Melanie COTA ✧ ’19 B.A. Politcal Science
By Pamela Dean
The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Melanie Cota’s parents instilled in her the idea
that one day she would attend a university and have more opportunities in life.
“My parents strongly encouraged me to go to college. They were adamant about it and
there was never a question in my mind whether I would go,” Cota said.
She grew up in Indio, California and graduated from Shadow Hills High School. Cota
applied for CSUCI through the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), even though she
had no idea where the city of Camarillo was at the time.
She participated in EOP’s Summer Bridge program to help ease her transition from high
school to college student. And when she set eyes on the University for the first time,
she couldn’t believe how beautiful it was.
“When I first arrived for the Summer Bridge program, I was amazed at how green the
campus was. I grew up where there is brown sand everywhere, so seeing the trees and
greenery was amazing,” Cota recalled.
Summer Bridge brings incoming first-year students to campus the summer before they
begin college. Students take foundational courses, receive peer and academic advising,
and meet other first-year students. During the week-long program, Cota met other first-generation
Hispanic students who also grew up speaking Spanish as their primary language. This
helped put Cota at ease as she transitioned to attending college so far from home.
“Summer Bridge helped me discover who I really was. It helped me grow up and become
more independent,” Cota said.
She graduated from CSUCI in 2019 with a bachelor’s in Political Science. Today she
is a Risk and Compliance officer for OceanAir Federal Credit Union, where she has
worked her way up from an entry level teller position. In addition to analyzing risk
and performing fraud investigations, she provides financial literacy education to
high school and college students and immigrants across the county.
“Many immigrant families do not have any experience with banks and do not teach their
children about opening bank accounts,” explained Cota. “We help them learn the importance
of managing their money and enable them to make well-informed financial decisions.”
The Ventura resident also volunteers with CSUCI’s Alumni & Friends Board. She hopes
to help build a sense of community among graduates where they are engaged in activities
and feel a connection to each other and to the University.
“I want to make sure our alumni feel welcome to participate in campus programs and
feel like CSUCI is always their home.”