Editor’s note: Tickets are required for admission to commencement; to cover the ceremony, email jaeasley@ucdavis.edu or text 530-219-4545.

Trading smiles, Melissa Segura and her mother, Monica Segura, playfully warn each other not to start crying — either will set the other off.

They’re talking about Melissa’s graduation Saturday. When she crosses the stage at the UC Davis Fall Commencement, the senior from Lakewood, California, will be the first in the family to have a four-year degree: a Bachelor of Arts in sociology with an emphasis in law and society.

“It’s the biggest deal ever,” said Melissa. “My mom, she knows at that moment everything was worth it.” 

Melissa’s mother, father, younger twin sisters and boyfriend will join about 600 students and thousands of their guests at the University Credit Union Center on campus to celebrate the educational milestone of a bachelor’s degree.

Melissa is among the 38% of undergraduates enrolled this fall who — when they complete their studies — will be in the first generation of their family to earn a four-year degree. 

“We’re all so happy for her, so proud of her,” Monica Segura said. “It’s a great way to spend our birthday weekend.”

The degree is, in part, a gift of gratitude to Melissa’s father, Mike Segura, whose birthday is Sunday, and her mother, whose birthday is Dec. 17. 

Preparation and ‘learning curve’

Melissa’s father did not want to continue his education after high school. Her mother earned an associate degree by taking courses taught on the military bases where she had lived. But both were determined that their children would have the opportunity to pursue a university education.

The parents started a college savings plan for each child. Mike Segura, an insurance agent, took on greater responsibilities to earn more as a district manager. When the children were in elementary school, Monica Segura helped him in his own agency and started a notary business. 

Melissa pioneered the way to a university degree. “It was a learning curve for everyone,” she said. “Every time I called, they learned something new.”

Now Melissa’s sister Brenda is a junior at San José State University, and Brenda’s twin, Breanna, is studying at Long Beach City College.

UC Davis provided more challenge

Having started environmental studies at another university in 2021, Melissa sought more challenge and transferred to UC Davis the following year. Initially, the short, 10-week quarter got the best of her, and failing an economics course landed her on academic probation.

The next quarter, Melissa bounced back, passed the economics course and counted it as growth. The following year, she switched her major to sociology, attracted by the opportunity to learn about society through an interdisciplinary lens.

Exploring heritage, finding community

A third-generation Japanese American and Mexican American, Melissa discovered the Japanese American Student Society on campus in her first quarter and began exploring her Japanese identity. In the group, she found some of her closest friends and the opportunity to learn more about her heritage and the legal profession as a Nikkei Community Intern in Los Angeles in summer 2024.

Melissa started work at the campus Cross Cultural Center in fall 2022 and served as its Asian and Pacific Islander community coordinator from April 2023 to June 2024. When the Asian and Pacific Islander Academic Retention Initiative opened its Lotus Mana student center this fall, she became an intern there and found a second home. 

“It gives me community,” said Melissa, who has helped plan events. “Everyone there is so warm and welcoming.”

She said her mentors, now all staff at the Lotus Mana Center, helped her overcome academic struggles and focus on a new career path in student programming and community building in higher education. “I look up to the staff, and they really inspire me,” Melissa said.

Undergraduate research

With graduation approaching, Melissa checked an item off her bucket list: conducting undergraduate research. This fall, she helped Robert Faris, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology, with a decades-long study of adolescents and their social networks. 

Also this fall, Melissa rediscovered her love of figure skating. She represented UC Davis at an intercollegiate competition in Arizona last month.

“I had a really good experience here,” she said, adding that graduation is “bittersweet.” 

About commencement, degrees

In addition to its fall commencement, UC Davis holds 13 graduation ceremonies in the spring. In 2024-25, the university awarded 11,350 degrees (9,107 bachelor’s, 1,146 master’s, 464 professional and 633 doctoral degrees) and 44 post-baccalaureate certificates.