Tiana Aguirre-Ortega
Tiana Aguirre-Ortega
Tiana Aguirre-Ortega is a single mother of three. As a young mother, she attempted to continue her education after graduating from high school, but found it very difficult to focus on school when she knew she needed to work to provide for her family. Fast forward to 2016 and Tiana recognized the value of furthering her education. That fall she applied to College of the Desert as a full-time student.
While enrolled as a full-time student at College of the Desert and working full-time as a legal secretary, Tiana has discovered a passion to help people, especially in regard to labor laws. She graduated COD with an AA in Justice in Summer 2019 and transferred to CSUSB-PD to continue her studies. Her ultimate goal is to become a legal translator for the court and will continue to move forward until she reaches her goal.
While Tiana is happy to be able to attend CSUSB-PD, she wishes there were more classes offered—many of her classes are only offered at the CSUSB main campus. Tiana also faced similar challenges while attending College of the Desert. College of the Desert did not offer all of the classes that Tiana needed to take, nor were they offered at CSUSB-PD, which forced Tiana to travel to Golden West College (114 miles away) to complete her coursework.
Tiana’s educational path has made her passionate about higher education and she believes that it is extremely important for the Coachella Valley to build a four-year college that will bring more opportunities to the residents of the Coachella Valley.