Carmen Carrion Lucena is an international senior finance student from Seville, Spain.
CARMEN CARRION LUCENA / COURTESY
Grace Cardinal, Editor-in-Chief
Senior finance major Carmen Carrión Lucena has been selected as the 2025 undergraduate valedictorian. An international transfer student from Spain, Carrión Lucena has made the most out of her two years at Manhattan University.
Carrión Lucena began her undergraduate academic career at Campbellsville University in Kentucky. After feeling a desire to find a place where she could make a bigger impact, Carrion Lucena decided to apply to MU.
“I’m an international student from Spain, so I just ended up in Kentucky because I didn’t have any clue,” Carrión Lucena said. “But then I knew that I needed something else, something bigger, being part of something more meaningful, I would say. So I started looking into colleges, and I just applied to Manhattan because I’m a finance major. New York is the financial capital of the world. They were having a free, no-fee application week, so I used that as an opportunity, and they accepted me. I received a really good scholarship that allowed me to transfer. I always thought it would be impossible to move to New York.”
At MU, Carrión Lucena made sure to get involved with as much as she could in two short years. Amongst her extracurriculars include a spot on the executive board of the investment fund and the international student association. Not only that, Carrión Lucena has been a part of the summer research program and also works with the O’Malley School of Business social media team.
“When something is too scary and feels too out of reach, it is a sign that you have to go for it,” Carrión Lucena said. “At Manhattan, I learned that these big dreams, these impossible dreams, these impossible things that you want to accomplish are not impossible, [they] are just calling you a little harder. When that happens, you have to follow and you’re gonna maybe be a little bit more stressed, but the reward will be there for you. I think Manhattan has encouraged me to pursue a lot of challenges that I didn’t even consider before.”
Being not only an international student, but a transfer student as well has provided Carrión Lucena with many unique challenges in her educational career.
“I think we have a huge part of the experience that domestic students don’t experience,” Carrión Lucena said. “We are by ourselves here. I don’t have my mom or my dad to help me with anything. I don’t go home over breaks. I will say it’s super enriching, it makes you grow a lot more, and it gives you a lot of opportunities to travel.”
Her international student status has also inspired Carrión Lucena to recognize the importance in advocating for diversity and inclusion in all areas she steps in.
“Being an international student, I am a huge speaker to advocate for diversity, and that is something that I always do from my international student perspective and my female student perspective,” Carrión Lucena said. “ I think it is super important to advocate from those points of view and bring that voice of diversity of ‘Hey guys, yeah, but you know that in this place, things work differently, so why don’t we consider this point of view, this way of looking at this.’”
CARMEN CARRION LUCENA / COURTESY
By others on campus, Carrión Lucena is widely known as a hard worker who is extremely organized, a deep thinker and a friend to all. She is passionate about making sure everyone is represented and feels welcome at her table.
“She’s a very strong person, she’s very determined, and she always does her work,” Sophia Cervelli, a sophomore management major, fellow international student and close friend of Carrión Lucena’s said. “She’s very organized. As a friend, she’s always there for you.”
Jimena González-Ramírez, Ph.D., associate professor of economics and finance and the faculty advisor for Carrión Lucena’s summer research, spoke to The Quadrangle about the valedictorian’s strong work ethic and drive in everything she does.
“I would say that Carmen stands out because she is very driven, she has the initiative, but if she wants to do something, she has that ownership where, I don’t have to be like, did you do this?,” González-Ramírez said. “She’s so organized and so passionate with the research or the social media that she just took ownership of the things and and it was really easy for faculty, whether I was supervising her research or whether I was helping supervise the social media part, she was just so good at like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna do this and organize’, she plans very well so nothing is done at the last minute, and she follows through.”
Hany Guirguis, Ph.D., dean of the O’Malley School of Business, is proud that this year’s valedictorian comes from such a rich background. His advice for Carrión Lucena prior to her hitting the stage in two short weeks is to “appreciate the moment”.
“I think she has a great future,” Guirguis said. “My advice is always to continue to learn and add to her skills. Also appreciate the moment and appreciate the importance of making the right decisions. Some stuff that seems to be minor can make a huge difference in your career…but I think she has great potential. She’s not only a student, she’s smart and she’s mature and well-rounded, and she knows what she would like to do in life. She’s already a star, but she’ll be our future star.”
Post-graduation, Carrión Lucena hopes to stay in New York City, but remains on the job hunt. If New York is not an option, Carrión Lucena says she has opportunities in Europe, including London, Milan and back home in Spain. Regardless of where her journey leads her, Carrión Lucena will always be grateful for her time in the MU community.
“I’m so grateful for everybody here, the administrators, the faculty, the professors, the deans, people from other schools, every single person in charge of a research program, a mentor program, early career program,” Carrión Lucena said. “Everybody is so amazing in the school and outside of the school, because of the alumni community, and I hope I become part of that active community and become an active member. I think they are key in the success of the business school. I think we have three or four alumni coming every week to participate in different events, and that just makes the whole experience better…I feel like Manhattan is an example of what a strong and united community should be, [and] I’m just really grateful.”