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ANDRES NUNEZ
Potential Ahead with DEGREE IN HAND
BY DOUGLAS HOAGLAND
BAD GRADES AND BAD BEHAVIOR SEEMED TO PUT FRESNO STATE BEYOND THE REACH OF ANDRES NUNEZ. “WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL, I’D THINK, ‘WOW, I’LL PROBABLY NEVER GET TO GO THERE,’ ” HE SAYS.
So at 18, Nunez joined the U.S. Army because he wanted to be a soldier, and – as he puts it – “I needed to get my life on track. The Army made me better.” The drive to improve himself continued after he served nearly four years as an infantryman. Nunez researched his options for attending college and started in the Veterans Education Program in August 2019. “It guided and helped me a lot. But I was nervous at first because I didn’t know what the experience was going to be like.”
Nunez remembers the tension that filled the room as his cohort met to begin the program. “Someone said, ‘Oh, man. It’s my first time in college,’ and I realized we were all in the same boat. I knew then I wasn’t in the wrong place, and it gave me motivation to do good in school and get my education.” The program’s Speech course, in particular, provided Nunez with needed confidence to participate in
class discussions. “I’m not the best public speaker, and that class helped me face my fear of public speaking.”
He carried that confidence into the pursuit
of a bachelor’s degree in Business with an emphasis in Accounting. “I wasn’t afraid to stand up in class or speak what was on my mind.” His mindset was to finish his degree as quickly as possible, and he accomplished it in three years by taking six or seven cours- es a semester plus attending summer school. “I always did my work and paid attention. I wanted to get back into the workforce and get going with my life,” he says.
Nunez chose to go into Accounting because it requires attention to detail – something he’s good at. He also was following the counsel of his father, who has worked in construction for more than 20 years. His two older brothers also work in that field. “My dad told me to go to school and get a white-collar job so you’re not out in the heat all day.” Nunez took that to heart because family matters a great deal to him. Family also is why he – with cum laude
honors – participated in Fresno State’s gradu- a“tion ceremony in May.
I wanted my parents to see
hat I achieved...
I knew it would make them happy. Everything I do is to make my family proud. I wanted my nephews and nieces to be at the graduation, too. I wanted them to see that anything is possible.”
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14 California State University, FRESNO
Andres with dad, Federico Nunez, at Army graduation, Ft. Berning, Georgia