Inspired By Mom, First Generation Student Finds His Home on Hartwick Fields

“I’m painting a series of portraits of people who had a huge influence on me,” he said. “And my mom is one of the strongest.”

Though his mother, Angelica Serna, graduated from college in Mexico, she was the one who encouraged him to be the first of their family to study in the United States.

“She was the one who was over my shoulder every night, asking if I’d reached out to coaches, if I’d looked at schools, if I’d applied,” he said.

An art major with a computer science minor, Moreno came to Hartwick to play soccer as a left-back.