Susan Molina is finally practicing what she preaches. Thanks to encouragement from GSSW's Bridge Project, she's back in school earning her college degree.
The single mother of two young teenagers has long shared the importance of education
with her kids and has advocated for educational reform as the chair of the Metro Organizations
for People, a group committed to community organizing.
Only recently did she decide to take her own advice and enroll in DU's Women's College.
Molina says that that tone of her household has changed now that she is in college.
"We study together now," says Molina. "My kids are proud of me, and they are now both
talking about going to college when they graduate."
Inspired by the Bridge Project
An unexpected path led Molina to the Women's College. Four years ago, she took a job
as an apartment manager in Washington Park and moved her family from northeast Denver.
She began taking her children to GSSW's Bridge Project for tutoring and to make friends.
At the encouragement of Bridge Project staffers, Molina attended a Women's College
open house. "One woman at the open house was talking about excuses--that she had thought
she was too old for college and that her brain didn't work anymore," says Molina.
"It was like she was talking directly to me. I decided I had to stop making excuses
and do this." Molina applied and was the recipient of a dean's scholarship and a Bridge
Project scholarship.
Molina is majoring in law and society. "I've discovered that you can work really hard
at a local level to bring about change, but that can all be unraveled at the state
level," Molina says. "I want to understand who the players are and how the game is
played."
A community leader
In February, 2007, Molina and her daughter Bernadette traveled to Washington, D.C.,
to testify before Congress about the reauthorization of the State Children's Health
Insurance Program.
"I learned that there is a huge disconnect between real people and the people on the
Hill who are making cuts to programs that real people need," Molina says.
"Susan is a real leader in the Denver community and her dreams of improving education
and health care for all children are being nurtured by the extraordinary learning
environment and personal relationships at the Women's College," says Debbie Main,
volunteer manager for the Bridge Project. "I can't wait to see how Susan's college
education will transform the lives of others."
Molina hopes the knowledge she gains will help her run for office in the future. "With
what I'm learning at the Women's College, I feel like I can make a big difference.
"I feel like I can dream big now."
