By Kim Lamb Gregory
Ask about “the smart one” of the three Gerardo siblings and there’s no hesitation.
“Kayla,” said Baylee Gerardo.
“Kayla,” said Devin Gerardo.
“They always tell me I’m the smart one,” Kayla Gerardo, 22, said. “I’m a big nerd and I love going to classes.”
During this year’s Commencement, Kayla became the third Gerardo sibling to graduate from CSUCI with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication.
Devin, 27, graduated in 2021 and Baylee, 29, in 2017. All three are from the first generation in their family to attend college.
“I think my drive comes from my family,” Kayla said. “My parents and my grandmother from Mexico who doesn’t read or write. They hadn’t attended college, but I saw firsthand what it meant to be a hard worker.”
Baseball, softball and communication were at the heart of the Gerardo family as the siblings grew up in the San Fernando Valley. Their dad, Albert, worked as a superintendent for LA Sanitation for the City of Los Angeles and their mom, Julie, worked for the YMCA.
“No matter what, we always had dinner together,” Kayla said. “We sat down and talked
out our day, dissected everything. For lack of a better word, we’ve always been yappers.
We love to talk.”
When Baylee graduated from high school, her parents encouraged her to enjoy the full college experience away from home. Baylee chose CSUCI as “it was beautiful, calm, and had the perfect atmosphere,” she said.
Devin, “the chill one,” according to his sisters —— followed in Baylee’s footsteps and later also enrolled at CSUCI because his sister was enjoying college so much.
Both majored in Communication as it would be useful in so many careers, and it paid off. Baylee now works as a marketing specialist at Clinicas del Camino Real and Devin is a claims adjuster for the Division of Workers’ Compensation in the San Fernando Valley.
Kayla wanted to be different and attend college elsewhere, but even though she was accepted to several other universities, she chose CSUCI.
“You cannot beat the student to teacher ratio, and it’s a Hispanic-Serving Institution,” Kayla said.
All three Gerardos say Communication Lecturer Vivian Henchy was their favorite faculty member. As for Henchy, seeing the third Gerardo sibling graduate was a highlight in her 16-year career at CSUCI.
“I’m profoundly proud of all of them,” Henchy said. “And the legacy of all three choosing this major and this special place…it makes a Communication professor speechless.”