ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

GIOVANNI GARCIA, ‘12

After graduating from Mission Hills High School in 2012, Giovanni Garcia was ready for his next step with his acceptance to Cal State San Marcos and future dreams to serve his country. “My plan was to be an officer in the United States Marine Corps after graduating from CSUSM,” recalls Garcia, who was already in the reserves preparing for his next step.

With a double-major bachelor’s degree in both Criminology & Sociology in hand, he was well on his way, until a family friend shared about his amazing experience serving as a deputy for the Sheriff’s Office. It was then Garcia began to explore the idea of serving his community. Garcia wanted to be the first in his family to serve in the military and law enforcement. “The idea of staying in my community and giving back locally was appealing. It would also allow me to remain in San Diego County close to family and friends which I highly value,” said Garcia, who has now been proudly serving as a deputy for almost six years.

More recently, he was promoted to a School Resource Officer at Mission Hills High School, his alma mater. “When the opportunity came to apply for the role of SRO at San Marcos Unified, I thought it would be awesome to serve as a mentor in the same community and district I graduated from, and would be really rewarding to be a positive influence on our students,” remarked Garcia. Whether it’s helping students with challenges, or watching them play at a soccer or football game, he seeks to be another support system for students.

“The support I received in my time at SMUSD, and Mission Hills, helped set me up for the next chapter of life. My teachers, counselors, and coaches were there to support me with all my goals. Now my goal is to do the same thing for our students, and give back in any way that I can.”

CASSIDY MELKONIAN, ‘19

Cassidy Melkonian’s junior year of high school brought clarity to her future plans unlike anything she could have imagined. After attending a college seminar at San Marcos High School, she realized both her passions could be combined into a career path - math and sports. “I knew I was always good at math, but never thought of combining that passion with my passion for sports,” remarks Melkonian.

After graduating from Mission Hills in 2019, and graduating in just three and a half years from California Baptist University in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science, major in Sports Analytics, and a minor in Business, she decided to begin her career in data analytics right where it all started—as the newest San Marcos Unified School District Data Analyst.

“After college, I was trying to get my foot in the door in the world of data analytics and was thrilled to find a home here at SMUSD. I am so proud to see my journey come full circle and give back where I had such an amazing experience,” says Melkonian.

In thinking back on her steps into her career path, she is grateful and proud of her time at SMUSD which helped guide her to where she is today. “My math teachers, Mr. Guseman and Mr. Billings made math so fun and also sparked my early interest in analytics. Plus, everything I learned as a student at SMUSD really prepared me for life after school, from learning how to present yourself to writing a resume, I felt super equipped and prepared for college and career from my time in the district,” says Melkonian.

As her career develops Cassidy plans to pursue that big dream planted years ago at SMUSD, “as I grow in my career my goal is to one day do data analytics for my dream team, the Seattle Seahawks.”