About the Author
Jose Espericueta Pacheco is a Northern Arizona University (NAU) student pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Technology. His higher education journey began in 2011 while he was a junior in high school. He attended community college classes in the summer and planned to have a year of college completed before high school graduation. Unfortunately, this path inevitably halted after laws were passed against education assistance for Dreamers. Yes, Jose was a Dreamer, an undocumented student brought into the United States as a child.
After graduating from Apollo High School in the top 2% of his class with a handful of full-ride scholarships, his classmates believed he would attend any University he desired. Unfortunately, this belief was far from the truth. Full-ride scholarships only cover in-state tuition. As a Dreamer, Jose only qualified for out-of-state tuition, which was over three times the price of in-state tuition. Without the funds to pay the high price of a university, Jose decided to begin taking classes at Glendale Community College.
With the need to fund his higher education, Jose started working as a manager for a manufacturing company. On the last day of high school, with his cap and gown in his backpack, Jose took the city bus to work. This job allowed Jose to work full-time during the day and attend community college full-time in the evening. Unfortunately, over a year passed, and Dreamer politics remained unchanged, giving Jose little hope of obtaining his bachelor’s degree. Exploring his options, Jose entered various educational paths in search of fulfillment through alternatives.
In 2016 Jose met a beautiful young lady whom he married in 2019. The marriage granted Jose permanent residency and new opportunities. By this time, Jose had gained many years of management, interpretation, and technical assistance experience through his jobs. However, his wife pushed him to reassess his educational desires and encouraged him to continue his higher education goal. Shortly after, Jose obtained his associate degree and began taking prerequisite courses for his bachelor's degree. All the while, Jose and his wife already had one son, a second was on the way, and both worked full-time.
Fast forward to 2022, and the hard-working power couple continued relentless teamwork as Jose began his NAU bachelor’s degree program. Shortly after starting the program, the family of four encountered a wonderful surprise! The fifth (and last) addition to the team was underway. She was preparing to make an appearance in February of 2023, as fate has it, the same month of the couple’s anniversary and their two son’s births. So, in addition to the eventful month, Jose’s last month to complete his bachelor’s degree is… you guessed it… February 2023. So how does this story end?
