YVC Voice

Amanda Hoisington ‘10

A non-traditional student, Amanda Hoisington ‘10 transferred to Central Washington University and earned a bachelor’s degree in information technology and administration management. Since then, she’s held positions with Shields, the Washington State Department of Ecology, the Washington State Department of Agriculture and Comprehensive Healthcare. She is currently a sales administration coordinator for John I. Hass, Inc.

Hoisington, like many returning students, completed her coursework while working and raising a young family. She feels her story helps highlight that it’s never too late to make a change and pursue new dreams.

“[My story] goes to show you don’t have to follow the traditional timeline to receive a degree. I now work in sales at John I. Haas, and I love what I do,” shared Hoisington.

Eva Chavez Suarez ‘13

“I came undocumented to the U.S. in 2005 when I was 18 years old,” said Eva Chavez Suarez ’13.

Not knowing English nor having a degree, Chavez worked in agriculture picking fruit for several years. The work was physically demanding and this inspired her to pursue higher education, making the decision to begin her journey at YVC.

“I started at the ground level, learning the English language in the ESL program. While balancing a janitorial job, seasonal agricultural jobs and school, I progressed through the ESL program and into the Adult Basic Education program, completing my GED and obtaining my associate degree in business,” said Chavez Suarez.

Following YVC, Chavez Suarez transferred to Central Washington University where she earned a bachelor of science in business administration and marketing. Since then she has held positions at The Field Group, Latina Creative Agency and The Vida Agency. She is currently working as a business development officer with Lower Valley Credit Union.

“All the hard work at YVC and CWU paid off as I have had the opportunity to now have a professional job and put my degree to work and at the service of my community,” said Chavez Suarez. “I believe in the power of giving back to the community and using our talents to help others around us. Therefore, I volunteer and currently serve as the board president at La Casa Hogar.”

Chavez Suarez was honored to earn her U.S. citizenship in December 2021. She hopes to help support other immigrants.

“I feel grateful that now I live without the fear of deportation and that I have the opportunity to vote and choose my political leaders,” she said. “However, I acknowledge that we still have a lot of families who live under the fear and oppression of being undocumented, so I want to continue helping in one way or another my community with these issues.”

Chavez Suarez was also recently able to explore a new passion of music and hopes this will be another avenue to support her community and social change.

“With the inspiration and support of my talented friend, Sandra Aguilar, we just started in Yakima a band/group of songwriters called CHAGUI. We write songs in Spanish, English and Spanglish about social justice issues, love, heartbreaks, fun and more. We just shared publicly our first Spanish song called “Arriba las Mujeres,” which talks about the challenges, the strength and the value of all our women who have existed, exist and will exist.

Gabriel Antunez ‘22

Engineering student Gabriel Antunez ‘22 recently published a book “Mortal: A Young Adult Supernatural Novel.”