By An emotional Sylvia Soriano broke down in tears during the panel discussion at the sixth annual community celebration of the Long Beach College Promise held in the Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater on Monday.
Soriano, a North Long Beach resident who emigrated from El Salvador with her husband, is the mother of three sons, all of whom graduated from the Long Beach Unified School District and are the first in their family to attend college.
“We, as parents, we have to be there to encourage them and give them a lot of love,” Soriano said. “I wish I could help [my son] a lot but I just keep telling him you can do this.”
Among the attendees were Cal State Long Beach Interim President Donald Para, Long Beach City College President Eloy Oakley, and U.S. Rep Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach.
Oakley spoke about the importance of the Long Beach College Promise program and presented the first ever College Promise award to Lowenthal, who authored and pushed the student success act.
“It is great to hear from all our elected officials that our education system matters and our efforts have not gone unnoticed,” Oakley said. “Today we present an award to someone who has championed the college promise, Congressman [Alan] Lowenthal.”
The program, which has benefited more than 5,600 scholarship recipients since its inception in 2008, offers tuition relief for LBUSD students by providing a free semester of tuition at LBCC. The Long Beach College Promise also guarantees admission to students in the LBUSD, according to longbeachcollegepromise.org.
At the event, Lowenthal spoke about elevating the status of education.
“Our emphasis is to make our school systems work,” Lowenthal said. “Everyone realizes now we should have done it years ago and this is now the model for California.”
The community celebration also featured “voices of the promise,” which were profiles of students and parents who are products of the LBCP, moderated by Lowenthal.
Dahlia Segarra, a fifth grader at Burbank Elementary School who will attend Rogers Middle School in the fall, spoke about her dream of being a college graduate.
“I hope to follow in my parents footsteps,” Segarra said. “In a few years, I will be preparing for my career too, I do have the drive to one day be a college graduate.”
CSULB senior and business economics major Christopher Padilla-Flores offered a humorous perspective that received laughs from the audience when asked about any advice for young children in school.
“My English professor in high school told me that 90 percent of college is just showing up,” Padilla-Flores said. “I haven’t missed any classes, I’ve always done my assignments, it has gotten me this far, and it works.”
Chris Soriano, Sylvia Soriano’s son and a LBCC student, also offered his perspective.
“Never give up and be persistent in your work,” Chris Soriano said. “People in your community support you and want to see you succeed. Know that there is always a helping hand.”
Twenty-five students in middle school also received scholarships at the event, each in the amount of $120, to be awarded upon their graduation of high school. Students who were selected for the award had showed signs of growth from middle school.
Cleavon Jackson, the father of scholarship recipient Cleavona Jackson, spoke about his daughter’s award and what LBCP means to him.
“I feel elated, this is an opportunity for my daughter to be able to further her dreams and career,” Jackson said.
Chris was a good friend of mine. We ran track together when we were in middle school. I am happy to hear that he is accomplishing so much and is able to pursue his dreams. Congratulations, buddy.