Maria Bueno
Class of 2017: Education
“For my children, it is all definitely worth it.”
First generation student Maria Bueno enrolled in college to help her family, paving the way for relatives to pursue higher education goals.
Three of her cousins, and a spouse of a cousin, have also enrolled at LCC since Maria began her journey here. One is even pursuing a similar career pathway. While working on their English requirements for LCC, the cousins formed an informal cohort which greatly contributed to their mutual success. Maria fondly recalls at least a few all-night study sessions when the academic pressure mounted.
In addition to signing up for Head Start’s Parent Opportunity Program (POP), Maria enrolled in LCC’s I-BEST program and got extra academic support there. She also took advantage of student daycare, open computer labs, TRiO’s Student Support Services program, and the LCC Career Center.
In spite of Maria’s commitment to her “family before anything” mantra, or perhaps because of it, she struggles with guilt over attending college and being employed outside the home. It helps to think about how much she’s helping the children she works with, who frequently wrestle with their own feelings of shame because of the language barriers they face. In the end, all she has to do is think about her own children to know that she’s doing the right thing.
“For my children,” she says, “it is all definitely worth it.”
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