Enid Cardenas, a Texas Southmost College Accounting Technology student, is celebrating becoming a recipient of the Jose Roberto Hinojosa Scholarship for Accounting Excellence.
The 29-year-old, who earned a certificate in Accounting Technology from TSC in May, said never in her wildest dreams did she imagine receiving a scholarship of this caliber.
“I cried when I made the decision to return to school after eight years,” said the Brownsville native. “I was so nervous because I was afraid of failing like I had years before. So when I found out about receiving this scholarship, I was in shock.”
Cardenas said the $1,000 scholarship will come in handy to create a home workstation, including a desktop computer and two monitors that will help her complete her associate degree.
“In the accounting environment, you have an entire setup that allows you to work and review numbers in an uninterrupted flow, but since I’ve been learning remotely, I’ve lost that,” she said. “To even consider having the same setup at home is surreal. I wouldn’t be able to do any of it if not for this scholarship, especially with a family to support.”
The mother of two said this scholarship and the success she is seeing makes not giving up years ago worth it.
Without any idea of what she wanted to do, Cardenas first attended college when she was 19, but it wasn’t the experience she expected.
“I was 19, pregnant and suffering from high-functioning anxiety, I couldn’t focus,” she said. “I did not succeed and left school instead.”
After a stint working for a local income tax company preparing taxes for businesses, she realized her love for numbers and the accounting field.
“I loved what I was doing, but I was afraid of trying school again,” she said. “It was my supervisor, colleagues and family that eventually encouraged me to return. Look at me now – straight A’s. I’m finally on the right path.”
Maggie Solis, TSC Accounting Technology program coordinator and Cardenas’ instructor, said Cardenas has many qualities that set her apart from other students.
“Enid takes initiative in her school work and in helping others in class,” said Solis. “She has the potential of being a leader in this field. She strives to give everything 100% and has overcome great obstacles. It is these qualities and more that helped her earn this scholarship. She is going to go far.”
Cardenas said that over the past few years her life has really turned around and TSC has played a big role in that change.
She said TSC has allowed her to see herself as a student, helped her grow as a person and given her the confidence she needs to continue her education. Cardenas is even entertaining two current job offers in her field.
“TSC has changed my family’s life for the better. I can now give them the future they deserve,” she said. “I want to thank the people who make these scholarships possible for students like me, because of them I can dream and work to achieve them.”
Students can now apply for scholarships using TSC’s newest scholarship application software, AwardSpring, giving students a centralized location to find and apply for scholarships.
Scholarships are funds that do not have to be paid back and are made available to TSC students each semester through donations made by corporations, businesses, community organizations, individual donors and the TSC Foundation.
For more information about how to apply for scholarships at TSC, email [email protected].
To learn more, visit TSC’s Accounting Technology program.
Spring 2021 classes begin Jan. 18.