For a system-impacted single mom with two kids and two “baby daddies,” starting school at 32 wasn’t about becoming an inspiration to others but rather a way to survive.
Ana Camino was among the formerly incarcerated student panelists at the Justice Scholars Program’s transfer fair and panel on Oct. 23, sharing her experience of transferring from community college to university as someone who has loved ones who were incarcerated.
“I’m system-impacted because of my children’s father. There’s nobody else that I could relate to on campus. How else am I going to explain to people that I grew up having to fist fight people to get respect on the streets,” Camino said.
Camino began her educational journey at Cypress College, and with the help of the Rising Scholars Program, was able to transfer to UCI, where she is pursuing her master’s in Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
The Rising Scholars Program at Cypress is the equivalent to the Justice Scholars Program at LBCC, and “strives to encourage formerly-incarcerated, system-impacted, and substance abuse recovery students,” according to its website.
At a young age, Camino struggled with a lot of self-doubt, needing to clean houses with her mom as she grew up in South Orange County.
She explains that her imposter syndrome began when she started seeing the disparities within her socioeconomic status at a young age.
“It followed me everywhere, into every job that I took, everywhere I went. I never felt comfortable,” Camino said. “But that first semester I stuck it through. And when I received my first A on my paper, I almost dropped out just because I didn’t want to write it. And I just remember, Rising Scholars kept pushing me like ‘no, that professor is so cool.’ And when I got a 50 out of 50, I was in shock. That was the first time I ever felt a sense of confidence, like I can do this. And I just kept going,” said Camino.
The Justice Scholars Program (JSP) transfer fair had various re-entry organizations attending the event, directing system-impacted students with mental health resources for those who are struggling with addiction and re-entry in general.
Luis Trujillo, who is from the Master’s program at USC, attended the event.
As someone who was also formerly incarcerated, he encourages JSP students not to let their past life define them.
“I’m here because I want to be an example that we can make it, even to schools like USC and Yale,” Trujillo said.
Trujillo also makes it a point to ask, as a bio-physics major, why it is that a lot of JSP students don’t go into science and math.
“We do recognize that there’s a need for the community. We do have a partnership with CSUN called Meta+Lab, which focuses on promoting STEM with our formerly incarcerated students, but we also need to recognize that there is a technology divide, especially for students who have spent time incarcerated. They have to learn the basics of how to use a computer,” said Jose Ibarra, Interim Assistant Director of CalWORKS.
It’s common for students to choose the path of social work, however, Camino explained that it’s the lack of exposure that discourages students from going into STEM.
“I think a lot of that has to do with a lot of us being first-gen students too. My parents are immigrants, so I didn’t learn English till I was six. And I had to translate a lot for my parents. So, I mean, math and anything in STEM is not going to come from my parents. And that’s where we really gained most of our knowledge, in our upbringing,” said Camino.
Despite the hardships formerly incarcerated students all face, whether it’s stigma or unsupportive family and friends, Camino says “we all deserve a second chance.”
Formerly incarcerated transfers from community colleges to universities Devin Rose, left, and Efrain Lopez, right, prepare to share their journey of pursuing higher education after prison at Long Beach City College on Oct. 23. (Heaven Herrera)
“This is my life. This is my journey, and I’m breaking these generational curses for my family,” said Camino.
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