The eldest son of migrant farm workers moved to Washington with his parents when he was in elementary school, and he figured he would likely follow in their footsteps, picking fruit in the fields of the Yakima Valley.

But thanks to his life-changing decision to attend Central Washington University in 2003, Moreno’s five brothers and sisters never had to consider what they would be doing after high school. They, too, wanted to become Wildcats.

“I saw Andres go off to college, and that helped me realize I could do it, too,” said Maricruz Herrera, who followed her older brother to CWU in 2006. “I always knew I wanted to go, but seeing my brother have success at Central made it easier for me to follow him there.”

Once the two eldest siblings proved that a college education was, in fact, attainable for low-income migrant families like theirs, the four others simply followed suit.

All six Moreno children eventually found their way to Ellensburg, and five of them graduated with at least one degree from CWU. The youngest, Fernando, is completing his sophomore year this spring.

“My brother and sister were the pioneers, and we all just followed their lead,” said Rodolfo Moreno, the third oldest. “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but I knew that if I went to Central, I would give myself the best opportunity for success.”

By the time Cynthia Moreno-Romero and Jesus Moreno graduated from high school, they had no doubt they would be joining their older siblings in the college ranks — specifically at Central.

“Once it was my turn to go off to college, I felt like CWU was a safe option because I was familiar with the campus and had already met a number of professors,” said Cynthia, who now lives in Colorado. “I liked that it was so close to home, but I also took a lot of pride in keeping our family tradition alive.”

Similarly, Jesus had come to realize the many good things that would happen in his life if he pursued the next step in his education.

“Andres set the example for all of us, and when I got to high school, I already knew about all of the different scholarships that were available to me and how to apply for them,” he said. “Having four older siblings go through the process before me just made it easier.”

Years later, when it came time for Fernando Moreno to consider his next step, the decision to continue his education was easy. He wasn’t sure at first if he would attend a four-year school or go the trade-school route. But after discussing his options with his family, he decided Central made the most sense.

“As the youngest, I wanted to go to college because everyone else had already gone,” said Fernando, 20, who is pursuing a film studies degree. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do at first, but I still felt like it would be the best choice for my future.”

Modest Beginnings

The Morenos immigrated to the United States from Guerrero, Mexico, in 1991 after their father, Andres Sr., had been doing seasonal work in the fields of Arizona and California for the previous 15 years.

The three eldest siblings — Andres Jr., Maricruz, and Rodolfo — and their mother, Paula, eventually made their way north and ended up settling down in Yakima, which was ripe with agricultural job opportunities.

The children remember accompanying their parents into the fields of the lower Yakima Valley, where they picked apples, pears, cherries, and more.

The Morenos didn’t have much, but they were happy — and hopeful. Each of them was determined to create a better future for themselves, and they were willing to make the sacrifices required to realize those dreams.

“Given the environment we grew up in, the odds were stacked against us,” said Andres Jr., who now serves as the Interim Director of Admissions at CWU. “We didn’t live in the best part of town, and college didn’t really seem like an option. But our parents helped us believe that we could make better lives for ourselves through hard work and perseverance. They deserve a lot of credit for our success.”

The possibility of going to college didn’t seem realistic to Andres until a counselor at A.C. Davis High School in Yakima showed him all of the resources available to him as a first-generation student from an underrepresented background.

“He started connecting me with resources and opportunities that would allow me to expand my education beyond high school,” he said. “I remember doing internships, applying for scholarships, and taking SAT-prep classes—things I wouldn’t have known about if it weren’t for my counselor seeing my potential.”

Helping Hands

Those lessons eventually trickled down to his younger siblings, who each benefited from opportunities like the College Success Foundation’s Achievers Scholarship.

“The Achievers Scholarship is the reason we could afford to go to college,” Andres Jr. said of the program geared toward families like his. “It paid for everything for me, Maricruz, and Rodolfo.”

Maricruz ended up securing another scholarship through the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) thanks to her superb academic résumé in high school. She also got accepted to the University of Washington, but in the end, she decided Central — and its renowned teacher preparation program — was where she needed to be.

“Growing up, our parents didn’t take us outside of the valley very often,” said Maricruz, who is now a first-grade teacher at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary in Yakima. “Seattle was unfamiliar, and it seemed so far away. But Ellensburg felt perfect because it was only 40 miles away and I could come home whenever I wanted.”

Rodolfo never had any second thoughts about attending Central, and once he received the Achievers Scholarship, he knew where he belonged.

“One thing our parents taught us was to always take advantage of the opportunities that are given to you,” he said. “When you have a chance to go to college and earn a degree for free, like we had, you have to do it.”

The Morenos also benefited from scholarship assistance through the federal College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), which delivers higher education access to the children of farm workers. Cynthia was able to tap into additional scholarships through Washington Apple Education and SeaMar Community Health Centers.

After seeing her three older siblings go off to college, she didn’t want to be the one to “break the string.”

“I took a lot of pride in following the family tradition, so I did everything I could to make sure I could go to college,” Cynthia said. “I didn’t have some of the same scholarships as my older siblings, and I had to find other options to get the funding I needed. But I was fortunate to have a lot of people around me who were willing to help.”

Home Away From Home

Once the Morenos eventually arrived at CWU, they knew what to expect since they had already spent so much time on campus during Andres Jr.’s college years.

Jesus remembers visiting his older brother when he was in middle school.

“I got to stay with Andres for a weekend in his dorm, and that kind of showed me what college life was all about,” he said. “I really got to know the campus, and that kind of made it feel like home once it was my turn to go there.”

Cynthia remembers being introduced to various campus activities during family visits, and she viewed Central as a place where she could be very involved while still having a chance to celebrate her cultural heritage.

“I became closely connected with Casa Latina and MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán) because it was important for me to belong to a community of people who looked like me,” she said. “Having grown up in a diverse community like Yakima, I knew I wanted to have that in college, too. Being able to find my own community at CWU was very comforting to me.”

Rodolfo also enjoyed the social outlets Central provided, but most of all, he remembers the professors who took time to get to know him and guide him toward a career path that suited him.

“I have always been fascinated by history, and I thought I would probably end up becoming a history teacher,” he said. “But as I was thinking about which direction to go, I started taking some criminal justice classes and I got hooked. Those classes completely changed my career trajectory, and that’s what inspired me to go to law school.”

After taking a few years off to start a family, Rodolfo is completing his final semester at Gonzaga Law School this spring. Like his brothers and sisters, he will forever be grateful to CWU and his parents for teaching him so many valuable life lessons.

“Education is important, but so is working hard,” Rodolfo said. “My dad would always tell us, ‘if you don’t go to school, there won’t be any opportunities.’ The work ethic our parents taught us — and showing us the value of education — have really helped us become the people we are today.”

Giving Back

Each of the Moreno siblings has chosen a career path that gives them personal fulfillment and also allows them to give back to their communities.

Maricruz is an elementary school teacher in Yakima; Cynthia is a director at Centro De Los Trabajadores, a labor rights organization in Denver; and Jesus is a mental health clinician with Catholic Community Services in King County. Rodolfo is working as an intern with Spokane law firm WBM and plans to be a lawyer, while Andres Jr. is entering his 17th year in the CWU Admissions department, managing a newly opened admissions office in Yakima.

Andres Jr. credits his family’s deep cultural roots with helping him and his siblings become best versions of themselves, both as students and as professionals. CWU only helped bring those values closer to the surface.

“We’re all pretty well grounded in our identity and our culture,” he said. “For me, that is what defines the work I do at CWU. Being able to give back to my hometown in the way that I have for the past 16 years is one of the reasons I love it so much. More than anything else, I want to make an impact on this
community, and help people create better lives for themselves.”

Cynthia is looking to keep her family’s Indigenous roots alive by opening a new coffee shop in Aurora, Colorado, called Ollin Cafetzin, which stands for “Movement Coffee” in her parents’ native language of Nahuatl. She plans to open the first brick-and-mortar shop this year and eventually expand the business to Yakima.

“We want to focus on coffee, education, and cultural connections,” she said. “We also wanted to incorporate the language my parents speak because it’s important for us to keep our Indigenous heritage alive and share it with others.”

Maricruz (three children), Rodolfo (three), Andres Jr. (two), and Cynthia (one) are also raising families, and they hope to see their kids follow their lead in pursuing higher education.

Maricruz’s eldest daughter, Esmerelda, graduated from high school this spring and will be attending CWU in the fall.

“We’re excited to have another Wildcat in the family,” she said, adding that her late husband, Eleazar Herrera — also a former CWU student — would be proud.

“It has been tough for Esmerelda since my husband passed away eight years ago, but I’m proud that she has found a way to keep going,” Maricruz said.

Next Steps

Through all of their ups and downs over the past four decades, the Morenos are thrilled that they have been able to create a new generational outlook for their family.

They often talk with their children about the importance of going to college, just like their parents did with them, and they take every opportunity to share with others how attending CWU helped change their lives.

“I try to be that person who can demystify college for prospective students and their families,” Andres Jr. said. “I use my own family story as an example of what is possible, and because I have lived it, my experiences feel more relatable to them. I try to show them that, even when life throws challenges at you, you have to keep going. When you fall down, get back up.”

As a way of showing their gratitude for everything CWU has done for their family, the Morenos are planning to start their own scholarship foundation to help underrepresented students from the Yakima Valley attend Central. They expect to name the first recipients of the Sembrando Futuros (“Sowing Futures”) Scholarship in 2026, and then watch it grow in the years to come.

“We have always talked about starting something like this,” Rodolfo said. “We all benefited so much from our college experiences, and we understand that not everyone has the opportunity to do what we did. Sometimes people just need an extra boost, and we look forward to giving them the help they need to take the next step in their education.”

All In the Family

Five siblings from the Moreno family of Yakima are first-generation college graduates from CWU. A sixth is currently working toward his degree at Central.

• Andres Moreno, 41 — Biology, Spanish (’08)
• Maricruz Herrera, 38 — Education (’10)
• Rodolfo Moreno, 34 — Law and Justice, History (’15)
• Cynthia Moreno-Romero, 31 — Social Sciences (’16)
• Jesus Moreno, 30 — Psychology, Law and Justice (’17)
• Fernando Moreno, 20 — Film Studies (currently enrolled)