Students in Focus

With steady dedication to her studies and to her 6-year-old son, Alita Smith shows strength in every endeavor of hers. After two decades in the hospitality industry, Smith took the leap to pursue her lifelong dream of being an educator.

Like many other college students, Brenda Ortiz faced challenges along the way, but found her community, asked for help when needed, and feels if she could do it, others can too. Her hope? That others are inspired to live their dreams and change the world.

With a passion for science and technology and an interest in design, Emily Daub knew her strengths and was able to pull them all together into one major.

When it comes to academics and athletics, Colorado skiers Petra Hyncicova and Petter Reistad are firm believers the two go hand-in-hand.

After a successful college career, worries over DACA's fate and paying for medical school have prompted Jesús Ramos to pursue another dream, helping other first-generation students. He's heading into a graduate program in student affairs.

One of Zoey Craun's favorite CU Boulder memories happened 4,000 miles from campus, when she was in Bolivia building a footbridge for a local community with the CU chapter of Bridges to Prosperity.

With aspirations to work for a bio-medical company, Caitlyn Hughes was one of five women in a class of 100. She spent part of her college career putting on events for Girl Scouts so they could learn about engineering and how "awesome" it can be.

Born in Mexico and raised in Colorado, Efren Herrera Hurtado first set foot on campus as a junior transfer student intent on degrees in French and Italian, but he unexpectedly discovered a new passion.

Edyael Casaperalta knew she wanted a school where she could work toward helping marginalized communities navigate the complex waters of technology law. She now is graduating from that school with a law degree.

Stephanie "Tessie" Mernick is willing to take a punch to beat cancer. To do that, the CU Boulder graduate student is learning to box to raise money and awareness.