{"id":13181,"date":"2025-12-19T09:37:02","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T15:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=13181"},"modified":"2025-12-19T09:37:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T15:37:02","slug":"turning-challenges-into-opportunity-uw-la-crosse-december-grad-adrian-moreno-reflects-on-challenging-path-that-shaped-him","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/turning-challenges-into-opportunity-uw-la-crosse-december-grad-adrian-moreno-reflects-on-challenging-path-that-shaped-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning challenges into opportunity: UW-La Crosse December grad Adri\u00e1n Moreno reflects on challenging path that shaped him"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Adri\u00e1n Moreno\u2019s path at UW-La Crosse has not followed a straight line. Moreno shares how his journey has been shaped by confronting difficulty head-on and turning it into something constructive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Adri\u00e1n Moreno\u2019s path at UW-La Crosse has not followed a straight line. As he prepares to graduate in December, the challenges he faced \u2014 and the people who helped him navigate them \u2014 have shaped him far more than any single accomplishment.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A veteran of the Mississippi and Wisconsin National Guards and a double major in\u00a0history<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0philosophy<\/a>\u00a0, Moreno says his journey has been shaped by confronting difficulty head-on and turning it into something constructive.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the toughest moments came when he was placed on academic probation.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t because I suddenly stopped caring about school,\u201d Moreno says. \u201cIt was a slow collision of family hardship, personal stress and financial strain that I didn\u2019t know how to talk about.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Writing his appeals forced him to stop minimizing the situation and face what needed to change. From there, Moreno moved forward with what he describes as \u201ca mix of stubbornness and gratitude\u201d and a sense of responsibility to pay forward the support he had received.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Moreno plans to continue his education by attending law school and pursue a career in public-interest work.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Through his studies, Moreno has developed tools that allow him to better navigate challenges inside and outside the classroom. His academic interests reflect his drive to understand the world from multiple angles.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHistory reminds me that nothing happens in a<\/span> vacuum,\u201d he says. \u201cPhilosophy gives me tools to slow down, ask better questions and stay curious.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His minor in\u00a0legal studies<\/a>\u00a0has shown him how abstract questions affect real life, while his second minor in\u00a0international and global studies<\/a>\u00a0examines how different societies answer similar questions. Together, these fields help Moreno hold his convictions while recognizing that \u201cgood leadership starts with listening and understanding who is affected by the decisions in the room.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That philosophy took root with his involvement in\u00a0student government<\/a>\u00a0and university committees. Working on funding efforts for the\u00a0Prairie Springs Science Center<\/a>, Moreno saw how change is built through sustained effort and collaboration.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the work involved unpaid coordination and cooperation from people who supported the community out of genuine care,\u201d Moreno says. Driving to meet lawmakers and returning to campus for meetings taught him that data, stories and relationships all matter, and that nothing meaningful gets done alone. Most importantly, Moreno learned to be open to compromise while staying true to his principles.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His capstone projects grew naturally from these experiences.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really choose justice and inequality as topics; they\u2019re just the questions that kept becoming prevalent around me,\u201d Moreno says.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Examining racial exclusion in the Midwest and how law can privilege certain voices, Moreno hopes his research helps people recognize patterns of harm that are often quiet but consequential.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking ahead to law school and a career in public-interest work, Moreno reflects on the moments that shaped him most: \u201cThey weren\u2019t the clean success stories. They were the people who inconvenienced themselves for me and the chances I had to do that for others.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After a transformative UWL experience that went well beyond the textbooks, Moreno is ready to carry those lessons forward, guided by responsibility, curiosity and a commitment to serve.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Written by UW-La Crosse<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/www.uwlax.edu\/news\/posts\/turning-challenges-into-opportunity\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adri\u00e1n Moreno\u2019s path at UW-La Crosse has not followed a straight line. As he prepares to graduate in December, the challenges he faced \u2014 and the people who helped him navigate them \u2014 have shaped him far more than any single accomplishment.\u00a0\u00a0 A veteran of the Mississippi and Wisconsin National Guards and a double major […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":13182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[104],"story_category":[147],"class_list":["post-13181","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-la-crosse","story_category-community"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/13181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=13181"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=13181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}