Selena Velasquez was raised in a nontraditional, low-income household. Witnessing substance abuse and financial insecurity during her upbringing inspired Selena to pursue higher education with the goal of supporting other underserved students from similar backgrounds.

At California State University, Monterey Bay, Selena is a first-generation college student, majoring in psychology and minoring in statistics. She is an Undergraduate Research Opportunity Center Scholar, Ronald E. McNair Scholar and a student employee and participant in CSUMB’s Educational Opportunity Program. Through her experience with EOP, Selena has developed a keen sense for the needs of other first-generation college students and has used those observations to develop her own leadership qualities and teaching philosophies.

Selena plans to earn a doctorate and become a university professor so that she can help positively impact the lives of future undergraduate students. ​