Perseverance Pays Off
Juana Blanca Olga López has always shown uncommon persistence. “Without a father in the house, I had to grow up fast,” says Blanca, “and when mom got sick, I had to take care of her while I was going to school for my Ph.D. and working full time. But there was no question in my mind that I would do it.”
Blanca attended the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and graduated with a B.S. in Elementary Bilingual Education. “It was tough at first,” Blanca says, “because I had to work full time while going to school. But I knew I wanted to teach so I just kept going.”
While she was getting her Masters of Education at UTEP, she was also a Teacher Mentor in Math and Science at the Ysleta Independent School District. She went on to getting her Masters in 1997, and her Ph.D. in 2009. Her mother passed away soon after. “I am so blessed that she was able to see that day,” says Blanca. “My mom was such a strong emotional and psychological support for me throughout my education.”
Securing financial aid gets more difficult the higher you go up the education ladder; scholarships for Ph.D. candidates are rarely offered. That’s why Blanca is especially grateful for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, which twice provided her with grants. “Getting my doctorate was painfully slow,” Blanca admits. “But I took at least one 700-level course every semester. I was determined to finish!”
What advice does she have for other Hispanic students? “Getting a doctorate is the greatest proof that a Latina can beat the odds, because the statistics of not finishing are stacked against us. I want to motivate other Latinos, especially women, to persevere … to keep going no matter how long it takes.”