A UCLA grad whose college career overlapped with her mother's researched the joint journey of mothers and daughters pursuing higher education.
When Cindy completed an undergraduate degree in political science at UCLA in 2015, she followed her mother, Cecilia, who had earned her bachelor’s degree at Azusa Pacific University a year earlier.
But beneath the joy of achievement are complex journeys because for every mother who made sacrifices on the way to her degree, so too did her daughter.Cecilia Escobedo was a high school dropout before enrolling in Rio Honda College’s nursing program. Since then, she earned a doctorate in nursing practice from Azusa Pacific University.
She and her husband, Gilbert, were working full time to raise their two daughters and two sons in South El Monte. She questioned whether she could handle it before attending Rio Hondo College in Whittier in 2000. She prayed to God to help care for her family. “Something I learned about navigating the education system: We have to work 10 times harder, be 10 times smarter and sacrifice ourselves 10 times [more],” she said of Latinas. In 2018,Still, one moment from her college career still carries the sting of guilt to this day.Abigail, to campus. During one tutoring session, Abigail asked to use the restroom at least three times. But Cecilia was on a roll, and her one-on-one session was limited.
“I think it’s just loving,” Cecilia added. “You’re just loving. You love your family, you want to move forward. You extend yourself when somebody can’t.” Cindy Escobedo, giving a lecture at UC Riverside, will walk at UCLA’s graduation on June 11 in full doctoral regalia. The women enrolled into an intensive summer program to prepare them for undergraduate classes and ended up in a course together. During finals, they shared one desktop computer to write their final papers. Unable to afford a printer at the time, they made sure to arrive on campus early to print out papers.Still, they persisted.