College valedictorian embodies newcomer success story

By Justin Seward - Lethbridge Herald on October 18, 2022.

Herald photo by Justin Seward Valedictorian Denise Serrano is recognized by Terry Kowalchuk, Dean of Centre for Technology, Environment and Design, and Samantha Lenci, Provost and Vice President during the fall convocation Saturday at Lethbridge College.

Denise Serrano will not forget the experience of being Lethbridge College’s 2022 fall convocation valedictorian for the class on Saturday.

“I feel like it’s still unbelievable,” said Serrano. “It feels so surreal. Like I always ask myself if everyone is pranking me or something. It feels like I’m still dreaming and even if I was sitting there and looking at all these people in front me, it was still like, ‘Wow it’s crazy I’m actually here and actually made it.’ So I’m really proud of myself and I’m really thankful for Lethbridge College for giving me the honour to represent the fall graduation. So I’m just really happy to be here.”

For Serrano, while it was special for her to get to the special day, she wanted to include her parents in it as well.

“Especially for my parents, I know they also cried a little bit…but yeah I’m so glad that I was able to make them proud,” she said.

She wanted to emphasize the memories that were had at Lethbridge College in her speech.

“Not only for us to be able to become great at careers and stuff, (but) we also learn how to become a better person,” said Serrano. “So I’m really thankful for Lethbridge College for that.”

Her time at LC was fun.

“It was a different Denise here than before, like she had so much fun here,” she said.

“Like she had so (many) friends, she was talking a lot. Even though before I used to only hide under the table – like quite literally I did that before. But now the community is very welcoming, everyone is so friendly and so nice.”

Serrano’s hope is to create a world of memorable experiences in a digital experience and had already done so in her time at LC.

She participated in the Performance and XR, which is for Canadian students of game design and performing arts collaborate to create a virtual reality world.

Her team won first place in the 7th annual Tecconnect Challenge, which is a real-world training experience to create a marketing strategy and collaborative design for a client.

“For her Capstone project, she created a 3D immersive environment for the Student Core Competencies where people can explore and learn more about the topic in a more fun and engaging way,” as read in the press release.

She also won the Most Promising Interactive Developer Grad Award which is awarded to the student who displayed academic achievement in interactive media.

“Denise always put in the effort to make a next level project,” said Tanya Weder, multimedia production instructor. “She is what we call a unicorn in the industry because her skills span all areas. She has an excellent eye for design, the analytical brain for coding, and the business acumen to think of ways these creative technologies can be applied to solve problems. Her products address a real-world challenge, look great, and function seamlessly.”

It was prior to coming to LC that Serrano moved from the Philippines to Taber when she was 17 years old and felt as though living in different places and speaking a different language made it difficult to find where she belonged.

Serrano, in a pre-ceremony interview in a college press release, said when she came to Lethbridge College and enrolled in the Multimedia Production program, she found the missing piece in her life.

“The Multimedia Production program captured my heart the moment I saw it,” she says. “It had all the things I’m passionate about and would like to learn. From coding to animation, all the classes were something I’m willing to struggle for.”