Triton Success Story

Rosa Maria Hernandez Reaches for the Stars

Former Triton student Rosa Hernandez completed her Master's Degree in Higher Education Administration  from Northeastern  Illinois University in December 2011.

How does a wife and mother from Ocotlan Jalisco, Mexico, manage to come to the United Sates, learn English, and subsequently complete three college degrees (associates, bachelors, and masters) while simultaneously working and raising a family?

"I don't believe that one person can do these things by themselves, There is a group of people behind every student who supports them in order to succeed," admits Rosa Hernandez. "Family is very important as well as teaches, librarians, tutors, mentors. They all help students succeed."

In Rosa's case, Triton gave her the initial boost through Nuevos Horizontes. Triton's community center based in Melrose Park provided  her with the first step on a path to higher education: English as a Second Language classes.

"It took me some year to learn English. Then I continued with pre-college, developmental classes at Triton." Rosa managed to land a job in Triton's adult education department as a secretary while working toward her associate's degree in liberal arts. Three more children followed behind her first won, whom had been born in Mexico.

Rosa remembers, "My husband was very supportive," A welder who loves his work, he was home in the evenings to care for the children and cook or bring home dinner for the family.

Meanwhile, Rosa studied and worked and worked and studied.

Before completing an associate's degree, she transferred her credits to DePaul university where she began a Bachelor's in Liberal Arts with a focus on adult education. all students in this program had families an were working full time, so teaches were very accommodating. Nevertheless, it took three years for Rosa to complete her bachelor's in 2003.

During that time, she wrote several papers and conducted research, some of which compared Hispanic and Polish immigrant students. Apparently, ESL classes tend to have more Hispanic than Polish students, but more Polish than Hispanic students eventually graduate.

Rosa searched for the reasons behind these statistics and concluded that Hispanic families return to their home country more and are ambivalent about learning English because of their home country's proximity. Polish students are separated from relatives their relatives by an ocean and area more certain that their move here is permanent.

In order to be better prepared to guide students, Rosa applied to Northeastern Illinois University for a master of arts in higher education administration with a minor in counseling. Again, classes were structured for working people, so they met once a week, in the evenings, and Rosa was able to finish within two years, by December 2011.

She even adopted the Polish attitude toward finishing her degree. "I told my relatives, I am working on my masters, so 'I cannot visit you'." Family were denied her company for several months  so that she could finish her  reading, assignments, and presentations.

To complete the program, Rosa worked with high school students as an intern for six weeks last summer at Northeastern Illinois University, These students were bridging from high school to college by taking writing,  reading, and math courses and leaning life lessons, such as setting goals, communicating with instructors, prioritizing time, how to take notes, and how to study for exams.

Rosa even designed a brochure for students and parents with tips to success.

"I'm ready," she says, referring to her long educational road and her final goal to guide students in an educational institution, preferably Triton. Most importantly, her heart is where is should be: with the students.

"The students who come to Triton make a decision to get an education and have an HONEST job. They don't want to be involved in gangs. They don't want to be in jail. I respect their decision, and I believe they deserve assistance, guidance, and support. I want to help them reach their educational goals."

Certainly, Rosa will lead by example.

source: The Triton College Student Newspaper 5th Avenue Journal Triton Collage. Vol.25 No.3 March 1, 2012.