Stephen Maxey never saw himself as college material — but the community of UC Merced saw otherwise.

Graduates share personal stories on challenges and achievements.

The iconic civil rights leader delivered a rousing address on public service.

Facebook COO and author of "Lean In" reflects on recent tragedy and offers lessons on resiliency to graduates.

Dajanaye Adrow-Hubbard wants to inspire others to pursue higher education, just as she did at UC Berkeley with her family.

UC Berkeley's Brian Vargas is ready to use his new social work skills to help soldiers returning home.

UC Merced's Yuriana Aguilar wants to bring her cutting-edge cardiac research to the Central Valley.

As a kid growing up in Salinas, Calif., Rolando Perez displayed an unusual academic and technical aptitude, and once dreamed of becoming an astronaut. But by the time he was in his mid-20s, he found himself on a path that, he says, “was going to wind me up either in prison or dead.”

Drifting between jobs, with a rap sheet of minor offenses and a list of close friends lost to gang violence, Perez ultimately resolved to turn his life around.

By the time he was 6, Rene Amel Peralta was already working full time in construction and odds jobs in Mexico, just trying to survive. By 13, he and his sister had been abandoned by their only parent and had made the treacherous journey across the border.

But without immigration papers or an education, poverty followed.

On Saturday (June 13), Peralta and his sister both will defy the long odds that were stacked against them, and be awarded college diplomas.

Their goal now: Help others from similar circumstances.

On the 10-year-old UC Merced campus, Tamela Adkins is as veteran as they come.

The emergency preparedness manager was among the first employees at the newest UC campus when it opened its doors on Sept. 5, 2005. Last month, the 53-year-old became one of its oldest students to be awarded an undergraduate degree.

It was a journey that began almost by accident.

In the state of Tigray in northern Ethiopia, poverty and unemployment were rampant and very few had the fortune to go to college. But Getahun Weldeselassie nevertheless banked on education as his best shot at a better life.

He scarcely could have imagined just how far his ambition and luck would take him.

Last month, Weldeselassie completed the doctor of pharmacy at UCSF. Now a U.S. resident who lives in San Francisco with his wife and young son, he looks forward to a career that offers personal satisfaction while providing a stable livelihood for himself and his family.

Graduation is always joyful, but for UC Riverside’s Cassie Nguyen, it marks a milestone achieved with an especially large measure of persistence and hope.

Nguyen, who will receive her bachelor’s degree in public policy from UC Riverside on June 14, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor at 16. Treatment has cleared her of the disease, but it has not been an easy ride.