Hispanic Heritage Month: The Best of Times As We Face The Future

By Victor Escalante, News Taco

Hispanic Heritage Month is upon us with exhibitions, shows, festivities, and acknowledgements of the contributions Latinos have made to our country. It’s a time to celebrate the advancements and to focus on the challenges we face. Education or the lack of it continues to be a front and center burning issue Latinos face.

In San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro has staked his political reputation on trying to pass a sales tax increase to fund his Pre-K 4 SA initiative in the November election. So far it appears he is on the right side of history to get it passed. This investment will pay long term dividends to increase the supply side of an educated workforce.

The respected Pew Research Center has definitive hard data that Latino higher education is trending in the right direction. In 2010 Latinos reached a record level of associate and bachelor’s degrees.   In this report, one of the segments that are pursuing higher education is young adults that are married and have a family.

Meet Elsa Cardenas, a working single mother of two that mirrors Latinas who struggle to overcome obstacles to finish their education. She was married at age eighteen before she graduated from high school and became a mother of two boys by age twenty-one. Her mother only has an  elementary education and her father who did not finish high school died when she was only eight years old.

She wanted to continue her education while she was married. However,  she had to wait till she was divorced and free to chart her future. Making the decision about her college degree was the easy part, executing her plan was a long struggle. As a single parent, she worked as a waitress, sales associate, and other part time jobs to make ends meet and raise her sons. Financing her education was not as difficult as some may imagine. Her outstanding grades  qualified her for grants and scholarships, the rest was just  persistence to find the means to keep going.

Today she is the first college graduate in her family with a Bachelor’s degree.  Her sons  have her as a role model to follow in her footsteps   and get their advanced education. Her dream of bettering herself and having more employment opportunities have become a reality. Her advice to other Latinos is, …. “Don’t let money be an excuse because there are many organizations that are willing to help and we can also work to put ourselves thru college. It is not that expensive to go to college.  To be able to support yourself and not have to depend on anyone is one of the best feelings”.

[In Photo: Elsa Cardenas pictured with her mother and her stepfather]