Lisa Storm
UC Davis parent Lisa Storm ’85 worked in campus food service on campus during her entire time as a UC Davis student in order to pay her own way through college. But, instead of begrudging the experience, Storm said the job, in addition to introducing her to her future husband, Scott, elevated her college experience.
“I didn’t see it as a hardship,” she said about her time in college of making her financial ends meet on her own. “It was an enriching, maturing experience; it prepared me for working full-time and raising three kids.”
This work ethic continued to direct Storm’s education and career. After graduating from UC Davis with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish, Storm attended UC Hastings College of Law, and now teaches administration of justice at Hartnell Community College in Salinas, Calif. She has written a criminal law textbook and experiments with various ways of using online resources to supplement her courses.
In addition to driving her dynamic career path, Storm’s UC Davis experience has influenced her children’s college experience. Two of the Storm family’s three children attend UC Davis: Trent, the Storm’s youngest, started his freshman year at UC Davis in September, and Tara, their middle child, graduates this spring.
Further motivated by her mother’s college experience of paying her own way, Tara has made a conscious effort to give back in a big way to help others in need. Tara is the co-director of We Are Aggie Pride, a philanthropy program that provides short-term financial assistance to students making it on their own. Tara said that her mother’s experience and the reassurance that she wouldn’t have to worry about being supported during her college career inspired her to help students going through similar journeys.
“Tara’s a doer,” said Lisa Storm. “She gets involved all the time; and she’s flourished at WAAP, so I’m really proud of her.”
It is this Aggie Pride and the university’s supportive community that sets UC Davis apart from other colleges.
“UC Davis is a family-oriented place; you can feel that immediately,” she said. “Scott and I stay close with friends and roommates from that time and their families. It’s a unique experience, and it’s not like that at any other school I visited.”