Heidi Iniguez: Dental Hygiene
I grew up in a middle class, single parent, Hispanic household, in a school district with a less than favorable prognosis. Education was never really enforced nor encouraged.
I knew at an early age that I was infatuated with the dental field because… having my teeth straightened changed my life. I was no longer self conscious about having crooked teeth and my self-esteem rose.
“I enlisted in the U.S Army and served seven amazing years. I was stationed in South Carolina, Georgia, South Korea, Texas, Utah, Washington, Germany, Kuwait and Iraq. My ambition was evident to my supervisors and I moved up the ranks quickly, by the time I was twenty-three years old I was a sergeant in charge of my own soldiers. With this position came a great amount of responsibility and discipline. The hardships that I faced molded me into a completely new person; I now had an extremely positive outlook on life as well as a newfound determination and self-confidence that was not evident prior to the military.
“(During) the seven years of military service, I (took) college courses whenever possible. I attended seven different colleges ranging from community college level to University level. I separated from the Army and enrolled at San Francisco State University. After successfully completing a BA in Biology, I was accepted into the Cabrillo Dental Hygiene program. The program has (allowed) me to specialize in a field that I feel extremely passionately about.
“This does not conclude my journey, I have applied to the University of San Francisco in order to obtain a Master’s degree in Dental Hygiene and look forward to the day that I can share my knowledge as a future instructor.”
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Ismael Medina: Music
Ismael Medina was born in Watsonville in 1984. His mother and father are working in the fields, his older brother does construction, his younger sister is unemployed.
Ismael had a 3rd grade reading level in high school. He was almost sent to “Juvi Hall” for getting in trouble: cutting school, jumping fences, wasting time, goofing around. He overheard teachers saying, “He’s a lost cause. He’ll never make anything of himself; he’ll end up in a gang, in jail, or on the street, a junky, or dead. Maybe if he’d go into military school, they could do something with him.”
Ismael said to himself, “‘NO WAY! No military school for me! I’ve seen the Simpson’s!” Ismael made up his mind that he’d prove them wrong. He went to the Digital Bridge Program and ACE, both of which were invaluable and he began to read. At age 18 he dropped out of school and worked at Home Depot and Circuit City. He found he was good at computers. He graduated from Watsonville High School in 2003.
He began to completely invest himself in the Music Program at Cabrillo. He helped form a Club for aspiring recording engineers and started taking music classes. He said the Music program helped him be more determined, focused, and highly motivated.
In the fall he will be entering CSU MB for Recording Technology. Ismael said, “There’s always hope. In life you go through a tunnel: one side is dark and one is light. In the end, it is much better to take the one toward the light.” He says he has learned to always try his best.
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Ana Mendoza: Criminal Justice
“I would love to share my story,” Mendoza said. “I would like to let others in my similar position that they are not alone and that anything is possible. As my mom would say, ‘Everything is possible in God who strengthens us.’”
Ana is transferring in the fall to University of California Santa Cruz as a Sociology major with a minor in Criminal Justice with a GPA of 3.91 at Cabrillo. She is the recipient of the prestigious Pfister Scholarship, the Soroptomist “Live your Dreams” award, Soroptomist Region awards, and the CAP transfer scholarship. She has been accepted to UCLA, UCSC, SJSU, and CSUMB.
Her triumph was born in struggle. She has not let anything stand in the way of her completing her education and following her dream of becoming a juvenile probation officer: teenage motherhood, dropping out of high school, growing up in poverty, living with undocumented legal status … even though her future is uncertain due to legal restrictions on employment, setting a good example for her daughter and her younger siblings keeps her commitment strong to succeed in school. She says, “Without dreams there is no reason to wake up.”
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