I finally achieved one of my biggest goals and walked the graduation stage last May earning my bachelor’s degree in social work from Colorado State University-Pueblo after what felt like a 10-year journey to accomplish.
I finally achieved one of my biggest goals and walked the graduation stage last May earning my bachelor’s degree in social work from Colorado State University-Pueblo after what felt like a 10-year journey to accomplish.
I finally achieved one of my biggest goals and walked the graduation stage last May earning my bachelor’s degree in social work from Colorado State University-Pueblo after what felt like a 10-year journey to accomplish.
Once I started college, I had to figure out how I would pay for tuition and cover expenses related to attending college like textbooks, class materials, and parking. I received Pell grants, which helped cover part of my tuition, but I still took out student loans to cover the rest.
While I’m proud of my accomplishments and all my hard work, I wish it didn’t have to be so tough for student-parents like me to earn a college degree. I felt blessed to have help with child care from my family, but many student-parents don’t have that support. The plight of student-parents could be addressed if there were additional funding to support us.
At the end of the day, I am one of the lucky ones that made it and got their college degree. It wasn’t easy, but if we want more student-parents like me to walk the graduation stage there needs to be an unwavering commitment by community leaders and officials in Colorado to support us in every way possible.
Jayda Rayas is a graduate of CSU-Pueblo and the proud mother of Loukas.