{"id":694,"date":"2016-08-19T19:25:09","date_gmt":"2016-08-19T19:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=694"},"modified":"2016-08-19T19:25:09","modified_gmt":"2016-08-19T19:25:09","slug":"tstc-gives-graduate-hope-of-a-better-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=694","title":{"rendered":"TSTC Gives Graduate Hope of a Better Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

At 14 years-old Carolina Martinez came to the United States for the opportunity to continue her education. As an immigrant, she spent many years facing homelessness and poverty.<\/p>\n

Now, a decade later, her \u201cAmerican dream\u201d of a college degree is coming true.<\/p>\n

The Veracruz native will be graduating from Texas State Technical College tonight with an associate degree in Surgical Technology. She is the first in her family to graduate from college \u2013 a feat accomplished in the face of great hardship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so scared to leave my home in Veracruz,\u201d said Martinez. \u201cBut at that time it was my only hope to continue school. At 14 in Veracruz I had to start paying for school and we couldn\u2019t afford it. So it was either move or drop out and work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martinez\u2019s mom was already working in the United States sending money home to her daughter and her son, who were living with their grandmother. Martinez said her dad was never in the picture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI moved in with my mom, my stepdad and my half siblings when I got to the U.S.,\u201d said Martinez. \u201cSchool was challenging, I was in an ESL class for two years and my teacher began pushing me to do more.\u201d\"Carolina<\/a><\/p>\n

That teacher at Port Isabel High School was Eric Hanstead. He encouraged and pushed her to enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) classes and participate in University Interscholastic League (UIL) academic contests.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never thought I could do any of it,\u201d said Martinez. \u201cBut he taught me that \u2018Where there is a will, there is a way,\u2019 and that has carried me through my hardest days.\u201d<\/p>\n

She graduated from high school in 2011 but, because of financial reasons, college was not in the picture for Martinez. She had no choice, but to work to help support her brother and grandmother who had stayed in Mexico.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t have money for college,\u201d said Martinez. \u201cIn fact, my mom said there was no point in me going to college, so she wouldn\u2019t help me apply for financial aid.\u201d<\/p>\n

During this time, Martinez\u2019s stepfather was deported, her half siblings were sent to live in Mexico with him, and after several months, Martinez\u2019s mom decided to leave the states to join the rest of her family. This left Martinez alone without a place to call home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was living in a messed up trailer home, it was broken,\u201d said Martinez. \u201cMy life was broken, but the one good thing that came out of everything is that my mom helped me apply for financial aid before she left.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon after Martinez started college at TSTC, she was kicked out of her trailer and found herself homeless.<\/p>\n

For nearly a year, Martinez stayed wherever she was welcomed. She was in and out of friends\u2019 homes.<\/p>\n

It was not until her Surgical Technology Program Director Robert Sanchez and her Instructor Anna San Pedro led her to TSTC housing, that she finally had a steady roof over her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad I had saved my income tax return, because that\u2019s what I used to move into the dorms,\u201d said Martinez. The program was stressful, my living situation was stressful, but I can say that I made it. I\u2019m graduating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martinez is graduating with a 3.5 grade-point average and now working at Doctor\u2019s Hospital at Renaissance (DHR) as a surgical technology intern. She will find out if she passed her national exam at the end of the month, which will determine if she will be hired full-time at DHR.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarolina has really persevered; she did whatever she could to succeed,\u201d said Sanchez. \u201cI\u2019m very proud of her and everything she has accomplished. I admire her determination and I know that if she continues to work hard and embrace the profession she will do excellent and have a better quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martinez said her experiences and the hands-on training she received at TSTC has prepared her for a career that will change her life forever.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been hard doing all of this on my own. I won\u2019t have family at graduation either,\u201d said Martinez. \u201cBut TSTC and my instructors have changed my life for the better. I can\u2019t wait to work full-time doing what I love, helping my family back in Veracruz and finally being able to afford a place I can officially call my home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martinez is one of 358 students graduating from TSTC with either a certificate or associate\u2019s degree tonight at the Harlingen Municipal Auditorium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At 14 years-old Carolina Martinez came to the United States for the opportunity to continue her education. As an immigrant, she spent many years facing homelessness and poverty. Now, a decade later, her \u201cAmerican dream\u201d of a college degree is coming true. The Veracruz native will be graduating from Texas State Technical College tonight with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-harlingen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=694"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":698,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694\/revisions\/698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}