Gloria Mora is a busy college student from northern California focused on reaching her goals and living her best life. When she’s not attending classes at Fort Lewis College to pursue a bachelor’s degree, Mora enjoys escaping to the mountains to go hiking or snowboarding with friends. The school’s proximity to scenic views, outdoor recreation and community activities enticed her to plant her roots in Durango, at least temporarily.
“I came to Fort Lewis because it was an affordable liberal arts school,” Mora said. “I wanted to get away, and the mountains enticed me. I really wanted a small school so I could have personal relationships with my professors and not just be another number.”
By building those personal relationships, Mora is opening doors of opportunity for not only herself, but her fellow students at FLC. She is studying marketing and entrepreneurship in the School of Business Administration. In class, Mora is learning the ins and outs of building a successful business. She is designing websites and diving into digital marketing services, too. Mora said she enjoys her classes because she is learning to reshape old ideas to make something new.
“A lot of marketing is coming up with products, branding them and finding different ways to promote them,” she said. “I like that it gives me room to be really creative.”
Mora is balancing three classes and an internship with the Center for Innovation. She is also involved in several extracurricular activities, including two organizations she helped create. She sits on the School of Business Administration Advisory Council, which helps guide initiatives and strategies to meet the needs and goals of the School of Business Administration. Through her involvement in this organization, Mora recognized the potential to do more.
“It’s not in one day that we see progress or change,” Mora said. “It takes a lot of people working toward the same goal and dividing up tasks and holding people accountable.”
She helped co-found the School of Business Administration Student Council to engage with other students studying subjects like accounting, computer information systems and economics. The club works to identify opportunities for professional development.
“I feel like their role will fill the divide between students and faculty,” Mora said.
Mora is also the president and founder of Women in the School of Business Administration Club, which was created to help students build their professional personas. Mora said the club offers students opportunities to engage in fundraising and networking, and attend professional events on and off campus. Mora and the other active members of the club organized a Professional Clothing Drive, which the Leadership Center recognized as Program of the Year.
“We did community outreach in order to acquire professional clothing. We gathered that clothing and hosted the Professional Clothing Drive event so that students and community members in need can sort through the clothes and take what they need in exchange for a donation of their choice to the club,” Mora said. “I’m really proud of that event because I feel like it helped a lot of people. As college students, we don’t always have the money to buy the clothes that we need for interviews and presentations.”
Mora’s inspiration for this program came from borrowing, exchanging and sharing clothing with peers to piece together outfits for professional events and job interviews. The event was so successful the club members are currently planning another clothing drive in the spring.
Mora hopes to help others while she pursues her degree, but she doesn’t want to stop there. After graduation, she wants to apply her organizational skills, business knowledge and formal education to continue to help others in different disciplines, such as the nonprofit sector or the outdoor and travel industry.
Mora said: “After I graduate, I plan on moving back to California. I hope to work for a company whose values and ethics align with my own in a role where I can make a positive impact in other people’s lives.”