Press Releases
@csun.edu home page
Carmen Ramos Chandler, Director of News and Information
CSUN
PRESS RELEASE
FOR RELEASE:
May 24, 1999
"Many of our students are the first in their families to go college. Some have juggled two jobs and full-course loads. Others have dealt with family obligations, often as single parents," said Ron Kopita, vice president for student affairs. "These individual stories are truly what CSUN is all about. We are providing an opportunity for individuals, even under the most adverse circumstances, to accomplish their goals."
Here is a short list of some of these extraordinary graduates:
"I realized three years ago that if I was going to do something with my life I had better do it quick," Blanco said.
He decided it was time to get his degree and become a special education teacher. He averaged 25 units per semester at CSUN - taking 35 units this past semester, including six at National University - to fulfill his dream, while still working as a teaching assistant.
"I wanted to start teaching as soon as possible," he said. "I felt I lost too much time already."
Blanco, 33, of North Hollywood, has been hired as a special education teacher at the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in San Fernando.
He will receive his diploma at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 3, at the College of Humanities' commencement on the Oviatt Lawn.
She credits her eldest son, 12-year-old Adam, with helping her get through college.
"He's always been there for me." Makhyoun said. "He even helped me type papers when I was up against it. He's always said 'Mom, you can do this.'"
Makhyoun is looking forward to getting her Ph.D. In the meantime, she plans to work as a school counselor and maintain a private counseling practice on the side.
She will receive her degree at 4 p.m. Friday, June 4, at the University Club during the College of Education's commencement.
Nguyen, of Pasadena, was 10 years old before she discovered the ability to communicate. That was when her parents, who lived in South Vietnam, left her at a school for the deaf run by nuns in North Vietnam.
"They didn't know what to do with a deaf child until then," Nguyen said. "I didn't know what was going on. I thought we were just visiting."
Nguyen found the nuns cruel but the educational experience invaluable. She finally learned how to communicate using Vietnamese Sign Language. After a year at the school, her brother came to take her home. It was the early 1970s.
Nguyen, limited by her inability to communicate, was not fully aware of the conflict in Vietnam. Within days of returning home, Nguyen and her family were on a plane leaving the war-torn country. The family eventually settled in Sacramento, where Nguyen enrolled in a mainstream elementary school with a program for deaf students. She continued on to similar programs in junior and high school. She said she thrived in the environment, quickly mastering American Sign Language.
Nguyen, who has married, given birth to a daughter, and divorced since high school, will receive her diploma during the College of Health and Human Development's Commencement at 8 a.m. Wednesday, June 2, on the Oviatt Lawn.
She will return to CSUN next fall to begin studying for her master's degree. She would like to have her own clothing line and teach both deaf and hearing students. "I want hearing people to know that deaf people can do it. Just because we can't hear doesn't mean we can't succeed," she said.
Picarelli came to Los Angeles a decade ago with dreams of
Hollywood and movie stars. She quickly got caught up in a life of drugs and despair that nearly landed her on the streets.
"I was beyond people giving me the 'You have potential' speech. Most people thought I was a lost cause," she said. "But I realized I could either make something of this life or I could end up dead. I can remember thinking my choices were pretty clear cut."
Picarelli, 28, of North Hollywood, sobered up. She spent two years at Valley College and transferred to Northridge in 1995, working an average of 30 hours a week to make ends meet. She is graduating with honors at 6:30 p.m. with the College of Arts, Media, and Communication on Wednesday, June 2, on the Oviatt Lawn.
She will be a teaching assistant in CSUN's Communication Studies Department next fall and plans to go on to earn her Ph.D.
At one point, Reyes didn't think he was going to make it. The
pressure of being the sole support of his family, a father-figure to his three siblings, working four jobs and going to school full time was just too much.
Reyes, his mother and younger brother immigrated to Los Angeles from Guatemala when he was five. His mother remarried, but the relationship turned abusive. Reyes' stepfather kicked him out of the house during his first year at CSUN, but he moved back to help support his mother and siblings and monitor their safety.
Reyes managed to talk his mother into moving out about three years ago. But within weeks, Reyes' mother and younger brother lost their jobs. The care of the family fell on Reyes' shoulders.
Reyes' brother is now married, and his mother and sisters are living on their own. Reyes is looking forward to taking a job with IBM after graduation. "It's like a dream come true," he said. "Sometimes I don't think it's real."
Reyes will receive his diploma from the College of Engineering and Computer Science at 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 2, at the University Club.
Roldan, 27, hopes to turn his love of reading and talking to people into a career in journalism.
Born with arthrogryposis, a rare disorder that causes his joints to bend and inhibits the growth of his muscles, Roldan served as a poster child for the March of Dimes when he was young.
He was born in the small Colombian town of Cucuta. His family moved to Glendale when he was 5, in part, so he could benefit from better medical care in the United States.
Roldan, who gets around in an electric wheelchair and has worked for the CSUN student newspaper for the past few semesters, doesn't think his disability will get in the way of his career.
"If it's like my experience at CSUN - which focused on whether I could do the job or not, and not my disability - then I don't think I'm going to have a problem," he said.
Roldan will receive his diploma at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 2, during the College of Arts, Media, and Communication's commencement on the Oviatt Lawn.
April 15 is an important day in Washington's life. Until that day in 1990, he was a gang member committing petty crimes to support a drug habit. But when his girlfriend left him with their newborn son to go on a weekend drug binge, Washington realized something had to change.
"I sat there for two days not knowing how to take care of this five-week-old boy. By the end of that weekend I made the decision never to get high again," Washington said. He took his son and left his girlfriend to start a life sober and crime free.
He enrolled at Pierce College a few years ago to play football, and in the course of his first semester discovered he loved to learn. But he first had to overcome what he says was his "functional illiteracy." Washington transferred to Northridge from Pierce two years ago.
Washington, 34, who is now married and the father of four in Reseda, held two jobs and even coached his son's football team while attending CSUN and still managed to maintain at 3.9 GPA at the university. He would like to go to law school, but right now is concentrating on the health of his youngest daughter, who was born prematurely, weighing a little more than 2 pounds.
"There's one thing I believe in and that is if there is something you want to do in your life, you can do it, no matter what obstacles are in your way," he said.
He will receive his diploma at 8 a.m. on Friday, June 4, during the College of Social and Behavioral Science's commencement on the Oviatt Lawn.
Press Releases
@csun.edu home page
Carmen Ramos Chandler, Director of News and Information
CSUN