Latino success stories in higher education: A qualitative study of recent graduates from a health science center. Page: 111

                                
Because of the closeness of her family, the Nurse was able to obtain support from her
family members when she needed it. She described her immediate family when she was a child
as close. All of her siblings, her parents, and her grandmother followed her to the US after she
arrived. The Nurse's family today remains close as well, working together in her business and
seeing her as a role model. The Nurse supported all of her children financially as they went to
college, but eventually withdrew her support when they began dropping classes and losing
interest. Eventually, all of her children received their undergraduate degrees, supporting
themselves as they completed their education. Now, all of them have completed their master's
degrees, and one has even expressed interest in completing a doctorate. "I influenced them,
because I didn't even have to tell them. They just went on their own, getting higher educated."
So while the Nurse's determination to succeed has played a dominate role in her life, the
influence of her family and the help that they have provided in her 35-year higher education
career has allowed her to get what she always wanted, higher education and a family.

111