EOP&S Highlights

Former EOP&S student stories:

Angelica Melgoza

Over twenty years ago, my parents immigrated from Mexico to America, and to those who are not familiar with my life, my name is Angelica H. Melgoza. I am twenty-two years old; I am the youngest of three children and the first in my family to attend college.

I grew up in a Catholic Hispanic family where there were certain values that were inculcated in me right from the beginning. The teachings of hard work, responsibility, obligation, and respect make up a very large part of the person I consider myself to be.

At the age eighteen, I graduated from high school and soon after I began attending college. During my first semester as a college student, I realized that the struggles I had encountered at this point in my life were insignificant. The first few weeks of my spring semester were extremely difficult because of the incredibly unfamiliar environment and structure of the college system. I was strongly considering putting an end to my educational career. Just when I had reached an all time low in my life, I received a phone call from Extended Opportunity Program & Services (EOP&S) asking me to go for a job interview. I interviewed for the position as a Student Ambassador for Santiago Canyon College in the Pathways to Student Success Program. To my surprise, I was offered the position. All the tutoring, mentoring, workshops, tours, and oral presentation, required from my job allowed my leadership, communication, and people skills to flourish. The experience as an Ambassador was filled with excitement and life changing rewards. It gave me the tools necessary to advance in my professionally career. I also became a part-time counseling assistant for the EOP&S program. Through this position, I am able to do what I love, and that is helping my fellow students understand and appreciate the personal and professional value that comes from education. I have a strong conviction that education allows us to discover our worth and to realize that our greatest gift to ourselves is the ability to turn our differences and weaknesses into our greatest assets. Education is not only for students, but for our parents, for teachers, and for everyone who plays a part in our community. I have realized that life and philosophy go hand in hand. Life is a journey filled with many questions, and the very essence of philosophy is wondering and questioning. I cannot think of a better profession or subject that will allow me to reach and enlighten the very source of what makes us human: our intellect, our emotions, and our actions.

Angelica Melgoza is currently majoring in Philosophy at UC Berkeley

ZULEMA MENDEZ

I was an EOPS student at Santiago Canyon College. I come from a single parent household and have been a testimony to the hardships my mother endured. It is not easy to work, go to school, and as the oldest to have the responsibilities to take care of your younger siblings. As the oldest I was the one to set the example and it is hard when you have no idea of what you are doing. That is where EOP&S comes in to guide you thru community college system into the University and by then you have an idea how everything works.

My plans are to transfer to the University of California. I want to major in Chicano Studies and work towards my Bachelor’s degree and continue with my Doctoral degree. I want to one day teach others who like me, know very little about the history of Mexico and the impact its people have in the United States.

My ambition is to continue my education and to experience University life. My dream is to accomplish what my parents never did in their lifetime. I want to be an educator to influence and motivate the younger generations. I wish to have a higher standard of living than of my parents. But most of all, I need to prove to myself that I can do it. I am grateful to be part of EOPS which has supported me and allowed me to grow in the confident individual I am today.

Zulema is currently an EOP&S Counseling Assistant and has transferred to UC Riverside and is majoring in Chicano Studies.

ALEJANDRA PERALTA

My name is Alejandra Peralta, I’m 19 years old. I’m graduating this May 2004. My major is Liberal Arts. During high school, I volunteered at different places like shelters, schools, and the most important was Orange County On Track because they help kids that are at risk of drugs and abuse. Looking back at all the places I volunteered has helped me realize how important it is to give back to the community. The reason why I want to be a teacher is because I want to help kids and also to help them realize how important education is.

My college experience has been great and stressful at the same time. After high school, I knew what I was going to major in and that I was going to go to college in the Fall but I had so many unanswered questions. I didn’t know what classes I had to take and who I would go to for help and for counseling. The most important question I had was how I was going to be able to afford college or if I could get scholarships. Then I heard of the EOP&S program when a speaker from SCC went to my high school. That summer I enrolled in the EOP&S Summer Success program in which Nena and Jennifer taught their students valuable information that you need in order to succeed in life not just in college. The Summer Success program taught you time management and study skills. The most important to me was that they helped me choose the classes that I needed for my major. EOP&S also helped me with my financial problem of how to pay for college. They gave me book vouchers which helped me a lot. EOP&S helped me these past two years of college to pay for my books and school but most of all in achieving my academic goals. EOP&S is a great program because it helps students like me get a higher education. Thanks to the EOP&S program I could attend UC Long Beach in the Spring.

CECILIA CUMMAUDO

Back in 2001, when I first came to America from Argentina, I didn’t know how I was going to do to pay for school. Since I was little, my dream was to get an education and succeed in life by doing what I love to do which is helping people by using my knowledge in psychology. I decided to talk to a counselor to get some ideas on how to go about getting into a school that was affordable. I got the chance to talk to one of the best counselors in the college, her name is Martha Vargas. She told me about a program for low income students. As I learned later, this program was EOP&S.

EOP&S has given me the opportunity to develop myself as a student and most importantly as a person. By helping me financially, EOP&S gave me the chance to concentrate on school more than anything else, be successful at it. They have even helped me with the purchase of books and have counseled me in every single aspect of my journey through college. Since I come from another county, it was very difficult at first to get used to planning my own career and having to choose the classes I needed to take in order to graduate. Nonetheless, with the help of my brilliant counselor Jennifer Gonzalez, I was able to succeed and have tranquility of mind in the process because I knew that I didn’t have to worry about monetary issues. As most college students can appreciate, it is extremely important to be financially covered and not have to be concerned about lacking money to pay for school. Therefore, I am deeply thankful to EOP&S for allowing me to focus on school and helping me achieve my goal of graduating from college with honors.