Author Archives: ourcolleges_admin

I’m currently a first-year Running Start student at Cascadia College and a junior at Bothell High School. Outside of school, I love playing tennis, listening to music, café hopping, and hanging out with my friends—basically anything that lets me unwind and enjoy time with people I care about. I chose to enroll in community collegeContinue reading “Student Story: Kayla Li”

At 65, I sometimes joke that I’ve lived enough lives for three people. I have three grown children, eight grandchildren, and I’ve been married to my husband for 25 years, after two marriages before that. For about 33–34 years I worked in senior living, and that’s where I got my CNA license and all ofContinue reading “Student Story: Dora Rice”

Originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, Sarahi has lived in the United States for nearly nine years. Community college became her entry point into higher education because it offered an ESL program—making it possible to start learning even without knowing English. After completing ESL, she learned about WASFA, a scholarship for immigrant students, and was finally ableContinue reading “Student Story: Sarahi Jimenez”

As a first-generation college student at Yakima Valley College, education has been a blessing in my life, but also one of the hardest journeys I’ve ever taken. For a long time, I was homeless while attending classes, living out of my car and forced to choose between paying for books or paying for housing. IContinue reading “Student Story: David Nelson”

My name is Reyna, and I’ve lived in Seattle my whole life. I was born here, grew up here, and now I’m raising my three-year-old daughter here. She’s my everything, the reason I get up, the reason I keep going, the reason I finally came back to school after 13 years away. For the pastContinue reading “Student Story: Reyna Gomez”

I recently graduated from the Radiology program at Yakima Valley College. As a mother of two, I chose community college because it was close to home and offered the career I wanted to pursue. With financial aid, I have been able to cover my tuition, books, and even some of my transportation costs. For me,Continue reading “Student Story: Maria Cervantes”

My name is Nathan, and I’m a high school senior participating in Running Start at Cascadia College. I spend a lot of my time in Science Olympiad, and I’m hoping to pursue a career somewhere in STEM—ideally electrical engineering, but I’d be happy in any STEM-related field. I chose to go to community college becauseContinue reading “Student Story: Nathan Chiu”

I’ve been taking part-time courses at South Puget Sound Community College for about three years now. I work full time, so college has always been something I do on the side—slowly, consistently, whenever I can. After high school, I took a gap year to figure myself out, and when I was ready, community college feltContinue reading “Student Story: Catie McFarlan”

I was born in Mexico in 2010 and came to the United States in 2022 with my older sister. Moving here changed everything for me. In just three years, I’ve learned English, made friends, and found new opportunities that I never had before. At Everett High School, I’m part of the band and also ranContinue reading “Student Story: Darwin Alvarez”