wants to use her social work degree to help uplift the local Carson community. She sees a disconnect in higher education, where students are pushed toward earning a degree with less emphasis on how to launch a career after that achievement, and wants to help create the bridge between community members’ educational aspirations and their real-world job opportunities.
“I’ve always been interested in helping others and helping the community,” she says. “I really want to focus on capacity building, on providing educational and career opportunities within local communities.”
