My name is Yovana Saravia. I am proud to be a student at the college because I never imagined being part of the college, and I am grateful to have learned a lot. I want to continue studying after graduating from college. The more educated you are, the more you can help your community.
I am from Guatemala and arrived in the United States two years ago. I studied in my country for a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s in management skills. I want to revalidate my degree and then obtain a degree in social work. Currently, I volunteer to help older adults learn to read and write in Spanish.
Continuing my education at college is a financial barrier because I am not working and do not have the money to pay for it. If I worked, I would have the time limit to study, or unless I had a business and were the owner, I could do it, but that would not be my case because I do not have the capital to start it.
I have two children, and they are my priorities, and I focus on them. If I didn’t have the opportunity to study, I would take classes in churches or free community centers, but I wouldn’t advance quickly. I would achieve a goal, but not my dreams.
If college were free, it would be a great advantage and an excellent opportunity to achieve it. I would look for a way to make time to study at college. Getting a degree would change my life financially, and I would have a better salary because you are learning. I would be much better off to take care of my children.
I want to say that many of the college’s resources are not known to us students, and it is sad to think that if you are lucky, you take the information, but if not, you are left behind. I didn’t know about work-study, but I couldn’t take it because of my status; if I had it, I would take it because the Inequida would be broken.
Our community has a lot of needs, and it would be very nice to allow them to study and decide what they can study. I have so much potential to give, but with my barriers, I feel like my hands and mouth are tied, and I think that with free college, I could provide much of what I know.
Yovana Saravia, Yakima