Texas Border Business
By Joey Gomez
McALLEN, TEXAS – Tasha Bellevue said she made it a priority to travel from Florida to Texas to attend South Texas College’s Commencement Ceremony and celebrate the milestone with students from the Rio Grande Valley in person.
At great personal expense, Bellevue, 38, said she saved more than $4,000 so she and her children could travel, the roughly 1,300 miles from Orlando, Fla. to Edinburg, to attend graduation at Bert Odgen Arena on May 10.
Completing her associate degree in Social Work through the college’s online campus after a nearly three-year journey, Bellevue said STC has given her the motivation to succeed and offer a better life for her and her children.
“It was important for me to be there for my graduation because I’ve been through so much raising my children while completing my degree, but I definitely feel like STC has helped me find my purpose, which I believe now is to help others,” Bellevue said while holding back tears. “I want my children to see me step on that stage to receive that degree. This is me setting that example for them and showing them that education is so important, just like being proactive in society.”
As a Haitian American, Bellevue said her parents emigrated from Haiti and settled in Brooklyn, New York before moving to Miami and finally Fort Lauderdale, where she grew up.
Years later and now a single mother of four, Bellevue said she was looking for a new path so she could offer better opportunities to her children. Researching schools from across the United States, Bellevue said she soon discovered STC and found it would be the right fit for her degree choice in Social Work.
She began taking classes through the college’s online program in August 2022.
“It took me a while to find my purpose, but now I’m so motivated and driven to make sure that I set a good example for my children while also being of service to others,” Bellevue said. “I also want to show them that no matter what obstacle or how challenging things may be, you can succeed. I have four children and my oldest is 15 years old and I’ve told her it’s never too late to go back to school. I want to make sure that right out of high school she chooses something that she is passionate about when she pursues her education.”
Bellevue was among the 3,700 students who received their certificates or degrees at STC’s Commencement Ceremonies May 10 at the Bert Odgen Arena in Edinburg.
After graduation, she plans to pursue a bachelor’s and finally a master’s degree in social work to enter a career working with children in a behavioral setting.
“I think my experience with taking online courses at STC has been such a beneficial experience as I have had to balance my family and a full-time job. I couldn’t have done it otherwise,” Bellevue said. “I never really paid attention to how long it would take me to finish, I just set my goals every day and stayed motivated. That’s how you succeed.”
For more information on STC’s Social Work program visit www.southtexascollege.edu/academics/social-work/.
