Cal State San Bernardino’s Palm Desert Campus has named Sofia Torres-Crespo as its Outstanding Undergraduate Student for 2021.

Torres-Crespo, who lives in Palm Springs, will receive two bachelor of arts degrees – a degree in psychology, with a concentration in industrial and organizational psychology, and a degree in business administration, with a concentration in management – in a virtual Commencement ceremony taking place on Saturday, May 22.

Graduating magna cum laude and with honors, Torres-Crespo says that she was inspired by her peers to be involved in student leadership positions at the Palm Desert Campus and participated in many campus organizations and activities, including serving as an orientation leader, president of the PDC Psychology Club, an instructional student assistant in the campus’s Student Success Center and a member of the PDC Student Ambassadors Society.

During her time at PDC, Torres-Crespo was a Mary Stuart Rogers Foundation Scholar, was on the Dean’s List of Distinguished Students, interned with the CSUSB Institute for Child Development and Family Relations and the Annenberg Foundation at Sunnylands Center & Gardens, and continues to do research through the Psychology Department Honors program.

“As a first-generation college student, I have been consistently encouraged by my mother and grandmother to pursue a higher education and create my own future,” said Torres-Crespo. “With these established values, I persisted in achieving my academic goals with the support of faculty, staff and peers at the Palm Desert Campus.”

Torres-Crespo was recently accepted into CSUSB’s master of science in industrial and organizational psychology program, and is looking forward to a career in human resources.

The CSUSB Palm Desert Campus offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees, a doctorate in educational leadership, and teaching credentials and certificates. With more than 1,600 students, it is the Coachella Valley’s four-year public university and plays a vital role in educating and training the region’s growing population.