Personal Statement
It has taken many years for me to fully appreciate the uniqueness of being the first generation born in the United
States. As a child I felt embarrassed that we spoke a different language, and that we didn't have running hot water.
For many years, a bath was a weekly event that involved carrying buckets of boiling water to the second floor
bathroom. During the week a kettle of hot water sufficed for taking a “sponge bath”. For the most part, I wasn't fully
aware that we were poor – I slept in a clean, dry environment and my stomach was always full, but we were, in fact,
socially deprived.
Both of my parents were born and raised in the Azores Islands and immigrated to the United States as young adults.
As a seventeen year old, my mother met and married my father who was a widower with four young children – he
was nineteen years her senior. Together they had four children doubling the mouths that had to be fed.
Being the baby of the family meant hand-me-downs, but on the positive side there were so many people to watch
over me and I was showered with love and attention. As the youngest, I was the first in the family to complete high
school, and for many years that is where my education stopped. As an adult I went to a community college and
became a Certified Dental Assistant; married and had a family of my own.
Throughout the years I pursued many careers with a scattering of classes at a community college. After a number of
successful jobs and what seemed to be a successful marriage, my happy days came to a screeching halt. My
husband of nearly thirty years decided to change my status – I was no longer a Mrs. nor a Miss, but a dismissed. It
was at that stage in my life that I realized that I was a survivor. I grieved for a couple of years before deciding to return
to college for an education.
To my good fortune, I met a couple of community college counselors who encouraged me to pursue more than an
associate's degree. While taking classes I was offered a part time position in the Career Center at the College of
San Mateo. During that time I decided that counseling would be my major. Once that decision was reached, there
was no stopping me even though I did not have the financial means to pursue a baccalaureate degree.
It has taken many years for me to fully appreciate the uniqueness of being the first generation born in the United
States. As a child I felt embarrassed that we spoke a different language, and that we didn't have running hot water.
For many years, a bath was a weekly event that involved carrying buckets of boiling water to the second floor
bathroom. During the week a kettle of hot water sufficed for taking a “sponge bath”. For the most part, I wasn't fully
aware that we were poor – I slept in a clean, dry environment and my stomach was always full, but we were, in fact,
socially deprived.
Both of my parents were born and raised in the Azores Islands and immigrated to the United States as young adults.
As a seventeen year old, my mother met and married my father who was a widower with four young children – he
was nineteen years her senior. Together they had four children doubling the mouths that had to be fed.
Being the baby of the family meant hand-me-downs, but on the positive side there were so many people to watch
over me and I was showered with love and attention. As the youngest, I was the first in the family to complete high
school, and for many years that is where my education stopped. As an adult I went to a community college and
became a Certified Dental Assistant; married and had a family of my own.
Throughout the years I pursued many careers with a scattering of classes at a community college. After a number of
successful jobs and what seemed to be a successful marriage, my happy days came to a screeching halt. My
husband of nearly thirty years decided to change my status – I was no longer a Mrs. nor a Miss, but a dismissed. It
was at that stage in my life that I realized that I was a survivor. I grieved for a couple of years before deciding to return
to college for an education.
To my good fortune, I met a couple of community college counselors who encouraged me to pursue more than an
associate's degree. While taking classes I was offered a part time position in the Career Center at the College of
San Mateo. During that time I decided that counseling would be my major. Once that decision was reached, there
was no stopping me even though I did not have the financial means to pursue a baccalaureate degree.
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