Hello, my name is Rocio, I was born in Peru, and I am the youngest of seven children. My mother immigrated to the United States in 1988, and I joined her in 1992. I did not have an opportunity to graduate from high school prior to leaving Peru, so I had very limited prospects for employment which was made worse by the language barrier. In 1995, I was able to obtain my GED, and I worked in local nursing homes as a certified nursing assistant. During this period, I got married and had three children. In 2004, my husband decided that family responsibilities were not his cup of tea, and this would eventually lead to our divorce that year. I was ill prepared to be a single parent with three children of 6 years, one and a half, and 6 months of age. My lack of an educational background made obtaining employment that would support us very difficult. I decided that the only way to solve this challenge was to return to school and get a college degree. A Head Start parent I met told me about the Single Parent Scholarship Fund as I was trying to put together the funds to pay for school and cover my other expenses.

SPSF/BC has been a blessing in my life. I’ve used the financial assistance to attend school, purchase my books, and other needs. I graduated May 2009 with an Associate of Science degree from the NorthWest Arkansas Community College and transfered to the University of Arkansas to obtain a degree in Computer Science.

Once again, please accept my humble thanks. You not only bring hope into the lives of us, the single parent students, but our children as well.