Single mother credits ‘village’ for SRJC diploma

Juanita Tlahuitzo doesn’t hide her tears as she recalls life’s challenges and triumphs. She owns up to some bad choices that derailed her best intentions.

But now 25 and graduating from Santa Rosa Junior College, the single mother of two young girls is grateful for those who have supported her efforts and aspirations.

“It’s always been the people who’ve helped,” she said. “You know that saying? It takes a village.”

Tlahuitzo credits her faith and a corps of people who have encouraged her to rise from poverty, gang affiliation, drug abuse, depression and the poor self-esteem that has plagued her since adolescence.

“My story is unique, but the suffering isn’t unique to just me,” she said.

When Tlahuitzo earns her associate of science degree in social behavioral sciences this month, she will be the first in her family with a college diploma. She’s proud but not full-blown over-the-moon jumping for joy.

“It’s an accomplishment, but I know it’s just another step,” she said. It is just the first marker along her road to higher education.

“There are so many other personal milestones that mean more,” she said.

Tlahuitzo plans to transfer to Sonoma State University to earn a bachelor’s degree, then perhaps a master’s degree from the school she would most love to attend - UC Berkeley.

Tlahuitzo grew up in Roseland, a rough neighborhood in unincorporated Santa Rosa, where she lives today with daughters Illyanna, 5, and Mercedes, 3, in the small duplex she once shared with her family. Her parents divorced when she was 10; her father is retired and living back in Mexico.

Illyanna’s father was deported to Mexico and later murdered. Mercedes travels back and forth from her father’s home in Antioch.

Tlahuitzo was a student at Elsie Allen High School when she started getting into trouble. At 17, she landed in Juvenile Hall for a few weeks.

“I was almost done (with high school) when I ran away to be with my boyfriend,” Tlahuitzo said.

At 19, she earned a high school diploma from the Lewis Adult Education Center in Santa Rosa and had her first daughter a month later. While applying for services through the Sonoma County Human Services Department, she realized she was eligible for assistance to attend the junior college.

Tlahuitzo started classes at SRJC but completed just one course in psychology before discovering methamphetamines.

“It was meth,” she said. “It was harming me in my brain and my development. I can still feel the side effects sometimes with my memory.”

Depressed and overwhelmed, she sought treatment and prayed for a better life. She returned to her father’s one-bedroom home in Roseland, initially sleeping on an air mattress with her daughters yet grateful for her father’s welcome.

She found her way back to SRJC and discovered a love of learning and numerous people encouraging her to succeed, Spanish teacher Susana Ackerman and English teacher Ann Foster among them.

“It just all fell into place. I knew it was an option for me, and I knew I would do well,” Tlahuitzo said.

She credits her instructors for their passion, for bringing even dry subject matter to life.

“Just being there and hearing what they’re saying and sharing new information, I just love the feeling,” she said.

She planned to obtain a human services certificate but soon realized she wanted more. “The more you learn, there are options everywhere,” she said.

For the past two years, Tlahuitzo has attended SRJC full-time, earning three scholarships totaling $9,000 and qualifying for a PELL Grant offering federal student aid.

She also worked part-time as a peer advisor at the CalWORKS office on campus, where low-income students can access financial support and counseling and advising services.

“It’s just such an amazing program. By them serving me, I landed an opportunity to serve others,” Tlahuitzo said.

Her supervisor, Marianne Schwarz-Kesling, says Tlahuitzo is a natural leader with innovative ideas.

“Juanita always has been that kind of person who turns to help another peer,” Schwarz-Kesling said. “She has enormous potential to go into human services or really anything she wants.”

Angela Davis, an employment advisor at CalWORKS, says Tlahuitzo has the rare combination of commitment, compassion, high energy and grace under pressure.

“She has an inner strength and an inner faith,” Davis said. “When you look at her eyes, she is right there and present with you.”

Tlahuitzo also found support through Extended Opportunity Programs and Services, a program that helps students with language, social or economic challenges. Her older daughter was able to attend preschool for a year through the program.

“They’re there to serve the underserved,” Tlahuitzo said. “It’s really a privilege. It’s that moral support and wanting to see the best in you and your personal goals.”

She credits counselor Rhonda Findling with offering the encouragement she needed.

Tlahuitzo says her daughters also inspire and motivate her.

“My focus has been on my family because I noted dysfunction in mine (growing up),” she said.

Although she had five siblings, Tlahuitzo battled loneliness during her youth. She’s working on improving those family dynamics and strained relationships.

Today, as she prepares for the next stage in her education, she plans to study human development and possibly work in policy-making. And as she leaves SRJC, she is full of gratitude for the help she has received.

“There’s just so many people,” she said. “That’s actually what makes it work. It’s the people there to help.”