Beating The Odds: Latina Teen Mother Accepted At Ivy Leave University

When the hallowed halls and coveted classrooms of Boston's prestigious MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) opened in September for the current semester -- a very special new freshman student was among those enrolled.

Nora Cadena, a graduate of San Fernando High School, in a suburb of Los Angeles, is that student. How she got to MIT, an Ivy League College, is a story worth telling.

Against all odds -- Nora was determined, and she personifies respiration. The daughter of Mexicans who immigrated to the U.S. when she was a year old, Cadena is an example of what a young person can accomplish with a positive attitude, a refusal to accept obstacles and stereotypes, and an extraordinary determination to accomplish and succeed.

"I promised myself that I would finish high school and get into a top college," Cadena told this reporter. There's the first admonition, which could have been a stumbling block. For first-generation Mexican Americans, whose working-class parents usually have little education and do not know the American system well enough to provide academic advice her ambitious goal could have been sidelined.

Usually in such cases as Cadena's, an encounter with an interested teacher, or advice from a local graduate a few years older can change the course of their lives. "I had the attitude, I'm going to prove all the negative stereotypes wrong," the young Latina professed.

Her high school classroom grades were outstanding, but yet another stumbling block could have sidelined her plans. At age 16, Nora became pregnant. and the young Latina wondered if she was going to turn into another teenage statistic -- a young woman, Latino or not, dropping out of high school to become a single mother.

But she defied the statistics!

Cadena's parents, unemployed at the time, knew from the pats on the back, the congratulatory phone calls and visits from teachers 'that their daughter had done something extraordinary, although they did not understand exactly what. Not only had her parents never heard of MIT, they had never heard of Massachusetts. Now their determined daughter had earned a scholarship to one of the nation's leading schools.

While in high school, Nora worked 25 hours a week at a local discount clothing store, to help pay family food bills. Now 18, with a baby daughter that is 18 months old. it is Nora Cadena who defied all odds -- whose thirst for knowledge. and quest for an Ivy League education -- whose determination and perseverance were unyielding -- who headed for Boston with her baby daughter. She arranged for child care for baby Chassitty while she is attending classes -- and the future for this young Latina indeed looks bright.

The teachers, administration, and friends at San Fernando High who encouraged her to pursue her dream. all feel especially proud. Nora's father seems overwhelmed by all the attention paid to his family, but he says, "I feel bigger than I am, and very happy."

As for stereotypes -- lest we forget. In life everything is possible! There will always be obstacles -- it is how we meet them and rise above them that establishes character. Having expectations, and meeting our expectations regardless of the obstacles. will prove extraordinary! Nora Cadena had the strength of her convictions. worked to see them through, and now is on scholarship at America's prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Congratulations. Nora.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Hispanic Times Enterprises
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