El Paso, TX, December 9, 2020– Project ARRIBA, a leader in workforce and economic development in the Paso Del Norte region, is pleased to announce its 40th graduating class of El Paso Community College, University of Texas at El Paso a…
Mayte Githinji was born in Chihuahua, Mexico and moved to El Paso, Texas in 2011 when she was 18 years old.
Mayte received all her formal education in Mexico and, as a result, had to learn English prior to enrolling in college. After a semester of English as a Second Language classes, she was able to start her core classes at El Paso Community College (EPCC). There she met her husband who ...
Elizabeth Terrazas is 24 years of age and a single mother to a 2-year-old son. She always knew she wanted to work in the medical field as a nurse and enrolled in the Licensed Vocational Nurse program at El Paso Community College. Unemployed and with no financial aid available, she became a Project ARRIBA participant December of 2012. With Project ARRIBA’s support and much hard work and dedi...
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Maria Martinez, a married mother of three came to Project ARRIBA in 2012. At the time, she was unemployed but a full-time student. She received financial aid but eventually exceeded her credit hours and became ineligible. Her husband, the sole provider, could not afford her tuition. With Project ARRIBA’s support, along with Maria’s dedication and strong will, she completed her training and ...
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**Participant Voice - Diana Esquivel, PTA EPCC**
Diana Esquivel is from Gomez Palacio, Durango Mexico. She moved to El Paso, Texas, six years ago after graduating from law school in her home town. Despite her degree and inability to speak English, she was not able to find many job opportunities in the U.S.
Realizing this challenge, Diana enrolled into English as a Second Language (ESL) ...
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Deborah Diaz was born and raised in El Paso, TX. After graduating from high school in 2008 she enrolled at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) that same year. However, Deborah was not able to continue at UTEP due to a mental health condition and severe depression.
In spite of this, Deborah knew that education was key to financial independence. In 2009, Deborah enrolled at a fo...
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Samantha Davis is 23 years of age, married, and has a 4-year-old son. Her husband was the sole provider and earned minimum wage. While they were able to sustain the household, they lived on a very tight budget. Samantha had just been accepted into the Registered Nurse program at El Paso Community College but no longer qualified for financial aid. December 2012, she became a Project ARRIBA ...
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Angelica Pedregon was born in Tacoma, WA but moved to El Paso, TX at a very young age due to her parent’s military career. With an interest in healthcare, Angelica completed a Medical Assistant (MA) Certificate. In spite of her work as an MA, she still lived paycheck to paycheck and received government assistance. She knew there had to be a better way to support her family.
Angelica con...
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Veronica knew the only way she could support her family with three small children was to gain a post-secondary education. After completing her prerequisites for the nursing program at the El Paso Community College, she realized that she did not have the resources required to continue on in her studies. On the verge of putting her education on hold, Project ARRIBA partnered with Veronica in 2003...
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Born and and raised in Denver, CO., Kimberly Gonzalez began her college journey at Amarillo College in 2011. However, as a single parent, she was only able to take 1 to 2 classes per semester while working full-time.
With very little support from her family, Kimberly moved to El Paso in hope of receiving additional help from her son’s father while she worked and furthered her education. ...
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Rachel Montiel-Gravlee was born and raised in central El Paso and is a second generation Austin High School graduate. After finishing high school, Rachel enlisted in the Army, finished her time in the service, and enrolled at Kaplan College to train to become a medical assistant. However, wages as a medical assistant were too low and she soon went back to bartending full-time and attending sc...
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