āBy Rod Jones<\/em><\/p>\r\n
There it is againāthat 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. Itās still dark outsideāand will likely be dark on the return walk homeābut 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. Lukeās United Methodist Church in Ļć½¶Šć has been a prominent supporter for several years, and this is why: āāLa Lydiaāāāas it is commonly known to friendsāāhas been dedicated to building bridges between two countries, two cities, and two cultures.ā \r\n<\/p>\r\n
An astounding 95 percent of Lydia Pattersonās 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 donāt, having a degree and experience from La Lydia can have a profound, positive impact on graduatesā lives, said institute President Dr. Socorro de Anda. <\/p>\r\n
āI canāt begin to tell you how seriously they take their education,ā de Anda said. āNot everyone gets the opportunity to receive a private education for free, and they all realize that.ā<\/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 countryāespecially in the Southwestāto 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 ā12), pastor of St. Lukeās 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
āItās gratifying to help these students reach their dreams,ā Attaway said. āWe help open doors that otherwise wouldnāt be open.ā\r\n<\/p>\r\n
Luisa Torres, an Ļć½¶Šć sophomore who plans to enter the nursing program this fall, is one of this yearās 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
āThey donāt even print their names with their photos because they donāt want the gangs to know who they are,ā 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 Ļć½¶Šćās nicknameāOver-Committed Universityāsince high school.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
āI 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,ā 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
āIt made the school like a family. Everyone is responsible for taking care of it,ā 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 Ļć½¶Šć.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
āOne day during my senior year, the president called me to the office,ā she said. āI was so scared, but I couldnāt think of anything I did wrong. What a relief when the president said I had been accepted.ā\r\n<\/p>\r\n
Torres had spent the summer before that year in an internship at St. Lukeās, during which she was able to explore the city and campus.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
āEvery time I wake up, Iām thinking how grateful I am to be here.ā\r\n<\/p>\r\n
Emiliano Tarin, also an Ļć½¶Šć sophomore nursing hopeful from Lydia Patterson, remembers his first time on campus.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
āThe first moment I saw this place, I fell in love,ā Tarin said. āJust seeing these old historic buildings and landscape, it felt like the place I wanted to be.ā\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 citizenāmade easier with the support and encouragement of family, friends, and school staffs on both sides of the border.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
āThe hardest challenge and test for us now is to have the strength to be so far away from home,ā 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 Ļć½¶Šć, St. Lukeās 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>"]
