CR's December 13, 2024 Times Standard Article - Personal Transformations
Dec 10 2024Though many people recognize the role that community colleges play in the economic vitality of a community; at times I still find myself in the unenviable position of explaining the value of CR to skeptical community members. I remind them that CR was founded on the primary belief that higher education should be accessible to every citizen, regardless of economic status or academic preparedness. CR is a place where marginalized students and students who may have struggled with school in the past find an environment that will allow them to build confidence in themselves.
To illustrate, I would like to share the story of Graciana Ortega, as told in her own words. Graciana is a dedicated CR student who will graduate this spring and transfer to Cal Poly Humboldt in fall 2025. Graciana’s story is a powerful representation of how CR is not merely defined by our role in preparing students either for employment or transfer to a 4-year university. We also have, as our collective ethos and mission, a deeply rooted commitment to supporting and empowering individuals for personal transformation and discovery.
School was a lot for me; I had made friends and learned a little here and there but was still testing where I might fit in the world. I struggled with anxiety, most prominently when I started my fifth-grade year. However, in my 8th grade year, I started to feel safe. It was also then that I met my first boyfriend.
I got pregnant in the summer between 8th grade and high school. At just fifteen, I was unprepared for such a life-changing event, and the pregnancy was far from ideal. Obviously, school had changed for me and the anxiety was back. Yet despite the fear and uncertainty of the situation, and after enduring the many emotional, mental, and social challenges that come with being a pregnant teenager, I was convinced I could do what the adults around me were struggling with: positive parenting.
That idea took up most of my thoughts about the future, but the reality was that I didn’t even know myself yet - I had only just stopped playing with Barbies. Suddenly, I was reading What to Expect While Expecting alongside my class assignment, Of Mice and Men, with all the other kids. Mix this situation in with the poor relationship I had with my partner at the time, and the circumstances became even harder.
In the midst of the confusion, questions, and fear, I continued to go to high school. During the first half of my freshman year (2012) at Eureka High School, I felt the spark to write in Billy Morris’s English class. There was something about his excitement around language arts that was infectious. I wanted to write, and he noticed.
However, halfway through the year, my circumstances led me to transition to independent study at a new school, Zoe Barnum. It was there, in the independent study room, that two teachers Larry Argyle and Melinda McGibbon, convinced me I could do more. Mr. Argyle convinced me that I could and should go to college and see what I could do.
After graduation, I enrolled at College of the Redwoods, feeling both unsure and excited. As a non-traditional student who had to balance the responsibilities of motherhood and college, I wasn’t sure how I would fit in, but CR welcomed me in a way that other colleges might not have. I began taking English courses and quickly fell in love with the ways that each teacher made me feel that same spark that started in Mr. Morris’s class. I began to believe “I can write, I can teach this, I belong here.”
I learned how to read and think about published material in Dr. Peter Blakemore’s class, in the process discovering a newfound wonder for the world through the perspective of others. In Sociology 10, Vanessa Vrtiak helped me cultivate compassion by helping me to see that everyone has a story to tell. And in David Holper’s poetry class, I found courage by reading my truth aloud and owning the stage with it.
Although my education at CR brought many tears – from frustration and self-doubt, but also joy – it also made me feel like anything was possible. I began to feel capable - like I could change my life and also do something important. My last English course at CR was prose fiction with Jeff Gonzalez in the Spring of 2024. He rekindled the fire that had been dampened by the personal and societal expectations of who I should be as a mother, as a woman, and as a body on this planet. After that class, I knew for certain that I am a writer. I can make a change, and I have a story to tell.
I finished my CR journey with an Astronomy class led by Jon Pedicino, who provided the last piece of inspiration my spark was waiting for: the realization that I can make a difference in future generations.
I may be called crazy, and I may be told I’m wrong, but I, just like everything in the universe, am made of stardust. That means I am magical, we all are, and together we can change the world for the better.
Graciana’s story is one of perseverance, discovery, reflection, and change. It reminds us that it is not enough to use metrics to measure student success. Stories like hers illustrate the profound personal changes that take place when a student’s passions are revealed and cultivated. It is why College of the Redwoods is fully committed to supporting each student’s academic and personal growth.