BBCC graduate receives 'Transforming Lives' award
<span style="font-size: 12px;">Maria Hartman, right, was recognized for her work in transforming her life through education with the 2013 Transforming Lives award from Big Bend Community College. Hartman attended an awards dinner with her sister Lupe Hedges, left, who Hartman said was her inspiration to attend college.</span>
MOSES LAKE - Big Bend Community College graduate Maria Hartman was among 35 people recognized for their efforts to improve their lives through education as the college's "Transforming Lives" nominee for 2013.
Hartman, of Moses Lake, and the nominees from the state's 34 other technical and community colleges were recognized Jan. 29 in Olympia. The Transforming Lives award is sponsored by the Trustees Association of Community and Technical Colleges.
Hartman graduated from BBCC in June 2012 with a medical assistant credential. She was hired at Samaritan Healthcare Clinic in Moses Lake in October.
"I learned not to let anyone tell me, 'You can't do it,'" Hartman said. Hartman worked in retail locally for about nine years before losing her job when the business closed. That was when she decided to enroll in college, inspired by the example of her sister Lupe Hedges, who graduated from the college's registered nurse program in 2005.
There was a little bit of culture shock. "I remember seeing all the young students and thinking I was old enough to be their mom. One day my instructor said her best students are usually the oldest, and that was an inspiration to me," she said.
Hartman took a part-time job while she was in school, and became guardian of her granddaughter. The combination of school, work, housework and child care was a lot sometimes, she said, but she got help from her husband and support from the college's Student Support Services program.
It's run through the TRiO Program, which helps low income and first-generation college students. "They helped me with books, computer and tutoring. Most of all they helped me with emotional support," she said.
When she graduated from college, "I walked for the first time in a graduation ceremony, which was emotional for me. It was another turning point in my life."
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