“They come afraid they will fail, then after two semesters they say they want an AA – they want to transfer – they want everything! They take this confidence out into the rest of college and into the world.”
Dr. Sandra Corona, director of Southwestern’s Spanish-to-English Child Development program.
Student Profiles
Irma Ayon
Irma Ayon did not plan to be a single, unemployed parent of two. But when Hertz laid her off after five years of work, she turned the setback into an opportunity. “Instead of waiting to be rehired, I decided to get ready for something new,” she said.
Irma researched her options at Southwestern and enrolled in a sequence of courses that will lead to a certificate in legal interpretation and translation. One of her requirements is spending 60 hours volunteering in a law office. When she finishes, she’ll be able to document her experience along with her grades.
Ana Figueroa
When Ana Figueroa first enrolled at Southwestern, she hoped to get a certificate in child development. The confidence she gained there broadened her sense of her own potential, and he thought maybe she could get an associate degree. She finished that in summer 2008 at age 47, and decided she could aim higher still, and now she is planning to transfer to San Diego State for a bachelor’s.
The key to her success, she said, was the counseling and advising she got in her program. “I didn’t understand how a college worked, what all the programs are that help students, like computers and tutoring and labs,” she said. “They explained everything to us, and I felt I could do it. I didn’t want to stop just with a certificate.”
