Triumphing Over Obstacles

On May 31 all of QC’s graduating students had cause to rejoice. But Jennifer Cruz, who turned 22 that day, had additional reasons to celebrate. Living on her own, she juggled two part-time jobs to put herself through school.

Raised in the Bronx, where she attended Preston High School—a private institution in Throgs Neck—Cruz had hoped to continue her education at Manhattanville College. She chose Manhattanville both for its academic offerings and its residential campus. “I wanted to study at a school where I could stay in a dorm,” she said, citing a difficult family situation. Her plans changed a week before she was to matriculate: Her father, a firefighter, had earned so much overtime working at Ground Zero that she became ineligible for financial aid.

Cruz enrolled instead at Lehman College. Two months into her first semester she began living with her best friend’s family. In the spring she was on the verge of moving into a homeless shelter when her aunt offered her a temporary place to sleep: the couch in her one-bedroom Bronx apartment.

Transferring to QC after Manhattanville rejected her once again for financial aid—“Maybe I wasn’t meant to go there,” she mused—Cruz was thrilled to land a work-study slot at the college’s Child Development Center. But by junior year she had worn out her welcome at her aunt’s flat. “I showed up to class not knowing if I had a place to sleep at night or even if I had enough money to buy lunch,” she recalled.

Previously employed part-time as a cashier, Cruz dropped that job for a better position with a financial services firm. She also rearranged her class schedule to take a part-time job that opened up at the Child Development Center. With two incomes, she scraped together enough money to lease her own apartment in September 2005. “Ever since then I have been living month to month, making sure that I had enough money for rent, while also trying to keep my GPA above a 3.0 to keep my Vallone Scholarship,” the senior reported.

A psychology major, Cruz will continue working at the Child Development Center after her graduation. Long-term, she plans to study for a master’s degree and open a school for children victimized by domestic abuse or alcoholism. “Everything happens for a reason,” she said. “I know that all my challenges will help me work with children in the future.”