鈥擝y Rod Jones<\/em><\/p>\r\n
There it is again鈥攖hat persistent 4 a.m. alarm blaring from the clock. Time to get up. Snooze is not an option. You have 30 minutes to get up, get ready, and get to the border checkpoint. <\/span>\r\n<\/p>\r\n
Welcome to Monday. And Tuesday. And every other weekday for the rest of the school year. It鈥檚 still dark outside鈥攁nd will likely be dark on the return walk home鈥攂ut the promise of a bright future is just around the corner. This is the kind of dedication that sends many a student on the path of success at the Lydia Patterson Institute.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
The private United Methodist school blocks away from the U.S.-Mexico border has been educating students from both countries for more than a century. Some students come from its home city of El Paso, Texas. Others from neighboring Juarez, Mexico.<\/p>\r\n
St. Luke鈥檚 United Methodist Church in 野狼社区 has been a prominent supporter for several years, and this is why: 鈥溾�楲a Lydia鈥欌�濃�攁s it is commonly known to friends鈥斺�渉as been dedicated to building bridges between two countries, two cities, and two cultures.鈥� \r\n<\/p>\r\n
An astounding 95 percent of Lydia Patterson鈥檚 graduating seniors go on to attend a college or university. That figure is far higher than the national average. According to the latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, less than 70 percent of high school graduates in the country as a whole go on to college.\r\n<\/p>","
Even for those who don鈥檛, having a degree and experience from La Lydia can have a profound, positive impact on graduates鈥� lives, said institute President Dr. Socorro de Anda. <\/p>\r\n
鈥淚 can鈥檛 begin to tell you how seriously they take their education,鈥� de Anda said. 鈥淣ot everyone gets the opportunity to receive a private education for free, and they all realize that.鈥�<\/p>\r\n
She said many Lydia Patterson students go to college in hopes of gaining skills to bring back home to help improve their community. Common career choices include medicine, education, and church ministry.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
With such a high rate of college-bound hopefuls in a school that enrolls around 300 students, Lydia Patterson uses staff counselors and a network of United Methodist volunteers across the country鈥攅specially in the Southwest鈥攖o help students find and apply for higher education.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
One of those champions is the Rev. Josh Attaway (BM Music\/Business 鈥�12), pastor of St. Luke鈥檚 Edmond United Methodist Church. Attaway helps Lydia Patterson high school students find internships and places to stay, and also helps the graduates connect with the scholarships to continue their education. The church offers four scholarships each academic year.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
Attaway learned about Lydia Patterson while growing up in the United Methodist Church. Since becoming a pastor, he has hosted several interns who have come up during the summer as part of a high school-lay servant extracurricular program. He has been to El Paso a few times to witness what life is like for students there, including walking with students from the border to the school and sitting with them in class.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
鈥淚t鈥檚 gratifying to help these students reach their dreams,鈥� Attaway said. 鈥淲e help open doors that otherwise wouldn鈥檛 be open.鈥漒r\n<\/p>\r\n
Luisa Torres, an OCU sophomore who plans to enter the nursing program this fall, is one of this year鈥檚 Lydia Patterson scholars. Her major of choice was inspired by her mother, a nurse in Juarez.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
Torres describes her childhood as normal, but in a dangerous city with cartel violence often spilling into the city streets. Her father and brother are journalistic photographers. \r\n<\/p>\r\n
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 even print their names with their photos because they don鈥檛 want the gangs to know who they are,鈥� she said.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
She says her hometown is safer than it used to be, but the cartels have left many areas of poverty in their wake. She plans to return to Mexico to do mission work after she gets her nursing degree.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
Torres has embodied OCU鈥檚 nickname鈥擮ver-Committed University鈥攕ince high school.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
鈥淚 was very involved in school. I helped organize chapel service and played in the mariachi band. I was there every day from 7 a.m. to 6 at night,鈥� she said.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
All scholarship students at Lydia Patterson are required to make some kind of labor contribution to help the school. With duties like sweeping, mopping, and serving in the cafeteria, Torres said the requirement helped keep the school clean and well maintained.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
鈥淚t made the school like a family. Everyone is responsible for taking care of it,鈥� she said.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
Adding those extra few hours at the border crossing had Torres up early every day and late getting home, but she says it was all worth it. Especially on the day she learned she was accepted to OCU.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
鈥淥ne day during my senior year, the president called me to the office,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was so scared, but I couldn鈥檛 think of anything I did wrong. What a relief when the president said I had been accepted.鈥漒r\n<\/p>\r\n
Torres had spent the summer before that year in an internship at St. Luke鈥檚, during which she was able to explore the city and campus.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
鈥淓very time I wake up, I鈥檓 thinking how grateful I am to be here.鈥漒r\n<\/p>\r\n
Emiliano Tarin, also an OCU sophomore nursing hopeful from Lydia Patterson, remembers his first time on campus.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
鈥淭he first moment I saw this place, I fell in love,鈥� Tarin said. 鈥淛ust seeing these old historic buildings and landscape, it felt like the place I wanted to be.鈥漒r\n<\/p>\r\n
Tarin described the extra steps and paperwork it took to enroll in both high school and college in the U.S. as a Mexican citizen鈥攎ade easier with the support and encouragement of family, friends, and school staffs on both sides of the border.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
鈥淭he hardest challenge and test for us now is to have the strength to be so far away from home,鈥� he said.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
Both students have found activities to help them get over any lingering homesickness.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
A musician herself, Torres volunteers at El Sistema Oklahoma, a music school for underserved children with partnership support from OCU, St. Luke鈥檚 United Methodist Church, and Delaware Resource Group. Several of the children need help with English, which allows Torres to utilize her skills and personal experience.\r\n<\/p>"]
