With a dream to escape the poverty she grew up with, Alexis Ruiz wanted to be the first person in her family to graduate college, but she never thought she was smart enough to attend medical school.
After starting at CSUF, she received an email from Lillybeth Sasis, an assistant dean for the college of Health and Human Development, inviting her to a meeting. The result was life changing.
“She believed in me. She looked at me, heard my life story, saw my academic history and said, ‘You made it to CSUF. If you can make it here, you can be a doctor.’”
Ruiz changed her path and declared a new major – childhood adolescence and development. Tuffy’s Graduation Scholars gave her the support she needed to pursue her new dream of becoming a pediatric oncology doctor.
The 2022 graduate joins more than 115,000 Titan alumni in Orange County. Next step? Prepare for the MCAT – the next step before medical school.
