1993_04 Insight April 1993

              April 21,1993
Page 11
Student beats odds
to receive diploma
*> Rosaisela Ponce
worked endless
hours to support her
mother and finish
her education.
By Mike Fleming
Staff Writer
Standing alongside about 420 of
her classmates, Rosaiscla Ponce will
receive her diploma from McLane
High School June 16.
She'll toss her graduation cap in
thcair.chccr with delight andbrcathe
a huge sigh of relief — just like
everyone else.
But Rosaiscla is nol like everyone
else.
Beneath this facade of an average
high school graduate is a young
woman who has overcome great
odds, amazing adversity and the
doubting words of those around her.
Rosaiscla survived a four-year absence from school while shi worked
in the fields to support her sick
mother, and she had little hope of
ever regaining the education she
feared she had lost
When she finally returned to school
in 1991 as a 17-ycar-old freshman at
McLane, she still had her doubts.
But by taking as many as 12 classes
at once and by
focusingonrc-     L_M_L_I_^_
alizing     her
dream,
Rosaiscla   is
graduating
only two years
later wiih a 2.8
grade point average. ^^^^^^^^
"Success    -1-■•t*-*************-'-'™
didn't use to be
in my vocabulary," Rosaiscla said. "Then, one day,
I decided to make a change, and I
decided that I wanted more."
Rosaiscla said her dedication to
wanting "more" is a result of having
less for so many years.
Rosaiscla remembers shivering in
ihc cold when the mercury dipped
into the low thirties, and she remembers huddling close to a K-Mart entrance in search of warmth.
She remembers selling homemade
tamalcs and fresh-grown vegetables
in front of discount stores, hoping
that the kindness of a passerby would
help pay her family's rent and electric bill.
It often didn't.
She remembers having to drop out
of Tchipite Middle School in the
eighth grade to help support her family, and she remembers the heartache
of ha ving to sacrifice her school work,
her social life, and all of her friends.
She remembers working the dirty
tomato fields of Huron, Madera, and
Visalia, and she remembers what it's
like to feel exhaustion, frustration.
and emptiness. working in the fields during the har-
Mostly, however, Rosaiscla Ponce    vest seasons and would only sell ta-
remembers the hardships of her teenage years and how those hardships
motivated her to succeed.
Rosaiscla came to Fresno with her
mother and three siblings in 1982, when
she was seven years old. The four were
seeking refuge in the United States
upon fleeing Guadalajara after
Rosaisela's father died.
Rosaiscla said that her mother had
heard fantastic stories of wealth and
prosperity in America, and she was
seeking a better life for her children.
"My mom actually believed that there
was money hanging on the trees,"
Rosaisela said. "Wc were going to be
rich and happy, but that never happened."
Within a few years, the family's
American dream had turned into a
nightmare. They had little money,
and, because ihcy had crossed the border illegally, they could not apply for
federal assistance.
As her mother's heart and kidney
conditions worsened, Rosaiscla began
to real ize the se veri tyoftheirsituation.
Her mother's heal tii pre vented her from
working, and her two older siblings
males when she couldn't find field
work. She said the field work was
hard, dirty, and degrading but that the
pay was steady.
"That's all that mattered," she said.
"Wc needed the money."
Rosaiscla said she would start to
daydream while she was out in the
fields     and
would think of
what her life ■■■■■■■■
could have
been if the circumstances
had been different.
"I would picture myself
going back to
school and getting allA'sand
That gave me some of the freedom I
had dreamed aboul for four years."
And, with this freedom, Rosaisela
saw the opportunity to fulfill her
dreams and to finish the education she
had left behind.
In mid-Scptcmbcr 1991, Rosaiscla
Rosaisela Ponce
irate solely on her studies.
She enrolled in seven classes
McLane, in addition to four night
and she would have to walk home ai
about 10:30 p.m.
The adult school is located more
went'"to McLane, along' with hcl    ^^A^Sc^^o^ai   than J&^te* irway from boih
mother, io speak with a counselor
about returning to school. Thccoun-
Saturday school. By taking 12classes
concurrently, Rosaiscla finished an
entire year of high school last spring.
But it still
"Even when I was working in the
dirty fields, I could still imagine
myself getting my diploma."
sclor was unconvinced of Rosaisela's
commitment and dedication and told
the 17-year-old entering freshman that
few options were available for her.
ButRosaiscIa, undaunted, proceeded
B's," Rosaiscla said. "I would be involved in everything, and I would
appreciate my education.
"Even when I was working in the
dirty fields, I could still imagine myself getting my diploma and throwing    forward.
my cap in the air. Thai's the dream      "I knew that I wanted to go to school
that kept me going. It just all seemed   andtogoasfaraslcould.buiitallstill
left home when the family's financial    so far away." seemed so far away," Rosaiscla said.
stability began to waver. By this time, school officials had   "I didn't want to be the oldest senior
Their electricity was turned off for    completely lost track of Rosaiscla. A    in the whole world and graduate when
more than a month in the dead of win-    habitually low-achieving student,    I was 23 or something."
ter because they couldn 'i afford to pay    Rosaisela had simply disappeared one      Rosaiscla expressed her concerns
the bill, and they were scrambling to    day, and no one seemed to know where
pay their monthly rent. she was.
"Sleep was something I just didn't
have time for. I was doing good to
sleep for four hours a night."
another McLane counselor, Mary
Helen Saldana.and talked tohcraboui
her dreams.
"I told her what I wanted lo do and
how badly I wanted to graduate,"
Rosaiscla said. "She told me it was a
mother would good dream and that if I wanted it bad
tell them ihat enough, I could get it"
Rosaisela had SaldanahcIpcdarrangcforRosaiscla
to attend night school and Saturday
school and gave her options that could
help her to graduate in less than the
standard four years.
The rest was up to Rosaisela.
In her first semester, Rosaisela took
six classes while working 48 hours a
week at a local Jack In The Box, and
she said she had difficulty juggling
her course work and her full-time job.
"It was hard
Rosaiscla said
that when officials came to
her house, her
moved to
Bakersfield.
After a while,
ihcy accepted
that story and
wrote Rosaisela
Rosaisela was 13 years old at the    off completely,
time, and she saw only two choices: to      'That was a relief because I just
get married or to go to work and sup-    couldn't go back to school yet, but it
port her mother. Rosaisela chose the    also made me kind of sad," Rosaisela
latter. said. "They had given up on mc, and
In a matter of weeks, Rosaiscla quit I thought that my education was gone coming back to
school and began her enterprising cf- forever." school after be-
But Rosaiscla said that she never ing away for so
stopped learning, even when she was long,"
out in the fields. Rosaiscla said.
"I learned more than a lot out there," "I was try ing to
she said. "I learned not to take things work full-time
for granted, and I learned lo appreci- andgoloschool
ate the small things in life. You never at the same
really know the meaning of a glass of time, and my
milk until you don't have one." school work
Through Rosaisela's hard work, of- was suffering."
ten consisting of 14-hour work days, Rosaiscla also
her family survived the tough times, encountered
and her mothcr'shealih improved dra-
wasn't going
to be enough.
"As hard as
I was working,   I  just
couldn't
make      up
enough
^^^^^^^^       ground,"
—■"I********l■*—i******—***        Rosaiscla
said. "I was
still so far away from graduating.."
She then heard aboul ihe Migrant
Tutorial program at Kings River Com-
munity College and enrolled in the
program last summer. In her time
there, Rosaiscla earned 35 units of
high school credit and 10 units of
college credit by taking classes from
7 a.m. until 10:15 p.m. daily.
"Sleep was something I just didn't
have time for," she said. "I was doing
good to sleep for four hours a night"
When Rosaiscla returned from ihe
summer school in Scptembcr.shc took
another eight classes al McLane and
four classes in nighl school. Currently, she maintains a standards
courscload of six classes, and she's
headed for graduation in June after
only two years of high school.
"I feel so lazy now," Rosaiscla said.
"After working so hard for so long,
I'm actually able to relax every once
in a while."
Relaxation is a luxury she can't often afford, however. After starting as
an ESL student just three semesters
ago, Rosaiscla is now enrolled in an
honors English course.
"I have to work hard in my honors
courses, but at least I don't have to
walk all the way over to nighl school
forts. Without a social security card
and under age, Rosaiscla could not get
work at McDonald's or Pizza Hut and
had io find creative ways of earning
cash quickly.
She would wake up at4 a.m. and start
making tamalcs to sell in front of a
local K-Mart After finishing thecook-
ing, Rosaisela would have to hitch a
ride with perfect strangers to get io and
from her destination, and she often had
to relocate after K-Mart employees
told her to leave.
"It wasn't easy, but it was something
I had to do," Rosaisela said. "I didn't
know how else lo make money, and I
wasn't going to do anything illegal.
People told me 1 was crazy, but I just
ignored them. I couldn't let my mother
down."
Afteraboutoncycar.Rosaiscla started
"Success didn't use to be in my
vocabulary. Then one day, I
decided to make a change, and I
decided that I wanted more."
difficulty at McLane because of her
matically. By June 1991, her mother   limited English. She was classified as
had almost fully recovered, and her
mother started working part-time to
alleviate Rosaisela's burden.
"My mom realized how much 1 had
done for her, and she appreciated it a
lot," Rosaiscla said. "As soon as she
could, she weni right back to work.
"limited English proficient," and
struggled with her studies.
Rosaisela's problems were partially
solved in her second semester because her mother relumed lo work
full-time. Rosaisela was able to immediately quit her job and lo concen-
cvery day anymore," she said. "And I
don'1, have lo gel up so early in the
moming cither."
Rosaisela's daily routine used to
begin at 7 a.m. every moming when
she would walk from her house to
McLane, nearly three miles away.
After school. Rosaisela would make
the trek to the adult school campus.
McLane and from Rosaisela's home.
"That was the hardest part, walking
everywhere all the time," Rosaiscla
said. "I'd just grab my backpack and
walk across town. I've got some great
muscles in my arms and legs to prove
it too."
When she would arrive home at
about midnight, Rosaiscla would
study until aboul 3 a.m. The entire
routine would begin again at 7 a.m.
the next morning.
"It wasn'teasy.but I think it'soncof
those things that builds character and
makes you stronger," Rosaiscla said.
Rosaisela said her strength may again
be pul to the test in August as she
enrolls in Fresno Cily College. Her
goal is to complete her general education requirements and then transfer to
CSUF, where she plans to get her
degree in criminology.
She isn' t sure where that degree will
take her, but she knows that she wants
to give back to the community that
has supported her all these years.
"I know I don't want to be a cop
because I' m too short," said Rosaiscla,
standing aboul four feet 10 inches
tall. "If I had muscles like Arnold
Schwarzenegger, I'd think aboul it,
but my walking hasn't made my
muscles that big."
Through il all, Rosaiscla has few
regrets but only wishes that she could
have had a chance at a normal high
school life.
"I think I could have learned so
much more if I could have done it in
four years instead of two," she said.
"It was hard to learn everything so
quickly."
Smiling, Rosaiscla admitted that her
social life had suffered as well.
"What social life?" she said, laughing. "The word "boyfriend' isn'tcven
in my dictionary. I decided I could
have no males in
my life while I
■■_■■■ school
because my
grades had to
come first"
Unfortunately,
Rosaiscla said,
that philosophy
may have cost
her a chance to
go to her senior
■■_■_■■■
"I went to the
winter formal by
myself because I don'i have any
friends, and I felt like such a geek,"
she said. "I just never had any time to
make many friends so I didn't know
who to go with.
"I am hoping that a guy will ask mc
to the prom, but I wouldn't count on
it" Rosaisela said. "But that's okay.
I've been through worse."
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