Zoraida Romero I (‘14) Early Childhood Education
At Esperanza College of Eastern University (ECEU), students work hard not just for personal advancement, but for the improvement of their communities and relationships as well. For Zoraida Romero,’14, these were key reasons why she chose ECEU.
Zoraida had three girls and was working full time when one of her daughters started having trouble in school. She would get frequent phone calls from teachers about her daughter’s behavior. Though her daughter was later diagnosed with ADHD, no one knew at the time why she was acting out. Zoraida decided it was time to go back to school to better understand what was happening with her daughter’s behavior and education.
“Coming to school helped me not only understand the teachers,” Romero explained, “but to become a better mother as well.”
For Zoraida, ECEU was the right choice because it was in her community, just a few blocks away from where she grew up.
“You know, reading into what Esperanza was offering for us as the neighborhood…I felt like it was everything I needed at that time,” she explained.
Zoraida felt that choosing ECEU meant choosing a school she knew would invest back in her community. During her time as a student, she decided she wanted to be able to give back to her community after she graduated, and told the director of education that one day she would be back to work with them.
As Zoraida looks back on her time at ECEU, she sees the way it helped her grow as a mom and community member, but believes that the biggest growth she saw was spiritually.
“I had always been the type to be in and out of church,” she explained, “but things became more in depth when you start to read into the Bible and apply it to your daily life.”
After finishing her associate’s degree, she received her bachelor’s from Eastern University and then returned to Esperanza to work as an education specialist. Now, in order to continue to advance in her career, she’ll soon be starting her master’s degree with Eastern.
When Zoraida decided it was time to write the next chapter of her story, she knew ECEU was where she wanted to be. Are you looking to start the next chapter of your story? Join ECEU, let’s turn the page together.
