Star of children’s book written by second graders is now a learning ambassador for children in the Yakima Valley

Houdini poses for pictures with children at the Heritage University Early Learning Center during a reveal event on June 15, 2023

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Star of children’s book written by second graders is now a learning ambassador for children in the Yakima Valley

Toppenish, Wash. – Houdini Was is a story about a classroom pet hamster written by a second-grade class at White Bluff Elementary School in Richland, Wash. The class entered the story into a contest by Scholastic Books called the Scholastic National Challenge in 2010, and their book won first place over more than 2,000 entries nationwide. Fast forward to 2023, Yakima Valley Partners for Education (YVPE) and its partners are bringing Houdini to the children of the Yakima Valley as a learning ambassador. On June 15, the teacher whose class at White Bluff Elementary wrote the story, Christan Conners, and one of her students from that year, Lily Ferguson, read Houdini Was to children at the Heritage University Early Learning Center. Afterwards, Houdini, a costumed mascot, appeared and posed for pictures with the children.

YVPE director Suzy Diaz said longtime Heritage University benefactors Ken and Sharon Smith of Yakima, Wash. became interested in YVPE’s literacy efforts and wanted to help. The Smiths, parents of Christan Conners, purchased the publishing rights to Houdini Was, had 500 copies printed, and are now making the book available to schools and organizations in the Yakima Valley.

YVPE’s partners think Houdini will be a “hamster-iffic” learning ambassador.

“The ESD is thrilled to be joining with other community partners in the Houdini project,” said Educational Service District 105 Director Shane Backlund. We’re looking forward to supporting Houdini’s mission of serving as a learning ambassador throughout our region, and we can’t wait to get started with this partnership.”

“Houdini’s journey from a class pet to a symbol of resilience touched the hearts of young minds. In their words and art, Houdini becomes a beacon of hope,” said Humberto Rodriguez, CEO of United Family Center. “The Smith family’s dedication to sharing this story nurtures healing, reminding us that even in grief we find the power to create light.”

“Early literacy helps children develop a rich vocabulary, self-expression, and reading comprehension and promotes life-long learning,” said Vanessa Frias, director of Parents as Teachers at Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic (YVFWC). “These skills prepare children for school by encouraging a love for books and an eagerness to learn. Our organization is happy to support Houdini.”

For more information, please contact Suzy Diaz at (509) 480-9354 or Diaz_S@heritage.edu or Davidson Mance at (509) 969-6084 or Mance_D@heritage.edu.

Pacific Power awards $7,500 grant to Heritage University to support health sciences

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Pacific Power awards $7,500 grant to Heritage University to support health sciences

Toni Petty of Pacific Power presents check to Heritage University VP of Marketing David Wise at Heritage University, June 21, 2023

Toppenish, Wash. – Heritage University is pleased to announce it has once again been awarded a grant from Pacific Power Foundation, this time in the amount of $7,500. This is the fifth year in a row Heritage has received the grant, which will be used to fund scholarships for students pursuing degrees in the health sciences field.

David Wise, VP of Advancement and Marketing for Heritage, was presented a grant check from Toni Petty, Pacific Power Regional Business Manager at Heritage University on June 21, 2023. “I am so grateful to Pacific Power Foundation for their continued support of the Heritage University mission of providing educational opportunities for students of the Yakima Valley,” said Wise. Their generosity helps to eliminate financial hardships for students, particularly those pursuing health science degrees.”

Petty said Pacific Power Foundation supports Heritage University’s mission of making a college education accessible. “We are pleased to support Heritage University with this donation from our Foundation,” said Petty. “The Pacific Power Foundation is committed to strengthening the vitality of our communities through such grants.”

For more information, contact Davidson Mance, media relations coordinator at (509) 969-6084 or mance_d@heritage.edu.

About the Pacific Power Foundation:

The Pacific Power Foundation is part of the PacifiCorp Foundation, one of the largest utility-endowed foundations in the United States. The foundation was created in 1988 by PacifiCorp, an electric utility serving 1.9 million customers in six western states as Pacific Power (Oregon, Washington, and California) and Rocky Mountain Power (Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho). The foundation’s mission, through charitable investments, is to support the growth and vitality of the communities served by Pacific Power and Rocky Mountain Power. For more information, visit www.pacificpower.net/foundation.

 

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Law school pipeline program in central Washington to kick off second year at Heritage University

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Law school pipeline program in central Washington to kick off second year at Heritage University

Toppenish, Wash. – A program to boost the numbers of people of color serving as lawyers in central Washington is about to begin its second year at Heritage University. The program, funded by a grant from the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) Prelaw Undergraduate Scholars (PLUS) Program, is an innovative partnership between the law schools at Seattle University, the University of Washington and Gonzaga University, and Heritage with the goal of making a law degree more accessible to diverse students, especially Latino and Indigenous students.

To teach specific program topics, the program will host highly acclaimed lawyers, judges, and legal professionals from across Washington state, including:

Stephen C. Gonzalez – chief justice, Washington State Supreme Court
Mary Yu – justice, Washington State Supreme Court
Sonia Rodriguez-True – Yakima County Superior Court
Cesar Torres – Northwest Justice Project Executive Director
Lola Velazquez – attorney, Northwest Justice Project
Derek Red Arrow Frank (Nez Perce) – associate, Stokes Lawrence PLLC
Marta Sandoval – general council, Continental Mills, Inc.
Tony Varona – dean, Seattle University School of Law
Tamara Lawson – dean, University of Washington School of Law

The LSAC PLUS Program kicks off a three-week session on Friday, June 16, 2023, with in-person classes at Heritage three days a week. The program will expand the students’ knowledge and understanding of the legal field. Some of the activities in store for the students include: 1) a mock first-year law student class and mock clinic class; 2) sessions dedicated to explaining the law school admissions process led by admissions staff of each of the three law schools in Washington; 3) seminars preparing students for the Law School Admissions Test as well as drafting personal statements and resumes; 4) a visit to Yakima County Superior Court to observe a mock trial exercise and meet with judges; and 5) individualized law school admissions counseling sessions provided by Washington’s law schools admissions departments. Each LSAC PLUS scholar is paired with a mentor attorney for the duration of the program.

By the end of the program, students will have a better understanding of what it takes to apply to and become accepted by a law school, thrive as a law student, and ultimately a career as a lawyer. Students will make valuable connections with diverse attorneys and judges in their community who are invested in their future success.

Bree R. Black Horse, an enrolled member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and an attorney with the law firm of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton in Seattle, is the director of the LSAC PLUS Program at Heritage this year. “This program is vital to achieving the full integration of lawyers from historically excluded and underrepresented communities in our legal system, and to address the critical attorney shortage currently facing central Washington,” said Black Horse. “I am honored to have the opportunity to serve the next generation of legal professionals in the Yakima Valley.”

Kimberley Bellamy-Thompson, chair of the Social Science department at Heritage, is excited over the response to Heritage and its partners once again offering the LSAC PLUS Program. “We are honored to help central Washington students envision themselves serving their community as lawyers,” said Bellamy-Thompson. “There certainly is demand for this opportunity, as we have a full cohort of 30 and a long waitlist of students hoping to be part of the program.”

Media are invited to report on the first day of the LSAC PLUS Program, with opportunities to interview students, instructors, and program coordinators. For more information, please contact:

Bree R. Black Horse at (206) 735-0448 or Blackhorse_B@heritage.edu.
Kimberly Bellamy-Thompson at (509) 952-7288 or Bellamy-Thompson_K@heritage.edu.
Davidson Mance, Heritage University media relations coordinator, at (509) 969-6084 or Mance_D@Heritage.edu.

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Heritage University’s annual “Bounty of the Valley” Scholarship Dinner raises $838,966 for student scholarships

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Heritage University’s annual “Bounty of the Valley” Scholarship Dinner raises $838,966 for student scholarships

Toppenish, Wash. – Heritage University’s 37th annual Bounty of the Valley Scholarship Dinner, held this past weekend, brought in $838,966 through Monday, June 5. The premier fundraiser for student scholarships at Heritage was also live-streamed for those who wished to attend remotely.

For the second year in a row, the Bounty of the Valley featured hosts, Alex Vera and Gerardo Ruelas, two Heritage alumni and Valley natives who have gone on to successful careers at Costco Wholesale at the company’s headquarters in Issaquah, Wash.

Heritage University alumnus, Miguel Mendoza, who recently graduated from Heritage this past May summa cum laude with a B.S. in biology, served as the student speaker. Mendoza was born and raised in the Yakima Valley and graduated from Toppenish High School in 2019. Not only did he excel academically, but he also worked with the College Assistance Migrant Program at Heritage and as a tutor in the Academic Skills Center, where he supported his fellow students and help them succeed in their studies. Mendoza is now preparing to take his MCAT exam in preparation for applying to Medical School.

Heritage University President Andrew Sund, Ph.D. is thankful for the supporters and sponsors of Bounty of the Valley who continue to invest in student scholarships. “The great majority of our students come from economic backgrounds where they cannot afford higher education,” said Dr. Sund. “It is undeniable that the support our students receive from the community is what allows students to earn their college degrees. For more than 40 years, it is the amazing support of donors that has created the opportunity for nearly 11,000 people to earn their degrees at Heritage. 11,000 people who have then gone on from here to serve the community as educators, business leaders, healthcare professionals and more throughout the Valley. We are grateful for their incredible support.”

The live-streamed portion of Bounty of the Valley can be viewed by visiting Heritage.edu/Bounty. Donations to student scholarships can be made on the same page by clicking on the “Raise Your Paddle” button. For more information, contact Dana Eliason at (509) 865-0441 or Eliason_D@Heritage.edu or Davidson Mance at (509) 969-6084 or Mance_D@Heritage.edu.

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Heritage University receives $6 million grant to start a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling degree program

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Heritage University receives $6 million grant to start a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling degree program

Toppenish, Wash. – Heritage University has been awarded a $6 million, five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education to launch a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling (MMHC) program at Heritage. This initiative, known as the “Heritage University Consortium,” seeks to address the unprecedented mental health crisis that small, rural communities like the Yakama Indian Reservation and the Yakima Valley are facing. The program will train graduates to serve as mental health counselors for schools that are most in need.

Partners of the Heritage University Consortium include the Yakama Indian Nation and Educational Service District (ESD) 105 in Yakima, Wash. and will adopt a “grow-your-own” approach that recruits hard-to-reach populations from local high schools into Heritage University’s undergraduate Bachelor of Psychology and then into the soon-to-be MMHC graduate program. Graduates of the program will be eligible to serve as Licensed Mental Health Counselor-Associates in Washington state and will also qualify as Substance Use Disorder Professional Trainees.

Amy Nusbaum, Ph.D., Chair of the Psychology Department at Heritage, said the Yakama Nation and Yakima Valley schools who will benefit from this grant, have large numbers of students who suffer from the lack of adequate mental health counseling, which can lead to large academic achievement gaps. Dr. Nusbaum said research shows that students of color learn faster when they are not facing social, emotional, or mental health issues. “Our proposed solution is to create a new and innovative partnership that will address the urgent mental health needs that adversely impact the learning and well-being of the diverse students in our community,” said Dr. Nusbaum. “It will streamline and accelerate the outreach, recruitment and training of diverse mental health counselors, and we know that having a counselor that looks like you and is from a similar background increases the chances of therapeutic success.”

Nusbaum also says graduates may serve the general population by working in places such as Comprehensive Healthcare and Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic, for example. “These innovative approaches capitalize on this unique opportunity to begin to solve our problem of shortages of local mental health professionals in our schools and communities,” Dr. Nusbaum said.

Enrollment for the MMHC program will begin next spring once accreditation is received, with classes starting in the fall of 2024. For more information contact Amy Nusbaum at nusbaum_a@heritage.edu. For help with securing interviews please contact Davidson Mance at mance_d@heritage.edu or (509) 969-6084.

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Heritage University to hold Class of 2023 Commencement at Yakima Valley SunDome

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Heritage University to hold Class of 2023 Commencement at
Yakima Valley SunDome

Yakima, Wash. – Heritage University will celebrate the Class of 2023 during its Commencement Exercise Saturday, May 13 at 10:00 a.m. at the Yakima Valley SunDome. Undergraduate and graduate degrees will be conferred upon students graduating from both the Heritage Toppenish campus and at the Tri-Cities regional site. Overall, 250 students will earn their degrees at Heritage this year.

Phyllis Gutiérrez Kenney, former state representative of the 46th legislative district from 1997 to 2012, will be the commencement speaker. A former small-business owner, she was a delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business, President of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Assistant Commissioner for the Employment Security Department. Since 2015, Ms. Gutiérrez Kenney has served on the nine-member State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, which provides oversight to Washington’s 34 community and technical colleges. She currently serves as board chair.

Passionate about educational opportunity, Ms. Gutiérrez Kenney was past chair of the Seattle Community College District Board of Trustees and former commissioner on the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. She was a board member for the National Council of La Raza and National Center for Policy Alternatives. She also authorized numerous pieces of legislation concerning postsecondary education during her time in the legislature.

Heritage University will present the 2023 Violet Lumley Rau Outstanding Alumni Award to Ryan Washburn for his exceptional service to his country and community. Washburn earned his B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Education from Heritage University in 2012, and his M.S.W. from Walla Walla University in Walla Walla, Wash. He currently works for Benton County in Kennewick Wash. as a therapeutic court coordinator.

Washburn’s commitment to helping others started long before he attended Heritage University. Ryan dedicated eight years of his life to the United States Navy as a fire control technician where he oversaw Tomahawk missile systems. After leaving the military, he earned his degrees.

After graduation, Washburn became the first case manager for Benton County’s newly established Veteran’s Court. He served veterans who struggled with substance abuse and mental health issues by getting them treatment and counseling to overcome their challenges. He was later promoted to run the Therapeutic Recovery Center, which oversees the Mental Health Court.

Heritage will also announce the recipients of the Board of Directors’ Academic Excellence Award and the President’s Council Student Award of Distinction during the ceremony.

The Yakima Valley SunDome is located at 1301 South Fair Ave. in Yakima. Parking is free. Additional information is available online at https://heritage.edu/student-resources/commencement-2023/

For more information, contact David Mance, media relations coordinator at (509) 969-6084 or Mance_D@Heritage.edu.

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Class Notes

1998
Ken Gosney (B.A.Ed., English/ Language Arts (4-12), M.Ed., Professional Development, School Administration) was appointed CEO of Goodwill Industries of Sacramento Valley and Northern Nevada in January 2022. Prior to this appointment, he served as the CEO of Goodwill Industries of the Columbia, covering the Tri-Cities area of Washington state. There, he helped turn the nonprofit into one of the top five performing Goodwill operations out of the nearly 160 territories in the United States and Canada.


1999
Mike Villarreal (M.Ed., Educational Administration) was elected to serve as president of the Washington Association of School Administrators for the 2002-23 academic year. Villarreal is the superintendent of Hoquiam School District, a position he’s filled since 2017.

 

2008

Amber Richards (B.A, English, M.A., English Language Arts 2011) joined the faculty at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. She serves as a professor of writing in the Department of Writing.

 

 

2011
Rosa Gutiérrez (B.A., Business Administration) was appointed Human Resources Director for Sundquist Fruit and Gilbert Orchards in November. Prior to this, she served as the HR/Food Safety Manager for Sundquist Family of Companies.

2015

Francisco Ramirez-Amezcua (B.A., Environmental Studies) is a migrant graduation specialist at Sunnyside High School. This past fall, he was awarded Student Support Staff of the Year for the Sunnyside School District.

 

2016
Chelsea Brannock (B.A.Ed., English Language Learners) was appointed the 2022-23 Educational School District 105 Regional Teacher of the Year. Brannock is an English language arts teacher at Wahluke High School in Mattawa, Wash.

2017
Clariza Maldonado (B.A., Business Administration) earned a Master of Science in Information Technology and Administrative Management from Central Washington University. She now works for Konami Gaming as a project manager for their Systems Research and Development department.

2022

Dalia Chavez (B.A., Criminal Justice) joined the Washington State Human Rights Commission (WSHRC), where she serves as a civil rights investigator based in the Yakima Valley. The WSHRC is a state agency responsible for administering and enforcing the Washington Law Against Discrimination.

 

HU Alumni, we invite you to send us updates on your professional and personal achievements! Go to heritage.edu/alumni to complete your submission for Class Notes. page5image59280640

From Heritage to Harvard and Back Again!

From Heritage to Harvard and Back Again!
No one writes a better story about Heritage University and its students than Robert Ozuna. Whether it’s part of an application for a half million dollars or five million, Ozuna writes passionately about Heritage and the students it serves because he knows them. As a first-generation college student with early-life experience working in hop fields, he’s shared many of their life challenges.

Robert Ozuna

Today, as President & CEO of RGI Corporation, the educational consulting business he co-founded in Sunnyside, Washington, Ozuna often partners with Heritage on its multi-faceted grant-writing endeavors, seeking sizable funding for everything from money for new buildings, to getting people in need into college, to necessary support services for existing students. RGI’s small team of a dozen grant writers and researchers includes many Heritage graduates.

The Heritage/RGI grant-acquisition success rate is an impressive 100 percent since 2020: Five applications have been submitted, and all five have been awarded. Their work is responsible for $13.3 million in funding received for programs that served more than 1,000 students over the last five years.

There are reasons for the success, Ozuna said. There is a high level of need in the region, and Heritage is doing great work to meet that need. When the story of the impact of the university in the community they serve is told accurately and compellingly, it’s powerful.

“From Hop Harvest to Heritage to Harvard,” a journalist once wrote about Ozuna. People said he could have worked anywhere – but what mattered most to Ozuna was what the people back home needed.

GETTING OUT OF THE FIELDS

Robert Ozuna was born in south Texas to parents who were migrant farmworkers. After years following the seasons back and forth, they ultimately settled in Grandview in the Yakima Valley.

“Working in the fields was hard labor,” Ozuna says. “My parents always told me, ‘You need to graduate from high school and get out of the fields.’ They dreamed of me getting a good job bagging groceries inside a store.”

Ozuna graduated from high school and took a job recruiting migrant children into school programs for Educational Service District 123. Later, he trained parents to become involved in their children’s education.

“I acquired a passion for helping people, especially students,” he said. “And after a while, I thought, ‘I’m telling all these students to get an education, yet I don’t have a degree myself.’ I decided to go to back to school. I had a lot of ties to the Yakima Valley, and I felt Heritage was the best place for me.”

Once at Heritage, Ozuna started getting to know his fellow students, both Latinx and Yakama.

“I was driven to really engage with them because I found that everyone had a story,” he says. “The common thread was there was usually no role model because their parents didn’t know about college or how to navigate financial aid. There was a lot of determination in the face of adversity, and here, students could get their education without leaving the valley.”

Heritage gave Ozuna the confidence to pursue his educational goals. He thought about going to Harvard.

Like his success today, his higher-education trajectory beginning at Heritage was impressive. The university was a 600-student college still
in its infancy when he graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration. He proceeded to follow it up by earning his Master of Public Administration at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He dedicated the first half of his career to public service and education.

“I wanted to go to Harvard, and I thought, I will never get in, but I’ll just apply, get rejected and get it over with,’” he says. “But I got accepted.”

Ozuna was there during a time when many of his fellow students were going to work for the Clinton administration. He was appointed by President Clinton to the U.S. Secretary of Labor’s U. S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Federal Advisory Board, even though he’d already decided to return to Washington State.

“Our dean said if anyone wanted to work in government, that was the time – we had the opportunity. But I always felt we really needed to get an education and come back. We need lawyers and doctors who look like us.

“I said my work was back home. There was so much to be done. Heritage provided me the opportunity and knowledge to pursue my educational goals leading to Harvard and coming back. Heritage will forever have a special place in my heart for providing me with this opportunity.”

DOING THE IMPORTANT WORK

Ozuna returned to the Yakima Valley and took a position directing the Statewide Farmworker Employment and Training Program, followed by the University of Washington Yakima Valley Community Partnership. Then he fulfilled an important personal goal: to be the CEO of his own business.

“I had worked with students and families one- on-one,” he says. “Instead of touching lives one at a time, I wanted my work to have a positive effect on as many people as possible, to do things on more of a macro instead of a micro level.”

He founded RGI Research Corporation with Heritage mathematics professor Ryan Landvoy in 2002. In addition to Heritage, RGI clients today include the University of Washington, Washington State University, ESD 105, Utah State University and many Alaska School Districts, whose student population is 98 percent Alaska Native.

Ozuna’s care for his community has most recently been exhibited in the fulfillment of another dream: to become an elected official. He’s served on the Grandview City Council since 2020.

His goal with RGI has always been to stay small so they can pick and choose their clients and do the work that matters most. “I am proud that Heritage University is one of our most valued clients.”

“I’ve had friends who’ve said, ‘You went to Harvard, and you came back?’

“’Absolutely,’ I say. I came back to help our people.” page17image62693088

All Four Years, All Right Here!


All Four Years, All Right Here!
Providing access to college degrees at remote locations across Washington State is nothing new for Heritage University. In fact, when the college began 40 years ago, it started with classes being offered at its campus in Toppenish, as well as in the small, eastern Washington community of Omak. In 2013, the university added the Tri-Cities to its list of locations where transfer students could take the last two years of classes needed to turn their associate degrees into bachelor’s degrees.

This academic delivery model remained relatively unchanged over the years— until now. Starting fall semester 2023, Heritage will begin accepting freshman and sophomore students who want to do all four years of study at the university’s regional site opening in Kennewick.

The move to offer instruction to first- and second-year students in the Tri-Cities is a natural extension of the Heritage mission to make college accessible to anyone with the talent and drive to pursue a degree regardless of economics, culture, or geographic location, said President Andrew Sund.

“We see this expansion in the Tri-Cities as a chance to collaborate with other institutions, which has been a long-standing tradition in higher education,” he said. “We can work together and thereby serve the people in the Tri-Cities who come from many backgrounds. More choices for students are always better in higher education. Our goal is to increase the total number of students who graduate from college, not to move students from attending CBC or WSU Tri-Cities. Working together, we can increase the total college-going student population, and benefit the entire community.”

The expansion means the university is moving from its location on the Columbia Basin College campus in Pasco into its own facility in Kennewick. Heritage is leasing space in what was once the Tri-City Herald building, located on Canal Drive. The university will occupy parts of the building’s second floor, with classrooms, offices, a reception lobby, study spaces and a break area. The site was selected for its central location with easy access from all points in the Tri-Cities and proximity to services in downtown Kennewick.

Initially, Heritage will expand its existing regional site offerings, education, social work, criminal justice, psychology and accounting, into four-year offerings. Additionally, it will add a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration to its list of degrees that can be earned from start to finish at the regional location. Moreover, Tri-Cities students will have access to all classes and the 36 degree programs offered at its Toppenish campus.

“Students will have the opportunity to transfer seamlessly between campuses, and some classes may be offered in a hybrid format where classes are delivered both in-class and online between the two campuses. The linkage between the two campuses will present a tremendous range of possibilities for students to study in their field of interest,” said Sund.

Martín Valadez, the director of Heritage University’s regional site in the Tri-Cities, said the move will make it easier for students to achieve their goals of pursuing higher education.

“Many Tri-Cities students are raising their families as they work several jobs, and we know they will benefit from having this additional opportunity to earn a four-year degree close to home,” he said. “We are excited to play a larger role in the firmament of higher education in the Tri-Cities and be a part of the revitalization of downtown Kennewick.”  page9image37120368

The Gift of Gratitude

Perla Bolanos

The Gift of Gratitude
For this issue of Wings, we reached out to students and asked them to tell us about a pivotal moment in their life that had a profound effect on their views of themselves and their world. Perla Bolanos, a senior who is getting ready to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, submitted this essay.

I remember my first day of third grade in the United States—the thrill, excitement, uneasiness, and anxiety of the unknown. I wore one of my best dresses with shoes I had painted the night before to cover the scratches. My mother was so excited for me to start school she told me, “Vas a tener muchas amigas y vas a aprender mucho mi niña. – You’re going to have a lot of friends, and you’re going to learn a lot, my little girl.”

My mother brushed my hair so hard, putting it into a high ponytail with a bow, and used jugo de limon so my hair wouldn’t fall. With one last look in the mirror, I carried the backpack I had brought with me from Mexico and headed out on my way to live the “American Dream.”

The school was big and had lots of space to run and play. It was in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Salinas, California, where my godmother lived. She was the only reason I had the opportunity to attend that school in the first place. My parents, brother, and I lived in a small studio apartment behind one of my godmother’s restaurants outside the city. A small school was located a couple of blocks from my home, but my parents insisted on enrolling me in a “better school.” Everyone wanted me to receive a quality education, meet new people, learn, and get accustomed to my new home.

When I walked through the door into my classroom, the look on my third- grade teacher’s face was something I will never forget. She stared at my face, clothes, and shoes; she stared at me and who I was. She knew I was not like the usual students that attended her class, and she was right. I was far from being like her other students. Most of them were Caucasian. They were dressed in nice clothes and shoes, and I was just the girl coming from Mexico. I also saw the look on the faces of the other kids. They looked at me like I must be lost, like I didn’t belong there. After the teacher introduced me to the rest of the class, she guided me to the back of the room to a small desk with a chair surrounded by books, far from the rest of the students. As I took in my surroundings, I wondered how I went from being the top student in my school to being the “poor Mexican girl,” as my classmates called me. While the others were learning grammar and about the solar system, I was stuck relearning the alphabet and numbers, this time in English, despite already being taught all this when I was in Mexico.

When I grew tired of staring  at the same activities, I organized the stacks of books that surrounded me. I began losing myself in the pages of these books. One was my best friend, an English dictionary. This dictionary gave me the support my teacher and classmates could not give me. I found myself scanning through the pages, trying to memorize each word, and forming sentences that later would become pages of poems and stories I wrote. Creative writing became my escape and part of my identity. It helped me overcome the language barrier I encountered throughout my journey. The written word allowed me to express my feelings in this new language when I could not express them out loud.

I have mixed emotions when I reflect on my third-grade year. While I am sad for the little
girl who had to endure such an unpleasant school experience, I am immensely grateful for the love of learning I developed as those books surrounded me.

I came to realize that I could take control of my education, that the same little girl and the woman I am today are capable and resilient, and that education is a form of wealth that can never be taken away from me.

Today, I am a senior at Heritage University. Graduation is only a few weeks away. I cannot help but think about eight-year-old me and how far I have come from that third- grade classroom. Attending Heritage University brought me new perspectives into my life. I received an education that I once thought I did not deserve, along with numerous opportunities that have helped me grow as a scholar, professional, leader, and, most importantly, as a first- generation Latina.

My mother once told me, “Education es la unica herencia que te puede dar mija” “Education is the only heritage I can give you, Mija,” and it has been the greatest gift I have received.

It took me a long time to discover who I am and find my voice to express myself, my thoughts, and my visions. To this day, I wonder, “can I reach someone with my words? Can I make a difference?” While those are questions that remain to be answered, I know that as I move forward out into the professional world, I will keep the lessons I’ve learned close to my heart and will do my best to honor my mother’s words and all those who helped me along the way.

Pursuing higher education was always a dream, and now I live it. It is a new chapter— something I have yearned for. This is my American dream coming true. page12image37381888