Editor’s note: “Where are they now?” is a continuing series in which Experience reporters connect with former students to find out what they are doing now and how their educational journey at LMC impacted their success.

Since its establishment in 1974, Los Medanos College has facilitated the education and success of thousands. Within those thousands, LMC alum Lu Maggiora has taken her success and love for LMC abroad as she travels throughout the world. 

When she enrolled at LMC in the spring of 1999, Maggiora joined the travel program in pursuit of her dream to become a travel adviser.  

“I was thinking, ‘What should I do next?’And I had always been interested in the travel industry, but never dreamed that I could actually get into it,” she said. 

While initially skeptical of whether she would make it within the industry, Maggiora attributes her achievements at LMC to Kiran Kamath, the former chairman of the travel department, who encouraged her dreams and aspirations. 

“Through the classes and through the motivation and inspiration of Kiran Kamath… we thought, ‘Okay, this dream is possible, so let’s go for it,’” said Maggiora.  

In addition to the supportive environment provided by Kamath in the program, Maggiora and her 24 classmates would work together for two years in hopes of completing the travel program.

“There was such a tight bond in the friendships, and the comradery was everything,” she said. “It was the best.” 

Students were provided with a strong curriculum by professional instructors involved within the travel industry, teaching them a wide variety of concepts and topics ranging from geography to history to prepare them for their careers going forward. 

“I think it’s the best training that we could’ve ever had,” she said. “Above all we were taught professionalism.”

Such professionalism acknowledged by another one of Maggiora’s former instructors Deborah Wilson, co-lead of the Travel Marketing Program. 

“Lu is a true professional,” she said. “Lu never turns down a request to help the program. She has participated in discussions, has contributed videos and tips, and has been interviewed by travel publications.  I can always count on Lu, and I am proud to say she is a graduate of the LMC Travel Marketing Program.”

Since her completion of the Travel Marking Program, Maggiora has continued her passion in the field of travel as an independent contractor for the Travel Adventures Unlimited travel agency in Walnut Creek. Throughout her career, she has sailed and hosted trips all across the globe, from safaris in South Africa to South American cruises along the Antarctica Peninsula and sightseeing trips throughout the European continent. 

As a travel advisor, Maggiora works to fulfill the travel dreams of others by taking them to destinations on their bucket list in all seven continents and introduces them to a variety of cultural experiences, giving them the same joy in the world of travel that LMC provided to her. 

“I love sharing the world with folks through travel, and it was the LMC program that gave me the well-rounded education and tools to make a successful career I never thought possible,” said Maggiora.