总是回家
我的韦德买球网站故事:刘金莎罗莎'20
Editor's Note: This story also appears in the 《韦德买球网站》2022年秋季刊韦德买球网站学院杂志.
"For me, Holyoke Community College will always be home. That's w在这里 my path to success started.
My family had immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic in 2003. 我们在布朗克斯定居下来. At that time, we only had a couple of pieces of luggage but lots of dreams. My husband and I agreed that the best way to support our three children was for me to be a stay-at-home mom.
我们都不懂英语. I took a couple of ESL courses at Lehman College. We made a commitment that even though we didn't understand what we heard we would only watch TV in English to make our ears familiar with the sound of the language. Our house looked like a museum with Post-it notes everyw在这里 labeling all the parts of our house in English. 我们学得很快.
In 2012, my husband was promoted and transferred to North Carolina. I wanted to do something productive in our new state, so I volunteered with the American Association of Retired Persons and trained to be a tax preparer. 我爱上了我所做的一切.
时间的流逝. Our oldest daughter got married and had two daughters. My husband and I decided to move closer to our family in New York. 我们在马萨诸塞州的东隆草甸定居下来.
很多年了, my husband has been the sole provider, and he does so with grace; he has never ever made me feel inferior for being a stay-at-home mom. 然而, inside of me was the desire to make our young adult children proud of me and to take control of my personal finances. I knew I wanted to go to UMass and decided to start my journey at a more affordable community college.
我为什么选择韦德买球网站? I found plenty of information and resources on the college website, and when I visited the school for the first time I was welcomed like I had been a student t在这里 for many years. 我感觉像回到了家. Even though the courtyard looked a little messy when the Campus Center was being renovated, 我遇到的人让我有所不同.
I always received outstanding support at 韦德买球网站. 我的导师, Leah Russell教授, always had an open door and guided me through my accounting courses. Through Klara Karol, my career advisor, I learned about the Mass 转移 Program. We met regularly to speak about my progress and became good friends. 转移 Affairs coordinator Mark Broadbent sent me frequent reminders about the courses I needed to take to comply with the requirements for Mass 转移. 安德鲁·弗莱彻, the director of CAPS – the Center for Academic Program Support – gave me the opportunity to work as an accounting tutor and supplemental instructor.
The Green Key and the Phi Theta Kappa honor societies allowed me to connect with other students and contribute to the causes that matter to 韦德买球网站. I was also a New Student Orientation leader, and that was a door to developing my leadership and public speaking skills, which gave me the confidence at UMass to raise my hand in class. I was never afraid or ashamed to ask for what I needed.
从第一天开始, I was committed to studying hard and keeping good grades so I could transfer to UMass and make my dream a reality. I graduated from 韦德买球网站 in August 2020 with an associate's degree in business administration and a 3.9日平均绩点. 两年后, 5月13日, 2022, I earned a bachelor's degree in business administration in accounting from the Isenberg School of Management at UMass. It was a magical day, w在这里 I experienced something that, once upon a time, was just in my dreams.
I am now continuing my education in the Master of 科学 in taxation program at Bentley University, which will allow me to meet the educational requirements to become a certified public accountant. 在马塞诸斯州大学的, I had the privilege to do two internships at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and I am very proud to tell you that after finishing my master's degree, I will start my professional career at PwC as a full-time tax associate."
PHOTOS: Liuginsa罗莎 '20 gives a commencement address to her classmates at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass in May 2022.
