Andrea Mauricio graduated from Warner Pacific University in May 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in education. Andrea saved with E3, a need-based program that matches student’s savings at a 6-1 ratio. Andrea currently works as a preschool teacher at Lilypads Childcare in Portland, Oregon.
Can you tell me a little about yourself? Did you grow up in the area?
The first six years of my life I grew up in Mexico. Then we moved to Portland. I went to Atkinson Elementary, which is down the road from Warner. Then I went to Mt. Tabor Middle School, and then after that I went to Franklin High School, which is also down the road. We’ve always been in the neighborhood.
Why did you choose Warner Pacific University?
After high school, I thought I was going to Portland Community College. My family could not afford to pay too much money for me to go to college. I thought, PCC is somewhere to start—I’ll go to PCC and then transfer somewhere else for whatever degree I decide on. But I talked to my sister and my parents, and they said, “You have to go where you want to go.” I knew that I wanted to become a teacher. Warner was perfect because I wouldn’t have to transfer. I also felt like the class sizes and being close to home—they brought me here. I would always drive by Warner in my mom’s car, and I got to tour it so many times. Stepping in here, I was like, Okay, it feels right. It feels like I can be a part of this school.
I applied to two scholarships, and I got the City Builders scholarship. I told my parents about it, and my dad was like, “Just go for it, and we’ll see along the way how we’re gonna get the money.” So I accepted the scholarship and I started the process of enrollment here.
My mom was trying to work full-time, morning and night, just to get every single thing covered. My sister was also like, “I’ll work overtime. I’ll do anything that you need me to do to help.” She did stop studying a few years before because of finances. It was always just the money issue.
Why did you decide to pursue a career as a teacher?
I started coming to school in the U.S. when I was in second grade. I was in a neighborhood class that was all English. I kind of got the hang of it, but I didn’t understand anything that they were telling me. In fourth grade, I was able to transition into a Spanish Immersion class. And to this day, I’m pretty sure my mom keeps in contact with my fourth grade teacher. She went to our quinceañeras, my sister’s and I’s.
She was amazing at her job and she was very patient. Like, if she noticed that I was getting lost in the English portion of the class, she would meet with me or after school she’d be like, “Did you get everything? Do you understand what I’m trying to explain with this?” It was that support that she gave me, more than just as a student but as a kid—what is it that you need to feel supported in the classroom? And then what is it that you need in your personal life that will make you a better person here? I feel like she just guided us through so many things that as new people here you wouldn’t know.
The first years of a child’s life are insanely important. That’s where they develop all their social skills. And they discover themselves and what they like, what they don’t like. And they start to discover things that you might not think they’re barely discovering or they won’t discover at that age. How to hold a pencil. How to paint. Basic life skills that are important. I feel like that’s why I wanted to go into something where I would know I’m helping the community the way they helped me.
How did you find out about E3?
Because of our immigration status, we’re not qualified to get loans. It had to be scholarships. I spent so much time my last year of high school applying for scholarships as much as I could. I got two Portland Public Schools scholarships. I got the City Builders scholarship and a Warner scholarship based on grades. I knew I had to work hard for that.
When we came to do all the signing papers for my school ID and monthly payment plans, right outside of the financial offices, there was a table of E3. Hector, the program manager, was at the table, and he was like, “Have you guys heard about E3 and how it works?” And we’re like, “No, we’re totally blank. We’re new to all of this.” And we’re like, ‘What is it about?” I remember he was speaking Spanish, which was like such a relief for my parents, so they could understand everything they were telling them. Even if I were to translate sometimes it’s hard to believe the help people offer. So we applied and I was able to get E3.
How did E3 impact your college experience?
My mom didn’t have to get a second job, and my dad—his schedule was crazy, but at some point he didn’t necessarily have to do overtime more than what he was already doing. When E3 came it was just a relief off our shoulders, even off my sister’s shoulders, then to me. I thought, I’m getting a breather. I’m getting hope to actually finish my full career here.
The second year, there was COVID. My parents were not working. My dad is a cook. All restaurants were closed for a really long time. My mom was a housekeeper, and I think they cut back hours because of COVID. And my sister was at a staffing agency but they had to close for a hot minute because of COVID.
I was like, Oh, Jesus. Maybe I’ll have to stop for a year and then come back to school whenever I’m able to do because I wasn’t gonna put that on my parents. It was just gonna be too much pressure. Then they were like, “No, just stay in school. We’ll be fine. We’ll figure out how to get through the rest of the year.” And that’s when I was able to apply to the second semester of E3, and I think Warner did COVID relief, so that got us through my second year.
That year we also had two losses in our family in Mexico. When I started my second year in August, that’s when my grandma passed, in August 2020. And then my grandpa passed in February 2021, which was six months apart. It was a huge hit, and it was brutal to see my parents struggling money to send to Mexico. We had to pay for everything.
That felt like, Oh my god. My career is coming to an end. Everything that I kept on working on is coming to an end. My parents were like, “You just have to keep going. You just have to finish and we’ll be fine.”
I actually ended up getting married halfway through my third year in early November 2021. My sister got married in 2021 February, so it was back-to-back weddings. It was so much happening at once that I felt like it was a lot for me to take in. But it was always like coming back to—”Okay I received the option to get E3, I received the option of getting all these scholarships: I can’t just let them go and walk away from it.”
My fourth year, my husband and my dad actually decided to help each other pay for my education. So my husband moved in with us. We live in a big enough house for all of us to still live together. That also helped with all the finances. So I finished in May 2023. And I was able to get my license as a teacher, and now I work as a preschool teacher. I’ve been working in this position for almost a year.
My last two years of college—I actually can’t believe I did this but—I was studying and I was working. I did student teaching from 7:30 in the morning to 2, and then I would work from 2:30 to 5:30, and then I would drive here and do my 6 to 9 classes. It was long days. I can’t believe I was able to do that, but I’m glad I made it. I’m glad all these opportunities were offered. The encouragement helped a lot.
E3 was a huge help during the hardest times of my life and my family’s life. E3 just impacted so much. The moment when we talked to Hector at first, to me, it felt like an invitation to my education. It was like a spark that meant, “Yes, you can do it. Your family will be able to afford it.”
What do you think was the most rewarding part of your education?
Graduating, seeing myself at the finish line, and the experience of it. And I also graduated without owing any money. To me that’s rewarding because I don’t have to worry about working and paying back this loan or whatever I need to pay off.
If you could talk to legislators about the impact of programs like E3, what would you say?
It makes a huge difference in someone’s life. Because of E3, I could go for it and not worry about if I was gonna have to work fulltime, if my mom was going to have to work at night, if my dad was going have to work past nighttime.
A lot of us, like my sister, held back on education because she didn’t want to be a burden to my parents and put that pressure on them. I feel like if it weren’t for E3, I wouldn’t have finished my career. It becomes a motivation. E3 is putting that money into my account for me to go—I can’t just step back like I’m not going anymore. I have the opportunity, so why am I not taking advantage of it, you know?
