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Setting 'an Excellent Example' Proves to Be the Inspiration for Success |
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 Only four students a year can earn the Student of the Quarter Award at SIATech Long Beach. Melody Menchaca has earned those bragging rights for this prestigious award.
Before SIATech, Melody was a student at various high schools around Southern California. She commented that it was very hard to concentrate and devote her dedication to her studies when she was moving too much. It was not a choice to constantly move around all Southern California, but it was necessary if they wanted a roof over their heads.
In 2005, life threw more challenges her way. Melody found out that her mother was very sick. Seizures became a constant part of her mother’s life. Melody and her mother had to move into a housing project, and Melody had no other choice but take care of her mother every day. She commented that life became very tough for her in the next upcoming months, but she knew giving up was not an option.
She attended many adult schools around her home, but she did not feel comfortable in them. Before her mother’s illness, she wanted to attend Job Corps. But complications in her life pushed her further away from her wants in life. Her brother had successfully finished the program, so she knew it could also be the program for her. She wanted her high school diploma and a trade, so she did not hesitate to enroll. Once here, she told herself she would not give up.
It was not so easy. Melody was a mother herself and a caretaker of her mother. Melody commented, “Motherhood is the best thing in the world, but my education is important too. I want to be an excellent example to her, and I want her to be successful too.” It is students like Melody that make teaching so much more rewarding. |
