Mother Daughter Colleagues Alums – Wings Spring 2025
Dioselina Verduzco and Brianna Cardenas
Heritage University staff Dioselina Verduzco and Brianna Cardenas have a lot in common. They share a commitment to Heritage University, its mission, and the students it serves. They are both alumni with degrees in business administration who chose to start and build their careers at Heritage to help others achieve their dreams of earning a college degree, just as they did. However, their relationship goes much deeper. They are mother and daughter, and their story begins like that of so many Heritage students and alumni with the spark of an idea that college could be possible.
A MOTHER’S NON-TRADITIONAL PATH
Verduzco, the seventh of 10 children, never thought she would one day be a college graduate working for a university. She dropped out of school in the 8th grade and started her family shortly thereafter. She spent many years struggling while she worked in the fields and warehouses, taking the odd side job here and there before a health challenge forced her to stop working and be a stay- at-home mom for a few years.
“I got tired of struggling,” she said. “I knew when I returned to work that I wanted more than returning to the fields or working in a gas station. I enrolled in the GED program at Heritage. One of the university’s admissions counselors met with us to talk about enrolling in Heritage after we earned our GED, and it got me thinking that maybe I could do it.”
Dioselina Verduzco
Enrolling in college was a massive leap of faith for Verduzco. Throughout her childhood and teen years, college wasn’t just not discussed; it was actively discouraged.
“For as long as I can remember, I was told I wasn’t smart enough,” she said. “I wanted to challenge myself and embrace every step of the journey, no matter how long it took. Completing my degree through hard work, resilience, and determination would open doors for me and my children. I wanted them to see me as a role model, proof that their dreams are possible, and to know that I would always be there to support them.”
Verduzco started her college career in 2005, taking pre-college courses. To help fund her schooling, she took work-study positions in the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) and Academic Affairs. She was then hired for a full- time temporary position for a staff member who went on maternity leave in Academic Affairs and later in the President’s Office.
“Shortly after I started working in the President’s Office, I divorced. I was now a single mom. I couldn’t manage everything that was involved with working, raising my kids, and going to school, so I paused my education for a few years,” she said. “But the goal was always to earn my degree.
“I never wanted my kids to see me give up. I wanted them to see me doing something to better myself. To see me struggle and sacrifice to earn my degree when I was a single parent, so they understood how important it was for them to do what they needed to do before becoming a parent.”
Verduzco returned to school in 2012, attending part- time. She continued to work as an administrative assistant for the university throughout her studies. She was active in the university’s Enactus organization, an international student organization that promotes entrepreneurship to create social change. In 2016—eleven years after she started her first college class— Verduzco graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration.
She transferred from her administrative assistant position in the President’s Office to the College of Arts and Sciences, where she eventually became the executive assistant to the college’s dean and the director of Enactus.
“This is where my life really changed. I took on a leadership role that helped me become who I am today. It forced me to put myself out there and build my confidence.”
For the next six years, Verduzco worked closely with students in the Enactus program. She guided them as they developed community outreach programs and supported them through presentations and competitions. Along the way, she became a trusted confidante for the students, partly because she was once exactly where they were and understood their challenges.
Today, Verduzco serves as the Executive Assistant to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, providing senior-level administrative support and managing complex tasks. She coordinates special projects, oversees daily operations of the Academic Affairs office, and handles faculty hiring and contract renewals. Working closely with the Provost, she trains and coordinates administrative staff to ensure smooth operations and effective teamwork.
PAVED THE WAY FOR A DAUGHTER’S TRADITIONAL PATH
Brianna Cardenas
Cardenas’s connection to Heritage goes back further than her memories can take her.
“I think I was three,” she said when asked when she first started coming to campus. “I honestly can’t remember a time when Heritage wasn’t part of my life.”
Her story couldn’t be further away from that of her mother’s. College is something she always knew she would do and something that she prepared for. During her middle school years, she took part in the Enactus summer camp for kids, Camp S.E.E.D., where she and her classmates built micro businesses and sold their wares to faculty and staff on campus. She loved it so much that she continued volunteering for the program when she entered high school.
“I knew all along that I was going to go to Heritage. It felt so much like home to me,” she said. “I saw all my mom’s opportunities here, and it just felt right.”
Cardenas enrolled in the university in the fall after she graduated from Toppenish High School. She immediately declared business administration as her major. Like her mother before her, she took part-time work-study positions in offices on campus, including an internship with the First Nations MESA program.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration in 2024 and was hired by MESA as the program coordinator. MESA stands for Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement. It is a college preparation outreach program that works with K-12 students in math and science- based activities to encourage them to prepare for college and explore STEM-based careers. Heritage’s MESA program works with students within the boundaries of the Yakama Nation and its ceded lands.
“I truly wanted to stay at Heritage,” she said. “I was elated when the job opened up, and I got to start my career here.”
UNDERSTANDING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE
Dioselina Verduzco (standing) and HU Provost Dr. Melissa Hill
Individually, Verduzco and Cardenas’s stories are representative of that of many of Heritage’s students. With its 43-year history building inclusivity and breaking down barriers that keep people from accessing higher education, Heritage has served many students like Verduzco who were ill-prepared for college, discouraged from ever pursuing a degree, or had no other options for higher education available to them. Many of these were non-traditional students whose children, like Cardenas, watched them prioritize their education, struggle, grow, and succeed. They learned the value of higher education at their parents’ hip. They grew up seeing the path to college and the path to Heritage, and they never doubted their place in academia.
Both Verduzco and Cardenas see themselves in many of the students they serve.
“When working directly with students, I used to share the challenges I faced as a student. I wanted to help them understand that we all have struggles and things that we must overcome. In the end, how you respond to those struggles and stay focused on your goals is what matters,” said Verduzco.
“I’ve been at Heritage in one capacity or another for 18 years now,” she said. “I’ve seen our students grow and show appreciation for all we’ve worked for together throughout their college careers. They are stronger for their experiences.”
“One of the things that I’ve found with our students is how it isn’t necessarily about having the same life experiences that brought us to Heritage; it’s the familiarity of being from this community. We grew up together, and we have an appreciation for the struggles that others go through. We understand one another,” said Cardenas.
Brianna Cardenas at Union Gap School
THE PATH MOVING FORWARD
With one woman firmly embedded in her career at Heritage and the other just starting hers, both can’t imagine working elsewhere.
“I can’t imagine working any place other than Heritage,” said Verduzco. “I’ve worked in several departments and learn something new each time I move somewhere else. I’ve been here for 18 years, but it doesn’t seem long.”
Cardenas looks at her mother’s career path as inspiration.
“I’m less than a year into my work at Heritage and love what I’m doing,” she said. “There is so much to learn and ways to grow. I enjoy working with the students and watching them find joy in learning and, hopefully, start to think about their place at Heritage. I can’t wait to see one of the kids I’m working with today at Heritage on their first day of college.” 