At 22 years old, Bernardo Zepeda took the long way to UC Merced. But for the
bioengineeringmajor who
transferredthis fall from Merced College, the journey has been as valuable as the destination.
Zepeda’s story of how he arrived at UC Merced is one that almost wasn’t.Immigrating here illegally with his family from Sinaloa, Mexico, when he was 6, Zepeda didn’t think college was an option.
“I saw an endless amount of possibilities in front of me that weren’t accessible, because I wasn’t a legal resident,” he said. “It’s hard because on one hand you’re grateful for the opportunities you have just being in this country, but on the other, there is so much more that’s out of reach.”
At first blush, Zepeda seems like the perfect immigrant stereotype: His parents worked in the fields, and he spent his early high school years working alongside them. Before he was old enough for field work, he sold sodas to the farm workers to pay for school clothes and supplies.
But his world changed when he was 16, and an underage drunk driver claimed the life of his father and sent Zepeda to the hospital with critical injuries.
His body mangled from the crash, Zepeda spent two weeks in a coma and missed an entire quarter of his junior year. He almost didn’t graduate.
“Some teachers offered to make exceptions for me, but I didn’t want special treatment,” Zepeda said. “I worked my butt off to catch up.”
And catch up is exactly what he did. He graduated on time from Turlock High School and became the first in his family to earn a high school diploma.
In a wry twist of fate, the legal residency that his family applied for when he was 10 years old was granted shortly after his father’s death. It’s a blessing that still brings tears to his eyes.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “What a gift.”
That gift of residency enabled his mom to get a job as a truck driver with FedEx to support the family. Zepeda, the oldest of three children, calls her his inspiration.
“She took control and kept the family afloat,” he said. “She came to this country to give us a better life, and that’s exactly what she did.”
Zepeda’s history, particularly the DUI crash that killed his father, has shaped more than his character. It’s also shaped his academic interest. Though this is his first semester here at UC Merced, Zepeda is already looking at
researchopportunities in tissue engineering.
“It’s amazing to me that modern medicine was able to bring me back from the brink of death, to use plates and pins to put me back together after being crushed in the accident,” he said.
Impressed by what the medical field could accomplish in treating and healing the human body, Zepeda contemplated becoming a doctor.
“I was accepted to the pre-med program at UC Berkeley, but I don’t have the stomach for that,” he said. “With tissue engineering, I can contribute to the field through research efforts.”
The concept of
stem cell researchexcites Zepeda most. “The possibilities are endless with stem cell research; it has the potential to create custom-made treatments for each patient.”
The opportunity to conduct research as an undergraduate was a determining factor in Zepeda’s decision to attend UC Merced. It’s a decision he’s glad he made.
“Everyone here is so smart, yet so humble,” he said. “Over all, I’m really pleased with the connections I’ve made here. It’s an intellectually rich community.”
