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Paulina Allende

UC Merced Library Celebrates the Graduating Class of 2026

Fri, May 15, 2026 10:35 AM
Author: 
Paulina Allende

Class of 2026. UC Merced library student graduates. Congratulation! UC Merced Library logo.

Celebrating the graduating Class of 2026

This weekend, UC Merced will welcome thousands of graduates, family members, friends and supporters to campus as we celebrate Commencement 2026. 

The weekend begins with the Graduate Division ceremony today, Friday, May 15 at 6pm on the UC Merced Recreation Field. 

The School of Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities ceremony will take place tomorrow, Saturday, May 16 starting at 9am. 

A joint ceremony for the School of Engineering and the School of Natural Sciences will be celebrated starting at 9am on Sunday, May 17. 

Mechanical Engineering graduate and student library employee, Robert Hicks will be the student speaker for Sunday's ceremony. Congratulations, Robert! 

We recently asked our graduating students some questions about their time at UC Merced and their future plans. 
 

Library Services Graduates

Mila Arévalo

Mila is graduating with a degree in Psycholy & a Minor in Cognitive Science. 

What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

You cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. 

What are your plans after graduation?

Continue working, provide for my family, and continue achieving my goals and dreams. 

 

Jasmine Benson

Jasime is graduating with a degree in Public Health and a minor in Psychology.

What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

Try not to get so distracted by the thoughts and actions of others. Trust your gut and do whatever makes you happy. 

What are your plans after graduation?

Taking a gap year to work before applying to grad school to get a MPH in Epidemiology. 

 

Isabelle Condella

Isabelle is graduating with a degree in Management and Business Economics and a Minor in Psychology.

What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

To take time to prioritize yourself. 

What are your plans after graduation?

To work and get my master's degree. 

 

Liliana Flores

Liliana is graduating with a degree in Molecular and Cell BIology.

What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

I would tell my younger self to give herself grace and trust that everything will work out. 

What are your plans after graduation?

After I graduate, I plan to spend some time traveling and working while applying to MRI tech programs. 

 

Johanna Hernandez

Johanna is graduating with a degree in Public Health and a Minor in Psychology

What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

I would tell my younger self not to stress so much about having everything figured out right away. Also, that it's okay to take breaks. 

What are your plans after graduation?

After graduation, I plan to work, travel, and take some time for myself before applying to grad school! 

 

Robert Hicks

Robert is graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

What is your favorite memory from UC Merced?

My favorite memory from UC Merced is being part of ASUCM, where I had the opportunity to connect more deeply with both the campus and the broader student community.

What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

One piece of advice I would give to my younger self is not to stress too much, because in the end, things have a way of working out. 

What are your plans after graduation?

After graduation, I plan to move to the East Coast to begin a full-time role as an engineer. Before starting my career, I'm also looking forward to traveling abroad this summer and taking time to experience something new. 

 

Chidi Onu

Chidi is graduating with a degree in Sociology and a Minor in Business Mangement & Economics. 

What is your favorite memory from UC Merced?

Gaining the skills and experience of living independently from my parents. 

What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

I would tell myself to save more money. 

What are your plans after graduation?

My plans are to get a job with my degree, complete prerequisites for DPT school, and become a physical therapist. 

 

Jessica Perez

Jessica is graduating with a degree in Human BIology & a Minor in Psychology. 

What is your favorite memory from UC Merced?

My favorite memory from UC Merced would have to be living in Tenaya during my first year. I met friends who lived next door and my boyfriend in my same floor. It's crazy that one of my coworkers also lived there, and I didn't even know it. It's incredible how many memories the building holds, some of which I didn't even know existed. 

What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

One piece of advice I would tell my younger self is to enjoy life and don't overthink. 

 

Technology Services Graduates

Cian Guerrero

Cian is graduating with a degree in Cognitive Science. 

What is your favorite memory from UC Merced?

My favorite memory from UC Merced was joining my friends at a Denny's after one of my most stressful finals weeks. 

What are your plans after graduation?

I've already planned a few trips for the next two months after graduation. After that, I'm planning to accet an internship for a role in IT. 

 

Jason Yeung

Jason is graduating with a degree in Cognitive Science & a Minor in Psychology.

What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

One piece of advice I would give to my younger self is to be patient. 

What are your plans after graduation?

I plan to take a gap year and continue looking for jobs or look at grad school! Most importantly, take time for myself!

 

Interlibrary Loan Services Graduates 

Jose Meza-Pantoja

Jose is graduating with degrees in Psychology and Philosophy and a Minor in Spanish.

What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

If I had to tell my younger self anything, it'd be to take care of yourself and not worry about the things you cannot control. 

What are your plans after graduation?

After graduation, I will be taking some time to recharge and get some experience in schools before I commit to getting my MA in School Psychology. 

 

Zinedine Valdez-Delgado

Zinedine is graduating with degress in Biological Sciences and Public Health.

What is your favorite memory from UC Merced?

Starting the Hispanics in Healthcare Club. 

What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

One piece of advice I would give would be to start studying two weeks before the exam not two days before. 

What are your plans after graduation?

After graduation, I plan on attending medical school and pursuing a career in orthopedic surgery. 

 

GIS Center Graduates

Flavio Herrera

 

Congratulations to all of the Class of 2026 graduates! 

Stephanie Madrigal Wins Library Sticker Design Contest

Tue, May 12, 2026 12:40 PM
Author: 
Paulina Allende

UC Merced library logo. Sticker Design Contest. Square sticker design with stained glass inspired elements and a deer. Empowering Researchers. library.ucmerced.edu. Grand Prize Winner Stephanie Madrigal.

On March 18, 2026, the Library launched a sticker design contest across our campus community, open to all undergraduate students. 

After the success of our Mammoth-inspired Library Sticker Contest during Spring 2025, we decided to repeat our sticker contest for Spring 2026. 

In honor of William Poulson's Four Seasons of Yosemite, stained glass murals in KL 360 we asked students to submit designs inspired by parts of a mural, or the murals as a collective. 

The murals are a culmination of over 30 years of drawing, design, fine craftsmanship, and inspiration from the extraordinary beauty of the Yosemite Valley, the words of John Muir, and the paintings of artist Albert Bierstadt. Poulson's desire to capture the beauty of the Yosemite Valley inspired him to conceive the Four Seasons fo Yosemite Mural Project. 

Within our one-month deadline, we received almost 15,000 views on our Instagram post, and some incredible submissions from UC Merced students. 

A library panel composed of 30 members of our library staff voted on the submissions and came up with our top three designs. We then asked for our campus community to vote via Instagram for the winning design. In collaboration with our campus partners, who shared our post 74 times across Instagram, we received 157 votes from Instagram users to decide on the winning design. With 54% of the votes, Stephanie Madrigal's imaginative design was crowned this year's winner. 

Stephanie is a third year Management and Business Economics major from Menlo Park. She loves to draw and is a Senior Workleader at the Library. As part of her submission, she shared the following about the design, "The design is inspired by William Poulson's Four Seasons of Yosemite stained glass mural. It is a framed stained glass portrait of a small baby deer and flowers. The colors in the image represent the colors found in the mural that is showcased in KL 380." 

Congratulations to Stephanie for her winning submission! Our new Library stickers will be printed during the summer in time for distributions at Library events during the 2026-2027 Academic Year. 
 

Sticker Design Contest 2026 (2nd Annual)

Wed, March 18, 2026 1:35 PM
Author: 
Paulina Allende
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Sticker Design Contest. UC Merced Library logo. For full contest rules and to enter go to https://ucm.edu/sticker-contest-2026

Calling all artists, creatives, and those with a flair for design! Join our sticker design contest for your chance to win $100!

Entry:

To enter the contest, use your UC Merced single sign-on to submit the entry form. 

Design Requirements: 

  • In honor of William Poulson's Four Seasons of Yosemite-stained glass murals, in KL 380 we are looking for design submissions inspired by parts of the murals, or the murals as a collective. 
  • The text, "Empowering Researchers" and "library.ucmerced.edu" must be incorporated into the design, or space must be left to be added to the design after submission. 
  • Designs must be submitted in CMYK format. 

Submission Guidelines and Conditions: 

  • Sticker design must be an original work not generated with AI. 
  • All designs must be created solely by the contestant. 
  • Account for a 2mm (.08 inches) bleed area/die line as you begin your design, to allow for proper printing. (Feel free to submit your final design sample without the bleed area to convey the final sticker apeparance). 
  • Sample designs must be submitted through an Illustrator File (.ai), Canva edit link, or similar. Design layers must be visible. 
  • The final scale of the printed product will be no larger than 3" x 3". Design can be square, circular, or a freeform/organic shape. 
  • Design must be single-sided.

Deadline: 

  • The contest begins on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 and ends at 11:59 PM on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. 

Grand Prize: 

  • One (1) Grand Prize winner will receive one (1) $100 Target or Amazon Gift Card. 

Voting: 

  • All elligible entries received during the contest period will be judged by a panel within the Library to determine three finalists. 

  • After the three finalists are determined, voting for the Grand Prize winner will happen via the Library's Instagram page (@ucmercedlibrary). 

  • The grand prize winner's design will be printed on a limited-edition sticker that will be distributed throughout the 2026-2027 school year and beyond, at the discretion of the Library. 

Official Contest Rules: 

 

Call for Spring 2026 Library Instruction Requests

Wed, January 7, 2026 2:15 PM
Author: 
Paulina Allende

Please submit Spring 2026 requests through the instruction request form to have a Library instructor provide support to your students. We appreciate receiving requests by Friday, January 23 for planning our semester. We are also happy to consult prior to your instruction request regarding desired learning objectives. 

Visit the Library Instruction Services landing page and learn more about: 

We look forward to working with you to increase students' ability to strategically navigate, critically evaluate, and ethically use information!

Email us with any questions library@ucmerced.edu or contact your Library Liaison with questions. 

Winter Intersession Hours & Services

Fri, December 5, 2025 11:35 AM
Author: 
Paulina Allende

The Library will be closed December 20 through January 11. 

UC Merced Library hours during Winter Intersession will be: 

  • January 12 - 16: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m 
  • Closed weekends and Monday, January 19 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

Regular semester hours will resume January 20. 

Library staff will be available January 5 - 9 for InterLibrary Loan (ILL) pickups, but the last delivery date before the break will be Friday, December 19. ILL will send out information to patrons informing them about in-person pick-ups in the Lantern. 

Call for Fall 2025 Library Instruction Requests

Mon, August 4, 2025 10:50 AM
Author: 
Paulina Allende

Please submit Fall 2025 requests through the instruction request form to have a Library instructor provide support to your students. We appreciate receiving requests by Friday, September 5 for planning our semester. We are also happy to consult prior to your instruction request regarding desired learning objectives. 

Visit the Library Instruction Services landing page and learn more about: 

We look forward to working with you to increase students' ability to strategically navigate, critically evaluate, and ethically use information!

Email us with any questions library@ucmerced.edu or contact your Library Liaison with questions. 

Kyahra Lingatong Wins Library Sticker Contest

Fri, May 23, 2025 9:15 AM
Author: 
Paulina Allende

On April 2, 2025, the Library launched a sticker contest across our campus community, open to all undergraduate students. 

In honor of our resident Columbian mammoths, we looked for designs depicting two mammoths - an adult and a juvenile. We also required for the design to incorporate the text, "Empowering Researchers" and "library.ucmerced.edu" into the design. In addition to the two mammoths, we also asked for designs to include a landscape background inspired by the beauty of our neighboring Yosemite National Park or the Sierra Nevada. 

Within our one-month deadline, we received thousands of views on our Instagram post, and seven incredible submissions from UC Merced students.

A library panel composed of 19 library staff voted on the seven submissions and came up with our top three designs. We asked for our campus community to vote via Instagram for the winning design. In collaboration with our campus partners, who shared our post 155 times across Instagram, we received 253 votes from Instagram users to decide on the winning submission. With 49% of the votes, Kyahra Lingatong's creative design was crowned winner.

Kyahra is a first year Public Health major at UC Merced. She is originally from Roseville, California. As part of her submission, she shared the following about her design, "My process in making the design consisted of using real examples of Colombian mammoths, making sure the juvenile and adult design was simplified, yet also accurate. I had a lot of fun with the background going for a lineless Yosemite Park background using an image of Half Dome as my guide. The colors were also based on sunset, warm colors (they) are inviting and comforting to look at, making the design more coherent. The applications I used included Google (for inspiration) and I drew it all digitally on Procreate." 

Kyahra also shared with us, "Fun fact about the process is that I mistakenly drew the Colombian mammoth for the wooly species at first and it wasn't until I was done with the draft that I realized I was drawing the wrong one. Luckily that was fixed! But, in all seriousness, I am happy to be a part of this in creating representation to Merced's prehistoric past and honoring our researchers. I was able to learn more about the background and history of these fossils that we're so lucky to have on our campus. Thank you again for letting me be a part of this!" 

Congratulations to Kyahra for her winning submission! Our new Library stickers will be sent to be printed during the summer in time to be distributed at Library events during the Fall 2025 semester. 

Sticker Design Contest

Wed, April 2, 2025 2:00 PM
Author: 
Paulina Allende
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Calling all artists, creatives, and those with a flair for design! Join our sticker design contest for your chance to win a $100 Visa Gift Card. 

Design Requirements: 

  • In honor of our resident Columbian mammoths, we are looking for designs depicting two mammoths, and adult (whom we have nicknamed Arboleda), and a juvenile (whom we have nicknamed Álvaro). 
  • The text, "Empowering Researchers" and "library.ucmerced.edu" must be incorporated into the design, or it will be added after the submission. 
  • In addition to the two mammoths, designs must also incorporate a landscape background inspired by the beauty of Yosemite National Park, or the Sierra Nevada. 

Submission Guidelines and Conditions: 

  • Sticker design must be an original work not generated with AI. 
  • All designs must be created solely by the contestant. 
  • Account for a 2 mm (0.08 inch) bleed area/die line as you begin your design, to allow for proper printing. (Feel free to submit your final design sample without the bleed area to convey final sticker appearance). 
  • Sample designs must be submitted through an Illustrator File (.ai), Canva edit link, or similar. Design layers must be visible. 
  • The final scale of the printed product will be no larger than 3" x 3". Design can be square, circular, or a freeform/organic shape. 
  • Design must be single-sided. 

Deadline: 

  • Submissions will be accepted until midnight on May 2, 2025. 

Grand Prize: 

  • There will be one Grand Prize winner of a $100 Visa Gift Card. 

Voting: 

  • All eligible entries received during the contest period will be judged by a panel within the Library to determine three finalists. 

  • After the three finalists are determined, voting for the Grand Prize winner will happen via Instagram.  

  • The grand prize winner’s design will be printed on a limited-edition sticker that will be distributed throughout the 2025-2026 school year and beyond, at the discretion of the Library.  

Entry: 

Official Contest Rules

  • Read the Official Contest Rules before entering. 

 

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