Key to success in college? Latino graduation speaker says treat studies like a 9-to-5 job.

The words of Priscilla Del Bosque-Schouten – the 1963 valedictorian at Dos Palos High School who went on to serve two decades as a foreign service worker – resonated with Fresno City College graduates young enough to be her grandchildren.

The 237 graduates who participated in the 21st FCC Latino Graduation Celebration at the college gym on Saturday heard the guest speaker talk about being one of only five Latino students among an enrollment of 15,000 at UC Santa Bárbara, and how she treated study like work and went to the college library from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every weekday to study with only breaks for classes.

“I was in danger of not doing so well,” Del Bosque-Schouten said about her time at UC Santa Bárbara. “I just needed to figure out how I was going to get the tons of reading and written assignments done, and to do well on my tests and exams.”

She would struggle to stay awake to complete her homework, and fell behind in her studies. “That increased my anxiety,” she said.

Del Bosque-Schouten remembered her father, a melon grower, telling her to use reverse engineering to solve problems.

“I decided to undertake my university studies like a job,” she said. “A job that I would be able to learn and competently.”

That’s how the “work” hours at the library came about. Once she left at 5 p.m., she was done with her studies.

“My strategy worked. I felt excited and happy that I was on top of my classes,” said Del Bosque-Schouten. “I no longer felt anxious or worried. I was eating my meals and I was sleeping well.”

Alan Romero, a 19-year-old psychology major who will transfer to California State University Channel Islands, was glad to hear about the study habits.

“I love that advice. It’s something I have also taken into consideration myself,” said Romero, who was drawn to Fresno City College from Los Ángeles County for its psychology program.

Dealing with college-level studies at FCC, he said, “was very difficult” until he utilized some of Del Bosque-Schouten’s approach.

“It really did help a lot,” said Romero, the first in his family to attend college.

Latino graduation highlights a student’s journey

Del Bosque-Schouten also spoke about seeing few students like her in college, and once thought affinity events like a Latino graduation was not a good idea.

“Some years ago, I would have been of the opinion that separating ourselves out as an ethnic group would not have been the most conducive to producing positive results for our society,” she said. “But today, I think differently.

“Why is that? You Latinos and Latinas are not separating yourselves out from the mainstream of society. If you were, you wouldn’t be here graduating from Fresno City College.”

Valentina López Meza, 20, believes such a ceremony is important..

“I relate because being Latino means you go through more obstacles than any other person does,” said López Meza, who will transfer to UC Davis and major in pediatrics. “You go through the language barrier, the accent barrier. You go through a lot of obstacles that others who don’t speak another language or don’t come from immigrant families will understand.”

López Meza said Saturday’s ceremony hosted by the Fresno City College Latino Faculty Association made her feel “represented.”

“I feel like they were highlighting me for being Latina. For a lot of years, I was made to feel bad for being able to speak another language,” she said. “There were a lot of teachers who told me that I had to stop speaking the language because I was never going to accomplish my goals, that I was never going to be proficient in English.”

She feels the ceremony “highlights” the support she has gotten from her parents to succeed in her studies. She was student body president at Forkner Elementary School.

Del Bosque-Schouten, during her 30-minute talk, underscored the value of hard work in school and workplace. The graduates, she added, have realized that lesson.

“You have come to understand that without your hard work, your dream will not pursue you.”