Family and human development grad gains experience here, abroad

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of profiles for fall 2018 commencement. Read about more graduates.

Unlike many students, Fabiola Cervantes researched potential careers in order to choose a major at Arizona State University (instead of the other way around).

As a senior in high school in Tempe, she was doing an assignment and ran across a website of career choices. She clicked a link that listed careers focused on “working with people” and, from there, she applied to ASU as a family and human development major in the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, knowing that major would gain her the knowledge and experience necessary to work with people in need. 

The biggest takeaway from Cervantes’ education at ASU has been that “there are a lot of good people in the world that want to help others,” she said. 

Cervantes wants to be a good person and, most importantly, help others do the same. Through her classes and experiences during her college career (and long before that), Cervantes said she has been given hope that the world can be a better place for everyone. There is no doubt that Cervantes will contribute to her vision of a better world: Upon graduation, she plans to pursue a master's degree in social work while working at a job she has already secured for her postgrad life — she will be a family support worker specializing in reunification.

Throughout Cervantes’ life, her desire to help others has grown through her many international experiences. She spent every summer as a child with her grandparents in Mexico, studied abroad in Finland and volunteered for a summer in Chile where she worked with children with mental disabilities in a group home. Chile is where her dedication to helping foster children was solidified. These experiences have helped Fabiola become aware of how people live differently and how living a life of service to others can be so fulfilling. 

Cervantes can’t wait to get started on her career helping others. She is finishing her degree in just two and half years with a GPA of over 4.0. Cervantes exemplifies the type of students the Sanford School of Social Dynamics is proud to call its alumni. 

Written by Stacie Foster