Introducing Brenda Saucedo, DFC Student
By Asya Meadows
Brenda Saucedo is an alumna of Dougherty Family College (DFC) and a recently graduated from the University of St.Thomas with a degree in Family Studies and a double minor in women studies and social welfare.
In her senior year of high school at Washington Tech, Saucedo discovered DFC through a College Possible coach. When she looked into colleges, she remembered seeing her brother struggling and stressed about finances while attending college in his sophomore year. Brenda thought she would have to endure the same fate. But her coach pushed her to pursue a possible opportunity at DFC. After that conversation, Brenda set her sights on DFC and went through the process of applying. In the early days after her acceptance, she realized that she finally saw herself at college and "doing something."
Brenda was coming from a small, diverse high school where everyone grew up with each other. She looked for these qualities in a college that would be right for her. She found these qualities at Dougherty Family College and that helped her feel comfortable. When she was transferring from DFC to a four-year university, she said, "that was when I got my first culture shock,...seeing the huge difference of everything from what I was growing up with. Her class experience as a student of color made for a difficult adjustment. She sometimes said during class when it was time to share personal stories "that their stories were completely different from my stories." But being in a class with students that didn't look like her did not make her feel that she didn’t belong. The relationships that Saucedo built at DFC supported her in this transition, making it less daunting. She states that "especially the first semester, DFC was always sending me emails, checking in on us, making sure that we felt comfortable in the colleges we belong to. “
After graduation, she was immensely proud of herself for being the first in her family to graduate from college. Her parents have only an Elementary school education. When Saucedo graduated with two degrees from a private university, it was a long-lived dream fulfilled. During that time, it "was super so exciting for them - they were all over Facebook talking and posting about my accomplishments." Coming from "never seeing a future for myself academic-wise, to walking the stage at my college graduation.” Her parents were amazed and joyous. As Brenda said, "to see their joy made me super happy and made everything worth it."
Brenda’s plans for the future are to work and save money for two years and go to grad school. She said that she finally feels confident about easing into the workforce and is currently working as a teacher aid. Knowing she still had a connection with the DFC community has been important too. It makes her feel she can give back while building out the relationships she made at Dougherty. Brenda dreams of giving back to her community by getting her law degree to become a Family Law mediator. Beyond that, she dreams of being a state representative as a way to support and uplift her community.
