{"id":895,"date":"2020-12-12T14:49:45","date_gmt":"2020-12-12T19:49:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tsc.edu\/news-and-events\/?p=895"},"modified":"2021-03-26T16:35:46","modified_gmt":"2021-03-26T20:35:46","slug":"against-all-odds-tsc-first-generation-graduate-earns-associate-degree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tsc.edu\/news-and-events\/2020\/12\/12\/against-all-odds-tsc-first-generation-graduate-earns-associate-degree\/","title":{"rendered":"Against all odds: TSC first-generation graduate earns associate degree"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"float: right;margin-left: 10px;margin-bottom: 10px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-757\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tsc.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/12\/Rocio-Pena-TSC-Fall-20-Grad-300x200-1.jpg\" alt=\"Early Childhood Education program student Rocio Pe\u00f1a poses prior to her graduation from Texas Southmost College on Dec. 12, 2020.\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/div>\n<p>The last few months have been a whirlwind for Rocio Pe\u00f1a, but she is celebrating her recent graduation from Texas Southmost College, an achievement the first-generation college graduate has always dreamed of.<\/p>\n<p>The 20-year-old will earn her associate degree in early childhood education Dec. 12 during TSC\u2019s virtual commencement ceremony at 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>More than 350 students will earn their certificates or associate degrees during the ceremony.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGraduating feels so unreal,\u201d said the Brownsville native. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s \u2018Wow, how did I get this far?\u2019 My girls were my biggest motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pe\u00f1a is the mother of two girls, a 3-year-old and a one-month-old, whom she gave birth to during her last weeks in the program, but it came with a life-defying challenge \u2013 COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, Pe\u00f1a recovered with no affect to her baby and she said in her case COVID-19 felt like nothing more than a cold, but her aunt was not as fortunate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCOVID took my aunt, my savior. She was one of my biggest supporters, helping me with my daughter while I was in school day in and day out,\u201d said Pe\u00f1a. \u201cHer loss has been challenging for our family. It hasn\u2019t been easy. She didn\u2019t even get to meet her newest niece. She was looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pe\u00f1a added that as a tribute to her aunt it was important that she complete her studies, which is why she didn\u2019t take any time off after giving birth last month.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t want to waste time. I couldn\u2019t waste any time. Time is of the essence for me,\u201d said Pe\u00f1a. \u201cI have a family to support and I want to finish. Since all of our classes are remote right now it made perfect sense to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pe\u00f1a said TSC had a profound impact on her success and motivation to continue to pursue her education.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTSC has provided me with the tools I need to succeed and believe in myself,\u201d she said. \u201cI am where I am today thanks to the educational resources available and to the instructors who genuinely care about our futures.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A bright future is what Pe\u00f1a said is in store for her now, thanks to the college.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a first-generation college student, you realize early on how education is life-changing,\u201d said Pe\u00f1a. \u201cIt\u2019s what moves you forward and helps you gain secure employment. Education is one of the few things that can\u2019t be taken away from you. With an education, you can\u2019t lose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pe\u00f1a will continue her education at a local four-year university in the spring to pursue a bachelor\u2019s degree in bilingual and literacy studies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to pursue a career in the medical field, but I\u2019m sure glad I recognized early on that my passion is in teaching and changing lives,\u201d she said. \u201cThis will also allow me to serve as a guide for my daughters throughout their education. Everything I\u2019m doing is for them and I want them to see that anything, with hard work and determination, is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Visit TSC\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tsc.edu\/academics\/division-of-humanities\/department-of-behavioral-and-social-sciences\/teacher-education\/programs-of-study\/\"> Early Childhood Education program<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n<p>Spring 2021 classes begin Jan. 18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The last few months have been a whirlwind for Rocio Pe\u00f1a, but she is celebrating her recent graduation from Texas Southmost College, an achievement the first-generation college graduate has always dreamed of. The 20-year-old will earn her associate degree in early childhood education Dec. 12 during TSC\u2019s virtual commencement ceremony at 6:30 p.m. More than [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Against all odds: TSC first-generation graduate earns associate degree - News and Events<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rocio Pe\u00f1a is celebrating her recent graduation from Texas Southmost College, an achievement the first-generation college graduate has always dreamed of.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tsc.edu\/news-and-events\/2020\/12\/12\/against-all-odds-tsc-first-generation-graduate-earns-associate-degree\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Against all odds: TSC first-generation graduate earns associate degree\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rocio Pe\u00f1a is celebrating her recent graduation from Texas Southmost College, an achievement the first-generation college graduate has always dreamed of.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tsc.edu\/news-and-events\/2020\/12\/12\/against-all-odds-tsc-first-generation-graduate-earns-associate-degree\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News and Events\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-12T19:49:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-26T20:35:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tsc.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/12\/Rocio-Pena-TSC-Fall-20-Grad-300x200-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tsc.edu\\\/news-and-events\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/12\\\/against-all-odds-tsc-first-generation-graduate-earns-associate-degree\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tsc.edu\\\/news-and-events\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/12\\\/against-all-odds-tsc-first-generation-graduate-earns-associate-degree\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Against all odds: TSC first-generation graduate earns associate degree\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-12T19:49:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-26T20:35:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tsc.edu\\\/news-and-events\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/12\\\/against-all-odds-tsc-first-generation-graduate-earns-associate-degree\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":540,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tsc.edu\\\/news-and-events\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/12\\\/against-all-odds-tsc-first-generation-graduate-earns-associate-degree\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tsc.edu\\\/news-and-events\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/Rocio-Pena-TSC-Fall-20-Grad-300x200-1.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tsc.edu\\\/news-and-events\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/12\\\/against-all-odds-tsc-first-generation-graduate-earns-associate-degree\\\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2020\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tsc.edu\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tsc.edu\\\/news-and-events\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/12\\\/against-all-odds-tsc-first-generation-graduate-earns-associate-degree\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tsc.edu\\\/news-and-events\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/12\\\/against-all-odds-tsc-first-generation-graduate-earns-associate-degree\\\/\",\"name\":\"Against all odds: TSC first-generation graduate earns associate degree - 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