Getting an associate degree from Green River College was a turning point for Angelica Gonzalez.
Gonzalez, 29, graduated from Green River in 2008 and transferred to the University of Washington Tacoma, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. She is working toward a master’s degree in public administration from Grand Canyon University and plans to attend law school at Seattle University in the fall.
Growing up, Gonzalez said she had no hope of going to college. Gonzalez struggled with homelessness, drug use, crime and generational poverty. She had her first child at 17.
“I wasn’t an ‘A’ student,” she said.
One of Gonzalez’ teachers at West Auburn High School encouraged her to go to Green River after graduation.
Without that opportunity, Gonzalez said she wouldn’t be where she is today.
“I can’t even believe everything I had gone through to where I came to what I do now,” she said.
Gonzalez shared her story at the Washington State Association of College Trustees (ACT) Transforming Lives Awards dinner on Sunday in Olympia. She was one of five current or former community college students from throughout the state given the Transforming Lives Award this year.
Started in 2012, the Transforming Lives Awards program gives community college and technical schools in Washington the opportunity to nominate a current or former student whose life has been transformed by pursuing higher education at their institution.
As a winner of the award, Gonzalez gets $500 from ACT.
Green River College’s Board of Trustees nominated Gonzalez for the award due in part to the example she sets for other students.
“The board is proud of the thousands of graduates who have earned degrees at Green River Community College,” Board of Trustees President Pete Lewis wrote in a nomination letter for Gonzalez. “We know that there are countless students who had transformative experiences and have found success at universities and in the work place because of their Green River education. Angelica has distinguished herself in deciding to follow her passion for serving and helping others by advocating for social justice.”
Gonzalez isn’t the first Green River student to receive the Transforming Lives Award.
In 2013 former student Donald Fleming was given the honor.
Supportive college
Gonzalez attributed part of her success in college to the personalized support she received at Green River.
“I believe if I would have went in to a bigger university, I wouldn’t have done as well,” she said.
Gonzalez took advantage of Green River’s tutoring programs and writing and math centers.
“By the time I had graduated, I went from my papers bleeding in red to (her teachers saying) “I just don’t have anything to change in here. It looks great,’” she said.
Getting involved in the campus community allowed Gonzalez to come out of her shell, she said. She was vice president of Phi Theta Kappa, president of Latino Student Union and president of Native American Student Association.
Her experiences and involvement at Green River inspired Gonzalez to pursue work in social justice. She said she would like to become a judge someday.
For now, she volunteers for various local and state causes, including serving as an advisory member for the Department of Early Learning, working with the Washington State Professional Educators Standards Board to change laws affecting immigrants in Washington state, as well as advocating for families, children and women through platforms including Moms Rising.
“I think when someone especially from my background, never participating in the community, is be able to make these huge gains the sky is the limit,” she said.
Gonzalez said she hopes she will inspire others.
“I think it important for people to continue to support students in higher ed, community college and also mentoring and believing in them,” she said. “With my background I didn’t look like kid that had promise. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t because I did.”
Gonzalez lives in Tacoma with her three children, Jasmine, 10, Sitlali, 4, and Christian, 9 months.
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