Maria Guadalupe Altamirano set her sights on a career in optometry or ophthalmology
while still at Alisal High School after she became intrigued with eye health as an
optometry patient.
The 2016 Alisal graduate has earned associate degrees in biology and chemistry from Hartnell College, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She will begin pursuing a degree in biological sciences this fall at the University of California, Davis.
Altamirano said she plans to next attend optometry school and establish her own practice, likely returning to the Salinas Valley at some point in the future.
A first-generation student, she is the daughter of Gerardo Altamirano and Maria Manriquez and one of four siblings, with an older brother and sister and a younger sister, 12.
“Ever since I was little, I pretty much knew I had to go to college because my parents would always talk about,” Altamirano said. “And they came from Mexico, so obviously they came for us to be able to get the education they weren’t able to.”
She followed her sister’s footsteps by coming to Hartnell, where she has received several scholarships, including as a scholar in the Women’s Education and Leadership Institute (WELI). Her other scholarships are: the Pennies from Heaven Scholarship, the Mark and Vivian Duran Scholarship for Hispanic Students and the Marvin Wolf Scholarship, awarded to a student in one or more of the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.
Altamirano has been active as a student ambassador in the office of Admissions & Records, assisting students with the steps to become a Hartnell student, including helping present the Panther Prep Days events in Salinas and King City.
She participated in two genomics research projects under the direction of biology instructor Dr. Jeffrey Hughey, including a 2019 STEM micro internship studying the marine alga Corallina chilensis from Tomales Bay, Calif. She also has been a member of MESA (Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement) program and the TRiO program.
All of her varied involvements have been vital to her experience and success at Hartnell, Altamirano said.
“It helped me meet a lot of different people from different schools and different towns and get to see the different interests everybody has,” she said. “And since it’s their first time as well, you don’t feel as scared to try something new because you won’t be the only one.”
Likewise, she credits those connections and the support of faculty with opening her eyes to scholarship opportunities.
“I would never have really applied if I had not been encouraged because I did not think I would ever get a scholarship,” Altamirano said.