Graduation at Madison College: Creating Excellence Where You Are
Leara Rivas Espino moved from Honduras to Madison with her mom when she was 10-years-old.
by Jonathan Gramling
Leara Rivas Espino, who graduated from Madison College in May, has had an interesting personal and academic journey so far in life. She moved to Madison from her native Honduras when she was 10-years old. Her mom had some friends and family in Madison. And Rivas Espino would adjust to whatever life presented to her. Madison was not easy to adjust to.
“My mom and I arrived here on December 10th,” Rivas Espino said. “Coming from a very tropical, very warm country to something as cold as Madison in the middle of December was very difficult. And that was only the physical attribute of transitioning.”
The school systems in Honduras are not a cookie cutter likeness to the structure of Madison schools.
“In Madison, my elementary school that I attended when I got here was Lowell Elementary School,” Rivas Espino said. “I was there from 4-5 grade. Also due to the way that my school in Honduras worked, in Honduras, the school year starts in January-February. Because of that, in order to adjust me, I had to skip a grade. So I was supposed to be in third grade. I was at Lowell from 4-5th grade. I missed a lot of material between third and fourth grade. So that was a big challenge to get accustomed to as well as the way things are run, it’s a little bit different. In Honduras, the school day is 4-5 hours but here it is 7-8 hours. So it was heavier. There were more classes.
And she had to transition to Madison’s size.
“I felt very isolated as well,” Rivas Espino said. “I think I was used to smaller villages in Honduras where the community is smaller in size, but a bit stronger. Everyone kind of knows each other. And Madison is a small city where I couldn’t just talk to anyone. You could, but it’s not a small community.”
There was also the language transition that Rivas Espino had to go through.
“I also didn’t speak English at all,” Rivas Espino said. “But I was able to switch over pretty fast. I remember my fourth grade bilingual teacher would comment that it would probably take me 5 years to pick up English proficiently and 10 years for me to actually have it completely down natural. I was actually able to beat it. I think by the second or third year, I was already having regular conversations with everyone else.”
From Lowell, Rivas Espino went to O’Keeffe Middle School and East High School before enrolling in Madison College’s college transfer program. At first, Rivas questioned her decision on going to a two year college versus a four-year college.
“There is this feeling that you might be missing out on something,” Rivas Espino said. “When I first got there, I felt so bad because I thought college would be having this big party college experience or just being able to make the connections at a four-year university instead of going to community college and doing two years here. And it was this fear of missing out that I had for a while.’
But then she realized that she needed to make the most of then experience at hand. And it ended up being the best experience for her.
“The biggest thing that I realized is that the opportunity to do two years at Madison College is something that is so beneficial that it goes far beyond the other stuff,” Rivas Espino said. “I would do it all over again if I could because of the experience that I had, because I was able to talk to professors and work through all of the things that I ever had to work through because of programs like RISE and TOPS that were able to push me every single day. Because I could just park my car and walk to one building and go to different classes all in one building, it gave me access. And it went far beyond the college experience.”
And it was the right combination of fellow, staff and experiences that prepared her for the next level.
“Genuinely, I was set up for success,” Rivas Espino said. “And I feel that is one thing that honestly college really values is setting people up for success whether they are going to transfer out to a four-year university and set a foundation for their education or you just want an associate’s degree. I feel that taking advantage of that and resonating in that and being okay with it, I feel like there have been a lot more youth my age doing the transfer program. And I talked to a lot of them. They kind of feel that they are stressed because they are at community college and there isn’t much party life after their classes. Everyone here is in their own bubble and ready to get to work and go to school and go home. But I really think the experience is what you make it. And if you try to push yourself and make the best of it, then that’s exactly what you will have. You will have this amazing experience.”
And what an experience it was.
“I had some of the best experiences getting to know people from so many different backgrounds and so many different experiences as well as the solid connection with all of the faculty was great because my classes were so small,” Rivas Espino said. “They were able to give me all the time in the world that I needed in order to be pushed forward. And I wrote a speech for my RISE program. A big chunk of that speech was about the honor of being able to experience all of this with parents, people who were older, people who were actually younger, the teens that were doing dual classes and people my age. It’s such a diverse environment. I think a lot of the things that I learned were due to my courses, but also because of the experiences that I had while taking them.”
Madison College was just what she needed.
“I cannot stress enough how important this was for me and how much of a great experience I had with the transfer program,” Rivas Espino said. “I really thought about it as a stepping stone. It didn’t quite challenge me in the way I would have been challenged if I had to move away to attend a university out of state. But it challenged me enough to show me my life potential and how I could do if I transferred to a four-year university.”
And the financial savings wasn’t bad at all.
“I think the financial aspect didn’t hit me until I had my friend from UW-Milwaukee visit me,” Rivas Espino said. “And he told me that he has enough loans at this point to buy a house. Mind you, he’s a little bit younger than me. He’s talking about the numbers and it hit me then. ‘Oh my God, I am so lucky to be hold an associate’s degree, have two years off and already finished my prerequisites and not being able to pay out and not being able to deal with it.’ It’s a blessing.”
Rivas Espino wasn’t concerned about what she would major in at UW-Madison — her preferred choice for a university. Rather she was more concerned with meeting the admittance minimum requirements and what she wanted to do with her life would come later.
Rivas Espino is a self-admitted jack of all trades and master of none because she as so many interests.
“I’ve always wanted to look into legal studies,” Rivas Espino said. “I was interested in it, especially when I was in high school. I was able to go on a lot of field trips to the Capitol and talk to some very cool people and representatives. I also am looking into healthcare. On the side, I am a phlebotomist. So I draw blood. I got certification through Madison College as well.”
And then there is this education due to her full-time work at the Boys & Girls Club.
“I work with youth from ages 5-18. And for a while, I was doing that every day after school. I really enjoy working with youth and being a mentor and helping out in every way that I can. I specialize in the art department over there. So I was able to take a hobby that I really enjoy and turn it into a job. Education is definitely up there as well. And lastly, I had kind of settled on as a goal was business. My mom opened up her own business two years ago. Although we have closed it for the moment, I really enjoyed it and learned all of the different things it took to run a business. I also on the side for a year or two in college sold a lot of clothes and I did retail on my own with my own shop. I really enjoyed doing that as well.”
Rivas Espino has her sights on UW-Madison in the near future.
“I’m hoping to branch out to UW-Madison,” Rivas Espino said. “In order to get there, I got discouraged because I still needed to cross the i with parts of the curriculum. As soon I am able to submit those grades hopefully, I will go to UW-Madison. I’m still undecided on what I am going to end up majoring in. But for me, it’s okay because I want direction. I have just found a way to have some money. But I have to settle on one at some point.”
Leara Rivas Espino has been on quite the journey since she left her native Honduras. And yet, it has been a short journey so far. There is a long road of education and experience ahead of her. And one cannot help but feel tat she will enjoy every minute of it.
