It took a while for Desiree Galamgam ’26 to believe she belonged at CMC: “I saw what my peers were doing, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t have a LinkedIn profile.’ People had their résumés ready, and I thought, ‘What is happening?’”
Now a senior, Galamgam has claimed full ownership of her place at the College, serving in multiple leadership roles and paying it forward to help others find a sense of belonging. The support she received from mentors, faculty, and affinity groups helped her “make CMC my own.” In return, she has centered her activities on giving back: “Community sustains community.”
“Especially for first-gen students who are like, ‘Oh, I’ve never been in a situation like this before,’ I try to reiterate the lessons that my mentors gave to me: You are meant to be here,” said Galamgam of San Diego.
“It may not feel like it right now, but eventually you’ll find your way to the things that you love to do and be able to create your own unique space here. I focus on what students are passionate about, what they care about, and the change they want to make in the world.”
A first-gen student herself, Galamgam is VP of the College Programming Board and co-president of Club Soda, a student-led, substance-free social group that hosts Saturday-night activities in the Heggblade Annex. She is also a Romero Success Coach, the career-planning lead for 1Gen, a Stark Hall RA, a QuestBridge Scholar, and a member of Claremont Kasama, the 5C Filipinx Student Association.
Through a Dean of Students internship, Galamgam helped develop a Student Success Toolkit focused on topics such as time management and test anxiety, but also “community and belonging—the things I really love to help people with.”
“Whenever people say, ‘What you told me really helped me,’ or ‘I really needed that hug,’ or ‘Thank you for noticing that I wasn't feeling well,’ those little moments were huge to me. They let me see the impact I had,” said Galamgam, who admitted to struggling with imposter syndrome early on at CMC. “I don't think first-year me would have ever believed that I could do that for people.”
A Literature major also completing a Gender and Sexuality Studies sequence, Galamgam is interested in fiction as a vehicle for talking about real-life circumstances and creatively solving real-world issues. Her creative writing thesis, born out of a Gould Center Passion Project, reimagines Ovid’s Metamorphoses as a feminist epic.
“My Passion Project was a way for me to practice writing counter narratives and learn how to study ancient material,” Galamgam said. “It was a way for me to creatively experiment with transforming the stories of women who were historically considered just vengeful, jealous, or monstrous into something more liberating and empowering.”
Committed to cultivating a career that aligns with her values, Galamgam is considering nonprofit work focused on college access or a position in academic success, residential life, and/or community building within higher ed. A graduate degree in education may also be on the horizon.
These future aspirations arose, in part, through a rewarding experience as a summer cohort director with First Gen Scholars, a nonprofit dedicated to helping first-generation, low-income students navigate the college admissions process. In her role, Galamgam helped high school students write their personal statements for college applications, finding the effort deeply satisfying.
“I really love to help people discover who they are, in their own voice, through writing. I feel so gratified whenever I see a student’s eyes light up and they land on this is what I was trying to say, or this is my story, and they own it and are proud of it,” Galamgam said. “Writing is a grueling process, but for them to find some joy in the process and enjoy what they’ve created is really beautiful.”
At CMC, Galamgam found her story, and is excited to see how the plot unfolds after graduation and into the future.