Thalia Diaz will be awarded five technical college certificates along with her high school diploma when she graduates from Emily Griffith High School on June 9. Diaz has been attending high school and college courses simultaneously for more than a year at Emily Griffith Opportunity School working towards her ultimate dream of obtaining a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Denver.
But Thalia didn’t always have such lofty goals.
Like many young people, family circumstances and poor decisions derailed her academic career. A good student in grade school, Thalia started slipping as a sophomore after her family’s house burned to the ground and strained family relationships became nearly unbearable. Her father’s angry words and insults rang in her ears as Thalia sat in class or more often while she was skipping class. Finally, after failing year after year, she just gave up and dropped out of school.
“I was depressed, I really didn’t care about anything, and I wasn’t interested in doing anything,” Thalia remembers. “I felt responsible for my parents’ separation.”
Thalia eventually found her way to Emily Griffith High School, a drop out retrieval program housed inside Emily Griffith Opportunity School. She had recently gained distance from a controlling father, and wanted even more freedom. Unwilling to follow her mother’s rules, she moved out on her own. The decision to move out brought more bills than the freedom she sought. Suddenly paying for rent, utilities, gas, food and more seemed insurmountable. Thalia says she realized that she did not want to keep bussing tables to try to pay her bills for the rest of her life.
“I had failed so many times before that I didn’t think I could succeed,” Thalia says. “But that wasn’t the person I knew I was. I knew I could do better and I decided to do something about it.”
With a glimmer of hope, Thalia approached counselor Denise Madrigal about taking the technical college courses offered at Emily Griffith. Madrigal cleverly gave her student a challenge: improve your attendance and you can take one college course.
Now with a goal in mind, Thalia started attending class everyday, and Madrigal made good on her promise. One college course turned into five complete college certificates. At graduation day, Thalia will have completed five programs including, Administrative Clerk, Administrative Assistant, Legal Secretary, Medical Clerical and Professional Office Skills.
“Denise encouraged me to think about college,” Thalia says. “I thought only white people went to college, but Denise made me start thinking I could go to college too.”
Thalia is well on her way towards her goal. With the two scholarships she earned, she plans to obtain her associate’s degree and continue at Metropolitan State College for her bachelor’s degree. She says few Latinas have their PhD, and she is going to be one of them. She has already won awards for her leadership and determination. She won the Project PAVE award, the Metro Youth Commissioners Award – given to teens who have overcome obstacles, and the Hispanic Annual Salute Award for volunteer work.
“When I went to receive my award at the Hispanic Salute ceremony, I thought, ‘wow, I’m really worth something,” she remembers. “It was the first time in a long time I felt like I was a success.”
