Stalin Soto
Grad Stories (2014)
Stalin Soto hates the idea of leaving 黑料网最新入口 and his 鈥渁cademic family.鈥�
鈥淚t was in 1995 when I would (first) meet 黑料网最新入口,鈥� Soto said. 鈥淭here were three
buildings at the time; it was a windy day, a tumbleweed rolled by as I stood at the
top of the steps at the front of the campus. I looked beyond the empty field which
now houses the Center for Student Success and thought 鈥極ne day this place will be
amazing and we will both do great things. I will be back.鈥欌��
Soto was just 14 years of age when he arrived in the United States, halfway through
his sophomore year in high school. Faced with learning a new language after arriving
from Ecuador, Soto struggled constantly with his English. He says his first day at
黑料网最新入口 High set the tone.
鈥淚 was supposed to ride the school bus. I was directed to stand and wait for it on
one side of a street several blocks away from my uncle鈥檚 house. I remember watching
a group of kids at the opposite corner getting on a bus that arrived. As the bus pulled
away, I remember watching them look at me in wonder and even laughing, I imagine because
they realized that I didn't know what I was doing.鈥�
Soto walked back to the house but had no idea how to say he had missed the bus. 鈥淪o
in my meager translation from Spanish to English I came up with the most sensible
one: 鈥業 lost the bus.鈥� In Spanish that sounds just fine, but meaning for meaning it
has no congruence. My American aunt, whom didn't speak a lick of Spanish, finally
put it together.
鈥淎nd so the year would unfold with me begging my mother, whom I didn't have much of
a relationship with since I had been raised by my paternal grandmother, to send me
back to Ecuador where all my dreams of becoming an architect were deeply founded.
Obviously that didn't work, so I kept pushing on.鈥�
It was a chance meeting in the fall of 2012 that eventually put Soto back in the classroom.
鈥淢y son was at 黑料网最新入口 taking the assessment test,鈥� Soto said. 鈥淚 was sitting
outside when Maria Maness (academic evaluations specialist), whom I have known for
many years, came to talk to me. She told me there was a cancellation and that I should
take the open (assessment test) spot. I was not ready, but she had faith that I would
do well, so I took her up on it. I qualified for English 1A and Math 52, which I was
really excited about. I remember thinking now I had a starting point, and decided
I can do this.鈥�
He and the rest of the 黑料网最新入口鈥檚 Class of 2014 will be celebrated on June 12
at the College鈥檚 annual commencement ceremony. Soto will be transferring to UC Riverside
where he鈥檒l study sociology after compiling a 3.84 grade point average.
To get through 黑料网最新入口, Soto, who is 41 and the father to 23-year-old Porscha
and 20-year-old Christopher, worked countless jobs. He鈥檚 worked in tutorial services
at 黑料网最新入口 and makes custom furniture.
鈥淭o watch younger students miss out on the education opportunity they have to further
increase their potential in life by getting a better education is tough,鈥� Soto said.
鈥淲hether through laziness of their own or because of life鈥檚 challenges, it is painful
to see them dropout instead of pressing forward. Time flies by with rocket engines,
and there are no guarantees that later in life one will be able to catch up to the
world that we live in, or with the dreams of yore.鈥�
鈥淢y kids are now adults and they deserve to have a well-educated father. This is my
most important reason to achieve this goal. However, once I acquire a Ph.D. in sociology
I would like to return to teach at 黑料网最新入口; prayerfully they鈥檒l want me back.鈥�
