I grew up in Los Angeles, California. After my freshman year, my family and I moved to Texas.
Everything in Texas was just so, so different from California. And, honestly, it was really hard. I went to a public school that just wasn’t very good. Girls were getting pregnant; people were doing drugs and teachers were quitting left and right.
Despite this, I was a straight A student. School was my outlet, my release. My parents are immigrants who worked so hard to support us and I wanted to show them that their hard work was worth it. I graduated high school with a 4.0 average and was in the top 10th percentile of my class. But no one ever gave me any guidance on how to go to college.No one said, this is how you apply, this is how you get financial aid or scholarships.
After high school, I started an online pharmacy technician course. I was excited because I thought, this is something I can do with my life and it’s less expensive thangoing to college. But, after I completed the course, I discovered that, for a variety of reasons, I was unable to get certified.
I was back to square one.Through word of mouth, I found out about TCC, which is crazy to me that I didn’t even know community college was an option. I applied, got in, and then found out about Stay the Course from my financial aid advisor.
Until this point, no one had ever been there to help guide me through college. No one had ever talked about the possibility of transferring to a four-year university. No one had ever bothered to check on me or help me work through things in my life that were happening outside of school. No one had ever cared before.
When I first started Stay the Course, I couldn’t even focus on school because my husband and I were in serious financial trouble. We accumulated a large amount of debt and it felt very selfish of me to continue to go to school while he worked himself to the bone.
I needed someone to help me get out of debt and solve my personal problems before I could even think about my education.
Thankfully, my Navigator was there to help me. We made goals – first I paid one thing off, then the next. Every month, even weekly at the beginning, he was checking on me, asking how I was and checking on my progress. At one point, I didn’t even know if I was going to have money to eat for the week. Stay the Course helped me pay my car payment and I was able to put the money we would have spent on that toward groceries and our savings.
I thought about quitting so many times. Mohamed, my Navigator, refused to give up on me. He said, “Victoria, you have a 4.0, you are so smart, you can do anything with your life.” He motivated me and he pushed me. And, he was right.
This fall I’ll be attending Texas Christian University’s Neely School of Business where I plan to major in accounting. And, thanks to my Navigator’s help, I will attend on a full-ride scholarship.
People often ask why I chose Accounting. It’s a tribute to my hardworking parents,
who sacrificed endlessly to provide for our family. I saw my dad maybe once a week when I was growing up because he was always working. My mom is scared to ask for a day off because that’s money she’ll be losing. Witnessing their financial struggles inspired my mission to empower the Hispanic community through financial education. Stay the Course showed me that education and financial stability are attainable, motivating me to establish my own accounting firm dedicated to serving my community.
When I think about what my journey at TCC would have been like without Stay the Course, well – I wouldn’t have had one. I would have dropped out.
Instead, I persevered, empowered by Stay the Course to build a brighter future. I now have savings, progress in paying off debt, and a pathway to TCU—all thanks to Stay the Course.
Words cannot convey my immense gratitude to Mohamed and the Stay the Course program. Before, it felt like a rock was on my chest and now – I’m free.
