From Press Release
Growing up in northern New Mexico, most of us never planned on dropping out of school, but life happened.
Some of us slipped through the cracks at high school, some of us were bored, some of us did not fit into the boxes of the education system and some of us had family responsibilities that overshadowed our future.
But with determination, hard work and perseverance in the face of the challenges life threw at us, we have just graduated with our High School Equivalency Credential.
A lot of people have the wrong idea about what it means to get your General Educational Development (GED). They think we, and others like us, are lazy. We’re not. We are strong, independent and determined students.
We worked hard for this. We studied and passed a test that not many people can pass. What’s more, this experience has changed our lives.
Getting our GEDs means that we can do anything that we put our minds to. Every one of us has pushed him or herself to new limits, and now we believe we can advance our community to new heights.
Our success is the success of our community. We could not have done this without the love, support and constant encouragement of our families and friends. We can now pay our community back by becoming educated, successful and contributing members, and most importantly by becoming role models for our younger brothers and sisters.
We are living proof that, with the right help and guidance, young people can achieve pretty much anything they set their minds to.
We found that guidance at Northern New Mexico College’s High School Equivalency Program. We wish to thank Shari, Joe, Tobe, Geri, Patrick, Magaly, Robin, Jennifer and Gabby.
We did not drop our dreams when we decided to get our GEDs. When we walked through the doors at the Program our dreams got bigger. Through dedication and commitment, we strived to become better as people and to better our communities and society.
Now we have the confidence that we did not always have. When we started this journey many of us were shy and would not even speak in class, but now we are writing to the newspaper. This experience has taught us to never hold back when new opportunities are offered to us. We now have a desire to learn.
While a lot of us did not think school was for us, now all five of us are going to college, and some of us can’t figure out which degree to choose, because we want to go to college for everything.
We are making better futures for ourselves and our communities, and we are writing this to show that nothing can stop us once we put our minds to it.
We collectively delivered this message in a speech during our May 12 graduation ceremony, and now we want to share it with everyone else. Support your students no matter what path their education takes.
Mario Tafoya, Española; Stephen Suazo, Santa Clara Pueblo; Kiara Garcia, Medanales; Victoria Naranjo, Española and Marina Lopez, Española co-authored this column.