DEGREES OF PRIDE; PERSEVERANCE PAYS OFF FOR CSUN GRADS.Byline: Robert Monroe Daily News Staff Writer Born deaf in a country ravaged rav·age v. rav·aged, rav·ag·ing, rav·ages v.tr. 1. To bring heavy destruction on; devastate: A tornado ravaged the town. 2. by war, Thuy Nguyen faced long odds against going to college, let alone graduating. She couldn't even communicate with her family until she was 10. But none of that stopped her. ``I can do anything except hear,'' said the Vietnam native. ``I can prove to hearing people that I can do it.'' This week, Nguyen will pick up her degree in fashion design production from California State University, Northridge CSUN offers a variety of programs leading to bachelor's degrees in 61 fields and master's degrees in 42 fields. The university has over 150,000 alumni. It's also home to a summer musical theater/theater program known as TADW (TeenAge Drama Workshop) that leads teenagers through an . She will be among 7,000 others graduating from CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Here is her story and those of six fellow CSUN grads who also defied the obstacles arrayed against them. As unique as their stories are, they also explain what graduation means for everybody: the blessing of opportunity and the power of perseverance. Pity? No thanks Thuy Nguyen grew up in Saigon in a family of 10 siblings whose lively conversations she couldn't hear. For most of her childhood, she communicated with simple gestures. Nguyen, who gives her age only as in her 30s, began her education at 10 when her parents took her to a deaf school operated by an order of nuns. Nguyen did not know what was happening. It was a harsh environment, she recalls, but it was also her first foray into Verb 1. foray into - enter someone else's territory and take spoils; "The pirates raided the coastal villages regularly" raid encroach upon, intrude on, obtrude upon, invade - to intrude upon, infringe, encroach on, violate; "This new colleague invades my language. She absorbed Vietnamese sign language like she was quenching quenching Rapid cooling, as by immersion in oil or water, of a metal object from the high temperature at which it is shaped. Quenching is usually done to maintain mechanical properties that would be lost with slow cooling. a thirst. The day after her brother came to take her home her family boarded a transport plane. They escaped a month before the fall of Saigon The Fall of Saigon (in Vietnamese: Sự kiện 30 tháng 4 - in English: April 30 Incident or Giải phóng miền Nam - in English: The Liberation of the South and settled in Sacramento. American culture was a new barrier but she was quick to master American sign language American Sign Language n. The primary sign language used by deaf and hearing-impaired people in the United States and Canada. American Sign Language (ASL), n. . ``Without communication, I can't do anything,'' she said. Winning a dressmaking contest at her public high school piqued her interest in fashion design. She plans to cap her new degree with a master's and start her own clothing line. She thanks her professors, especially Nancy Owens, for their support and their respect. ``I don't want pity. No thank you,'' she said. A father's promise The birth of the son who became his namesake meant little to Anthony ``Scott'' Washington - at first. Washington was mostly concerned with his gang and his drugs. He sat with his 5-week-old son in an apartment one weekend in April 1990 while the baby's mother went out to buy dope. She never came back. Unschooled in child care, Washington was confused by the end of the weekend. Left alone with his son, he looked the baby in the eye and felt an obligation, he said. ``I promised never to get high again,'' said Washington, now a 34-year-old Reseda resident graduating Friday with a bachelor's in urban studies. ``I haven't to this day.'' On the way, he learned something about himself. ``I discovered I could actually be a good student,'' he said. Washington will graduate with a 3.9 grade-point average from CSUN. Now married, he achieved academic excellence while working two jobs and raising four children. He would often take his son to class. ``He's growing up around education,'' Washington said. A heavy load At CSUN, 15 units a semester makes a student full time. Alonso Blanco is graduating Thursday with a Chicano studies/liberal studies bachelor's degree having averaged 25 units a semester and taking 35 units this past semester. Blanco, 33, of North Hollywood has 10 nieces and nephews. He carried a heavy load to prove something to them and to those he thinks harbor negative stereotypes. ``It seems like a lot of people here in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. think that Latinos lack motivation,'' he said. He first enrolled at CSUN in 1993 but quickly dropped out, finding the 2,500 hours of community service required for a psychology degree impossible to fulfill. He re-enrolled in 1996, worried that opportunity was passing him by. His counselors thought he was crazy for trying to get the teaching credential A United States teaching credential is a basic multiple or single subject credential obtained upon completion of a bachelor's degree and prescribed professional education requirements. as fast as he did. ``But I needed to prove to myself that I could be at the university level,'' he said. Blanco will work at the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. as a special education teacher. A question to herself Randi Picarelli moved to Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, because she believed it was the place to be to continue her lifestyle - getting high on methamphetamine. ``I moved here to perpetuate that,'' she said. But working only sporadically and with a speed habit to support, she gravitated to the city's seamier side quickly. She was down to 100 pounds, sick and high when she woke up on an April morning April Morning is a 1961 novel by Howard Fast depicting the Battle of Lexington and Concord from the perspective of a fictional teenager, Adam Cooper. It takes place in the 27-hour period from April 18, 1775 to the aftermath of the battle. in 1993 in an apartment surrounded by ``scary biker bik·er n. 1. One who rides a bicycle or a motorbike. 2. A motorcyclist, especially a member of a motorcycle gang. biker Noun a person who rides a motorcycle people'' sleeping on the floor. ``The only thing that we had in common was dope,'' she said. Randi and her best friend tossed their drug paraphernalia drug paraphernalia Controlled paraphernalia Substance abuse As defined in a regulatory context, DP is a hypodermic syringe, needle, metal or plastic (snorting) tube, or other instrument or implement or combination adapted for the administration of controlled off a balcony. At the time, sobriety was more frightening than her lifestyle but the fear didn't last and she began to turn it around. In the clear days after she gave up drugs, Picarelli, 28, asked herself a question. ``I'm going to turn 30. Do I want to do it with or without a degree?'' she said. Two months after she gave up drugs on that balcony she enrolled in school. On Wednesday, she'll collect a bachelor's degree in communication studies. Picarelli begins teaching and starts work toward her master's in the fall. A career beats a job From modeling to apartment management, Nihal Makhyoun has stayed busy. Makhyoun, 28, of Canoga Park had to. The single mom has four children to support. ``I have a lot of energy,'' she said. On Friday, she'll receive a master's degree master's degree n. An academic degree conferred by a college or university upon those who complete at least one year of prescribed study beyond the bachelor's degree. Noun 1. in educational psychology and counseling, the culmination of studies that began at CSUN in 1992. Along the way, she learned how to combine parenting with work. For example, she enrolled her kids, ages 7 to 12, in activities at Lanark Park, where she also runs a recreation department basketball program. ``It enables me to make money and be with my children,'' she said. With her master's, Makhyoun will seek a counseling position in a local school district or with the county mental health department. Having a career, she says, beats having a job. ``Everybody says to me, How do you do it? I say the alternative, not doing it, would be much harder,'' she said. Man of the house The year was 1997 and a few months before, Jaime Reyes had taken in his mother, brother and two sisters. He was the only one with a job, four jobs actually, and he was carrying a full load of CSUN classes. ``I got to a point to where I said I can't do it anymore,'' the 24-year-old San Fernando resident said. Reyes sought help from counselors but the strength to carry on came from within, he said. He will graduate Wednesday with a bachelor's degree in computer science. When his mother and brother lost their jobs, Reyes became the sole breadwinner bread·win·ner n. One whose earnings are the primary source of support for one's dependents. bread·win  ning n. - income came from his jobs, his scholarships and a credit card spent to its limits. He plans to remain as the head of a computer lab at New Directions for Youth in Van Nuys for the time being en route to re-enrolling for a master's degree and his ultimate goal - working at IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) . Everything is hard and everything has a cost, he said - including giving up. ``I guess deep inside me, I didn't really see myself quitting,'' he said. Born to write When Fernando Roldan types, he guides the left hand with the right. It's slow going but the Daily Sundial sundial, instrument that indicates the time of day by the shadow, cast on a surface marked to show hours or fractions of hours, of an object on which the sun's rays fall. wire editor and general assignment reporter gets the job done. Roldan uses an electric wheelchair to get around the CSUN campus, his hands and feet rendered half the size of an average man's by a birth defect birth defect Genetic or trauma-induced abnormality present at birth. A more restrictive term than congenital disorder, it covers abnormalities that arise during the formation of an embryo's organs and tissues and does not include those caused by diseases (e.g. called arthrogryposis arthrogryposis /ar·thro·gry·po·sis/ (ahr?thro-gri-po´sis) persistent flexure of a joint. ar·thro·gry·po·sis n. 1. The permanent fixation of a joint in a contracted position. . The disorder means that Roldan, 27, cannot dress himself when he gets up in the morning, but the rest of the day, he is setting his own agenda. It includes pursuing a career as a newspaper reporter in California after he graduates Wednesday with a bachelor's degree in journalism. Roldan's family moved to Glendale from Colombia when he was 5 years old and he became a March of Dimes
Roldan doesn't want his condition to be an excuse for anything. ``I have the same goals as anyone else,'' he said. CAPTION(S): 7 photos PHOTO (1) Randi Picarelli, who kicked drugs out of her life 1993, will begin teaching while pursuing her master's degree. Andy Holzman/Daily News (2) Anthony ``Scott'' Washington, with his son, Scott, 9, will be graduating with a 3.9 grade-point average. Andy Holzman/Daily News (3) Nihal Makhyoun, a single mom with four children to support, will be receiving her master's degree. Michael Owen
(4) Jaime Reyes, 24, said he nearly gave up while working four jobs to support his family while taking a full load at CSUN. ``I guess deep inside me, I didn't really see myself quitting,'' he said. Andy Holzman/Daily News (5) Alonso Blanco will earn his bachelor's degree after taking 35 units this past semester. Andy Holzman/Daily News (6) Fernando Roldan, a former March of Dimes poster child, hopes to pursue a career as a newspaper reporter in California after he graduates with a journalism degree. David R. Crane/Daily News (7 -- color) Thuy Nguyen, who was born deaf in Vietnam, hopes to cap her new degree with a master's and start her own line of clothing. Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Daily News Box: Graduation schedule |
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