Instructors and soon to be graduates walk down the path to the gym as the 88th Annual Commencement Ceremony is about to begin at Gavilan College Friday evening.
When Gavilan College graduation keynote speaker Luis Valdez addressed the 411-strong graduating class Friday evening, he could have been speaking directly to single mother of six Angeline Camacho.
Valdez, founder of El Teatro Campesino and professor at California State University-Monterey Bay, told a story about the Mayans' belief that zero represents a continuation, a spiral.
"Anyone who's taken a math class understands that you can only go from negatives to positives by going to a zero," Valdez said. These graduates were starting at zero, or square one, he said. "You're spiraling on to the next phase of life."
The 36-year-old Morgan Hill resident, who received her associate of arts degree in liberal arts, obtained more than just a degree. It was a graduation from being a victim of life to helping victims in life. Camacho hopes to continue her education at either Humboldt State or San Jose State University to pursue a degree in psychology. She would eventually like to work as a counselor to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.
It's help she could have used more than a year ago, when she left her husband of 13 years. While she didn't wish to elaborate, Camacho said her urge to enter the domestic violence advocate field came from personal experience.
"Having lived through that, it's a tough experience," she said. "You get almost no help. It's the toughest thing when you have nowhere to go."
Camacho, who was four weeks pregnant with her sixth child when she left her husband, said she knew there were services out there but wasn't sure where to turn to.
She said she knows her caring nature and good listening skills will make her a good counselor to those who need the help that she needed just two years ago.
"There are some things you know you were born to do, and this was one of them," she said.
Camacho credits an extensive social and family support system, like the CalWORKs program and many members of her ex-husband's family, for her graduation success.
Camacho said she'd taken college courses before, unsuccessfully, got married, became a stay-at-home mom - of children now aged 13, 12, 11, 7, 5 and 1.
Camacho was in the largest graduating class Gavilan has seen, according to spokeswoman Jan Bernstein-Chargin. She attributed the high number to the rise in newer programs that have graduating students this year, like digital media, communication studies and liberal studies.
Camacho was one of two students singled out by Gavilan College President Steve Kinsella in his speech to the graduating class and their supportive families, who lined the gymnasium's bleachers.
'What we see consistently, success story after success story, is students for whom this is a real victory," he said. "They've overcome tremendous barriers, and come to Gavilan and found it a comfortable work environment for them."
Camacho said she'd like every single mother out there to know that doing what she did is possible for them, too.
"I've seen women like me, through the courts, who have been told they can't do it," she said, choking back tears. "I want them to know they can do it. It's hard, but they can."
Natalie Everett Natalie Everett covers education and city hall in Morgan Hill. You can reach her at (408) 779-4106 or neverett@morganhilltimes.com.
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