By Ryan Pagelow
STAFF WRITER
Source: SuburbanChicagoNews.com

This Sunday hundreds of Waukegan High School seniors will graduate. Many will head to colleges across the Midwest to continue their education. For some immigrants, they will be the first in their family to go to college. Senior Diana Arizmendi will be heading to Loyola University in Chicago where she plans to study psychology. Born in Ixtapan de la Sal, Mexico, she grew up in Waukegan.

“My parents really wanted me to get an education. I’m going for it not just for them but for myself,” Arizmendi said. “To be able to go after everything that my parents weren’t able to.” As a freshman she was named a Schuler Scholar and will receive a $20,000 scholarship for college.

“That was a big motivator for me,” she said. Other grants and scholarships will pay for about 75 percent of her college tuition. To help prepare for college she is in the College Studies Program at Waukegan.

She was a drum major in the marching band for the past two years during football games and the drum major of the pep band at the basketball games. She also played flute in the concert band. She plans to continue playing music as part of the pep band at Loyola.

She suggests other incoming high school students should set goals and stick to them, especially those with immigrant roots.

“Our parents come from other places and they want us to get a better education. I think it’s sad when parents go through the hassle of getting here and the kids end up being bad or dropping out,” Arizmendi said. Some of her classmates who started freshman year along with her will be missing on Sunday as the seniors graduate. The drop out rate continues to affect students, including Latinos.

“We’re definitely missing a lot of people. We had 1,000 people at the eighth grade graduating class. I believe the (senior) graduating class is 750. I have had friends who dropped out and have kids already. I think it’s sad because we could have graduated together,” Arizmendi said. “Most of my friends, almost all of us are going to college. I’m pretty proud of my class and we’ll do good things in the future,” she added. Also graduating this Sunday is Angelica Rodriguez. Born in Guanajuato, Mexico, she came to Waukegan when she was 14 years old. “It was difficult because I didn’t know any English. That was my biggest obstacle,” Rodriguez said.

She’s in her last year of English as a Second Language classes and plans to attend the College of Lake County in the fall to study business and eventually transfer to a university. In October she received a Latino Leadership scholarship. Because she is the first in her family to graduate high school and attend college she relied on teachers to help her apply for scholarships and apply to college. She plans to get together with family and friends on graduation day. “I thank my parents for always supporting me and all my family,” Rodriguez said.

05/31/06

SuburbanChicagoNews.com — © 2006 Digital Chicago & Sun-Times News Group