Rosalba Zesati
My name is Rosalba Zesati and I am 33-years-old. I am a single working mother of a four-year-old little boy. It was never my dream or goal to be a single mother but unfortunate circumstances have put me in this situation which makes it so much harder to get ahead in life.
My son is the best thing that has ever happened to me but being a single mother means that I have to work double hard to set a good example and also to provide for my son. Education has always been important to me and now even more so because of this little piece of me that I so much adore.
I earned my Associate's Degree in Health Information Management in 2006 and I passed the Certified Coding Associate exam in August 2007. Still, it has been tough and I am not in the position that I would like to be. I work for Children's Hospital Los Angeles and my goal is to advance into a management position but a Bachelor's Degree is required regardless of your value, work ethics or experience.
It took me ten years to finish my Associate's Degree because I could only afford one class per semester and I have always had to work full-time, even when I didn't have my son. I intend to achieve my Bachelor's Degree no matter how long it takes me but my main setback lies in my financial status. Life is so expensive especially when you have kids. If it were up to me I would go to school full-time but I really cannot afford it.
I am currently enrolled in Business Law 1 at East Los Angeles College and my class is from 6:50 pm to 10:00 pm. It is hard because I have to leave my son with my mother while I'm in school and then by the time I pick him up and get him to bed it's about between 10:30 and 11:00 at night. Then I have to wake him at 6:30 in the morning to get him ready for day care and school. It is really hard on him too. I think the online education will not only ease this burden but will allow me to take more classes and achieve my goal quicker.
One of my counselors once said to me, "It doesn't matter where you start, but where you end up!" I know where I want to end up and this scholarship will help me get there sooner than later. No matter what, I'll get there.