Maria Arredondo
Maria Arredondo’s time begins good earlier her household wakes up astatine astir 6 a.m. In her location successful Los Baños, the quiescent of aboriginal greeting is filled with question — prepping bottles, packing lunches and diaper bags, dressing small ones and mounting intentions for the hours ahead. It’s successful these archetypal moments of the time that Arredondo steps into her astir important role: Mom.
A parent of six, a wife, a full-time pupil and a aboriginal person successful transgression justice, Arredondo is redefining what pupil occurrence looks similar for her family.
Arredondo is simply a elder astatine Fresno State majoring successful criminology with an accent successful corrections. She transferred from Gavilan College successful Gilroy, wherever she earned her associate’s grade successful medication of justice. Now, she commutes Los Baños to Fresno State aggregate times a week portion raising her children and step-children, ranging successful property from 9 months to 14 years old, with her hubby Uziel, who friends and household affectionately telephone Uzi.
“I’m a genitor archetypal and a pupil second,” said Arredondo, firmly. “If my babe wakes up from his nap portion I’m mid-assignment, the laptop closes. That’s conscionable however it is. I’m not going to bash either of those things (school and parenting) halfway.”
Arredondo’s attack to schoolhouse is arsenic intentional arsenic her parenting. She’s a planner — down to the loads of laundry and the timing of nap schedules. She leans heavy connected operation and mentation to marque abstraction for her world goals. However, she besides creates operation and clip to instrumentality attraction of herself, she said. Meditation earlier furniture oregon having her favourite benignant of java portion studying are each tiny wins oregon actions she does to guarantee that – portion she is taking attraction of everyone other – she is besides taking clip to put successful her ain intelligence and carnal health.
While 5 of her six classes are online, she knows precisely however to carve retired moments for learning betwixt diaper changes and bedtime routines oregon helping her older kids with their people projects. “During nap time, I tackle arsenic galore people assignments arsenic I can,” Arredondo said. When her hubby gets home, the roles displacement from genitor to student, and she heads to a section java store astir the country from her location to study. “I would typically enactment determination until they closed, truthful I was large connected the late-night survey sessions.”
For Arredondo, it’s each astir staying ahead. “If I get the cleaning done a time early, that’s 2 other hours aboriginal successful the week I tin walk penning a insubstantial oregon doing treatment posts,” she explained. “But adjacent with the planning, nary of it works without support. I person specified an astonishing family, friends and enactment strategy that are close determination alongside me.”
And that enactment runs deep. From her husband, who handles the evening chaos erstwhile she needs quiescent survey time, to her older children who transportation successful with their younger siblings, Arredondo said her household operates arsenic a loving team. Her 14-year-old stepson volition often measurement successful without being asked, and her different children recognize that “Mom has homework, too.”
“It’s a household civilization built connected communal respect, connection and love,” Arredondo said. “It’s comic due to the fact that I’ll beryllium showing my older kids, ‘Look! I got an A connected my test!’ And they’ll amusement maine their tests, too. It’s similar we are accomplishing things together.”
Arredondo’s travel hasn’t been linear. A self-described “troubled kid” increasing up, she remembers being the kid who often got into fights successful school. “I wasn’t an casual kid, that’s for sure. I regret the mode I acted, but I similar to punctual myself I person done a batch of interior enactment and healing, and I consciousness I americium a amended idiosyncratic present than I was then.”
Arredondo had her archetypal lad erstwhile she was 18. She was often told she couldn’t beryllium some a pupil and a parent, which bothered her.
“People sometimes hide that I americium my ain person, too. I’m not conscionable a mom, and I’m not your emblematic assemblage student, either.”
After surviving what she described arsenic an abusive narration and raising her archetypal 2 children connected her own, Arredondo returned to schoolhouse astatine 22 portion besides being the sole caregiver for her mother, who passed distant successful August 2019. Her information for it all? Her sons — and the unwavering content that she could make thing amended for them.
Shortly aft 2019, she met her husband, Uziel. “I ever laughter astatine however we met (via Snapchat) and aft our archetypal date, it was axenic bliss,” Arredondo said. “At that clip successful my life, I was grieving the nonaccomplishment of my mother, taking attraction of my 2 boys, moving truthful galore hours – I was precise isolated. Every azygous clip we were together, it was similar thing other mattered. He was that 1 idiosyncratic who brought maine bid nary substance what was going connected successful our lives. At that time, beingness didn’t consciousness similar a crippled of endurance anymore, and I was bushed of surviving paycheck to paycheck – I wanted much for my kids.”
She didn’t conscionable survive, she began to thrive. Arredondo wanted to beryllium a dependable for different kids similar her. Working with younker during her aboriginal acquisition astatine Gavilan College sparked thing deeper. When she met students who were labeled “bad” oregon “hopeless,” she saw herself — and she knew what they genuinely needed was idiosyncratic to judge successful them. “I privation them to judge successful maine and enactment maine similar my Gavilan world counselor, Osvaldo “Ozzy” Zamora, did erstwhile I was trying to fig retired what I wanted to bash with my life.”
“I privation to beryllium that idiosyncratic who believes successful our youth,” Arredondo said. “That probation serviceman oregon counsellor who sees past the behaviour and gets to the bosom of the pain. No kid is calved broken.”
At Fresno State, Arredondo said she recovered a field assemblage that met her with understanding, particularly among faculty. “I’ve had luck with professors,” she shared. “They’ve been supportive, flexible and astir of them are parents, too, truthful they get it.”
One of the astir impactful figures successful her travel was criminology prof Dr. Michael Elliot. When Arredondo asked if she could bring her newborn to a midterm, helium didn’t hesitate to agree. He adjacent arrived aboriginal truthful she could decorativeness earlier people started. “My lad was 1 period old, and I didn’t privation to miss the exam. Dr. Elliot made that possible. He understood.” Arredondo besides noted the unthinkable enactment from Dr. DeAnna Reese, a prof of past and Africana studies.
Maria besides noted her engagement arsenic a parent-scholar adviser. She said connecting with different parents has helped immensely. “I spot parents similar Pedro Martinez, who is simply a dada and finishing his master’s, and that makes maine consciousness empowered – similar I tin bash that, too!”
As the College of Social Sciences commencement approaches from 1 to 2:30 p.m. connected Friday, May 16, astatine the Save Mart Center, Arredondo is flooded with emotion. Her kids are excited. Her household is proud. And she, too, is allowing herself a infinitesimal to reflect. “To my younger aforesaid — the 1 who cried herself to slumber astatine 19, holding her newborn — I’d say: ‘You did it. Everyone who doubted you was wrong. You kept going.’”
Graduation, for Arredondo, is not the end. She’s considering a master’s grade and dreams of moving successful juvenile corrections, advocating for younker who request a 2nd chance. Uziel, her husband, is readying to unfastened a barber schoolhouse successful Los Baños. Together, they’re gathering thing bigger than themselves – because, though others whitethorn not person believed successful them, they came unneurotic and believed successful themselves.
For now, Arredondo volition locomotion that signifier successful her headdress and gown. She’ll look retired and spot her kids smiling backmost astatine her. And, successful that moment, it won’t conscionable beryllium astir earning a grade — it volition beryllium astir everything she overcame to get there.
