Realizing Dreams of Better Life

When Natalia Moskvitina immigrated to the United States from Latvia nine years ago, the 19-year-old arrived with a few belongings and dreams of a better life. Her goals did not include continuing her education.

But nearly a decade later, the mother of two, now 28, has completed a rigorous, full-time course of study at Glendale Community College in less than two years.

The college recently honored Moskvitina with the Academic Senate’s annual Homemaker Scholarship, given to students who achieve high scholastic averages while caring for children at home.

“Natalia is very motivated, very bright,” said Steve Marsden, Moskvitina’s business calculus professor. “She was a joy to have in class.”

Moskvitina said achieving her near-perfect scholastic average was a challenge. She took all of her classes--four subjects a semester--in the morning while her children, 7 and 5, were in child care. She squeezed her studying in when she could.

“It was so difficult; I had to study hard after the kids went to bed,” she said recently. “But it was good for them. I wanted to show them that education can change their lives for the better.” Graduating with a 3.94 grade-point average, the business student said she will use the $1,000 award to pursue an accounting major this year at a four-year university.

“I studied hard because I wanted a better life for myself and my children,” Moskvitina said. “The program gave me a sense of self-worth.”

PROGRAM NOTES

Local Leaders: Two El Camino Real High School students returned recently from Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base near San Diego, where they attended the J.H. Pendleton Youth Leadership Conference. Matthew Conrad and Steven Aune, both 16, spent five days attending workshops and seminars sponsored by the Military Order of the World Wars.

The Woodland Hills students, who will be juniors this fall, and 100 other California teenagers spent five days engaged in nonstop activities that began at 5:30 a.m. and ended at 11 each night. Two Medal of Honor recipients and a World War II French resistance fighter were among the inspirational speakers who addressed the students.

KUDOS

Honored Scholar: Burbank resident Janet Hanna recently received a $1,500 President’s Council Scholarship, one of Cal Poly Pomona’s highest merit achievements. In addition to earning high academic marks, the engineering student, 21, works as an industrial engineering assistant at Edison International. The four-time dean’s list scholar also volunteers with the Special Olympics. Her plans include a master’s degree in business administration.

APPOINTMENT

Gordon Fast, vice president of operations at Avtel Services Inc., has been named director of Antelope Valley College’s Aerospace Training Center. Founded in 1997, the center is a cooperative venture between the school and local corporations. The center trains community college students for aerospace-industry careers. . . . Tomoko Takahashi, dean of the graduate school at Soka University of America in Calabasas, will oversee the reorganization of Soka’s Intensive English Program for visiting Japanese students.