Evangeline Dominguez Returns to WNMU After Two Decades

WNMU student Evangeline Dominguez

© Western New Mexico University

Evangeline Dominguez began her education at Western New Mexico University 20 years ago, left when she started a family, and returned after spending the past two decades raising five children. Now pursuing an associate degree in early childhood education with the aim work toward a bachelor’s, she said. “I came back to finish what I started.”

Dominguez works as a Pre-K educational assistant at Bayard Elementary School and is taking six credit hours at WNMU this spring. She said she would not be enrolled if it weren’t for the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship. “I did not withdraw correctly 20 years ago. It affected my financial aid,” she said. “I was a kid, but withdrawing incorrectly came back to haunt me. Without the Opportunity Scholarship, it’d be easy to say, ‘I’m done.’”

The financial support, combined with the ability to participate in classes online, makes college feasible for her. “I’m able to work a full-time job and take care of my kids at home, because I do still have children at home,” Dominguez said. “I don’t know how I’d be able to do that otherwise.”

Despite having raised her own family, Dominguez said WNMU has given her an understanding of child development and the science behind young children’s learning processes. “It’s different to really know,” she said.

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