Achiever Stories

Calexico Was Her Start in TRIO. 

Blanca M. Escobar

Like many former TRIO participants, we have come to face our set of challenges and barriers before succeeding in life and in our careers.  Dangerous gangs, drugs, and graffiti forced Blanca’s family and her to leave LA and move to her father’s hometown of Calexico while he thought of a game plan.  Although moving to Imperial County was relatively safer, border issues -such as drug trafficking- were still a threat, but at least gunshots and helicopters no longer cradled her family to sleep at night.  Ironically, Blanca left one type of sheltered environment to move into another.  Imperial County, a remote, underserved and agriculturally-based county in Southern California, continues to represent the highest unemployment rates of the state, the lowest income per capita, and the lowest levels of educational attainment.  Fortunately, Blanca’s involvement in TRIO programs remedied her inaccessibility to the “outside world” and helped her overcome these barriers concentrated in the everyday lives of residents in this county.  Blanca’s story, as well as many other success stories from “the Valley”, might not have been possible without the support of Imperial Valley College’s TRIO programs.

Blanca’s experience with TRIO began during her involvement with different clubs and organizations at Calexico High School.  She was part of the Education Talent Search (ETS) program under Dolores Diaz at Imperial Valley College.  That was when she first got a glimpse of the “outside world” and realized that, if she wanted to continue to dine at “fine” restaurants like Hard Rock Café, continues to enjoy Sunday matinees like watching Les Miserable, and traveling “the world” all courtesy of ETS, her ticket would be to get an education.  Blanca’s alternative would have been to flip burgers or work at WalMart, Calexico’s “superstore”.  During high school, Blanca was also a part of UC Berkeley’s Upward Bound Summer component with Keith Hori and UCLA’s UBMS Summer component with Octavio Boubion.

Blanca graduated high school with honors and continued her educational career at Occidental College, a small private Liberal Arts college in the heart of LA.  While at Occidental, she was active in student life: she was a Peer Mentor, on the college’s Judicial Council, and served as a student representative for the college’s Board of Trustees.  Blanca was also very involved in her major, Diplomacy and World Affairs, traveling to the Middle East and all of Israel on university business, as well as serving as an intern at the Embassy of Mexico in Washington, DC.  Blanca completed her experience at Occidental College by earning a Master of Arts degree in Teaching and a California Teaching Credential in Social Studies.

Since Blanca’s 2000 graduation, she chose to go back to the Imperial Valley and start her career in Education by substitute teaching at the Calexico Unified School District.  Later she was a LEAD Tutor for Imperial Valley’s Student Support Services program, a Program Coordinator for the Imperial Valley Upward Bound Program’s “At-Risk” Summer tutoring center, a Program Coordinator for the TRIO Dissemination Partnership Program at San Diego State University- Imperial Valley Campus, and currently a Program Coordinator for the Talent Search Literacy Project at San Diego State University.  Further, working for TRIO programs has given Blanca the opportunity to work as Adjunct Faculty for the College of Education also at SDSU.  Committed to giving back to her community and making it her chance to show more Calexico youth the “outside world”, Blanca became a board member of the Calexico Educational Foundation and the local Neighborhood House, as well as a member of the Calexico Rotary Club and Vice President of MANA of Imperial Valley.  Blanca has also been active in WESTOP, attending regional chapter meetings regularly and recently served on the 2005 Student Leadership Conference planning committee.

As a result of Blanc’s work in TRIO, she has developed an interest in seeking a career in Higher Education Administration, and she plans to return for her JD and PhD in Education in a couple of years.  Like many of us, Blanca has overcome quite a bit to be where she is today:  leaving an unpromising area of LA for a better life, moving to a place with another set of challenges, continually struggling with financial barriers, and breaking ground within her family as the first and only member of her family to go to college.  They are all challenges that have made Blanca appreciate the support she has had in her life to succeed.  Blanca attributes part of her success to the effective and very nurturing environment of TRIO, both as a student and professional.  Blanca is honored to receive this award before her colleagues and TRIO family.~~~

Read about other achievers Christopher Harrison, Wendy Sanchez, Hazel Amina, Sunshine Lawson, Jennifer Dyke, Laura Ochoa, and Michael Christiansen.

If you have a story about a participant or staff achiever, send it to Dave Ferguson. The person does not have to be nominated for the WESTOP Achievers Award. He or she is a person, in your eyes, whose story is inspirational. Afterall, if we don't tell the stories of our participants and staff, who will?

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