By Whip Villarreal
Through diligent effort and determination, Maritere Rodriguez Rivera recently gained acceptance to Mesa College. She credits her admission to successfully completing the HiSET program at Escondido Adult School and working diligently to comprehend English through her studies in the English as a Second Language program.
Rivera immigrated to the United States in 2021 from Mexico and has been working hard on her English skills. She was also determined to pursue higher education and acted on ways to transform her goals to reality. This led her to enrolling at EAS to complete the High School Equivalency program so she could pursue a college career. Not only did Rivera graduate from EAS last November, but her English speaking abilities are good enough that some could think she has been speaking English most of her life.
“While studying hard and putting in the long hours, I made the decision to continue my education once I completed my ESL studies and started looking into ways to make that possible. It has not been easy but it has helped me get where I am today.”
Maritere Rodriguez Rivera, EAS graduate
“When I first arrived, I worked hard to understand English during my time in ESL,” explained Rivera. “While studying hard and putting in the long hours, I made the decision to continue my education once I completed my ESL studies and started looking into ways to make that possible. It has not been easy but it has helped me get where I am today.”
Rivera is currently enrolled in Mesa College and has been attending classes since January. She is studying biology and plans to to eventually apply to University of California, Davis to focus on animal science.
Despite completing her programs at EAS, she continues to impact the school by volunteering her free time. She was part of the first cohort of the newly implemented Student Ambassador program at EAS and has assisted with the school’s ESL registrations, open houses and even setting up a food drive in December 2023. Rivera continues to volunteer her time for EAS as a volunteer Student Ambassador to support students who are going through similar struggles that she overcame during her journey to transition into college.
“I really like to volunteer my time to help people,” Rivera said. “When I was in Escondido Adult School, I went to a church to help with the food bank and asked my professor if we could do something similar in the school. When the student ambassador program started last April and we went to our initial meetings and planned out events and agendas, that is when planned to host the food drive. It’s nice that I can help students who are going through something similar when I started at Escondido Adult School. I plan on continuing to help volunteer as much as I can to help as many people as I can.”
Rivera’s advice for those looking to pursue higher education or learn another language at EAS is to work really hard to reach that goal. She emphasized the importance of dedicating time and effort to turn any dream or goal into achievable realities.
To learn more about Escondido Adult School and the programs it offers, escondidoadultschool.org
