After a journey spanning countries, decades and countless triumphs, 海军老兵、厄瓜多尔移民Yahizkibel“Yahiz”Vallenilla即将迎来一个具有里程碑意义的时刻:从最靠谱的网赌软件(Old Dominion University)获得口腔卫生学士学位, just a week after she turns 43.
“In about a month, I will be graduating. 我很兴奋. I'm really excited about it!”她说。.
But Vallenilla’s achievements have not come without sacrifice, and as she prepares to don her cap and gown in just a few weeks, she remembers the ups and downs that brought her here.
Born in Ecuador and raised between Ecuador and Venezuela, 她回忆起从6岁到9岁在家庭成员之间旅行，在6年的时间里上了7所学校.
“My parents separated when I was two years old,”她说。. “所以，我妈妈决定把我留给她姐姐，自己去委内瑞拉工作.”
When Vallenilla was 15, 她的母亲回到厄瓜多尔，希望能全职与女儿团聚, only to discover her entire savings was gone.
“The government is not too honest over there,” Vallenilla said. “So, they stole all the money from the banks. 我妈妈为将来工作攒的钱都没了.”
“Many people migrated to find work because they had nothing left,”她说。 — her mother was one of them. “尽管我妈妈是她兄弟姐妹中最小的，但她努力为每个人提供帮助. She worked really hard.”
Despite the circumstances, Vallenilla had big dreams of entering the dental field and at 19, she enrolled at Facultad Piloto de Odontología, a dental school in Ecuador. 毕业后, she used her skills to help those in need, 与一群同学一起为该地区的农村城镇提供免费牙科护理.
“My intention was never to make money,”她说。. “Maybe because I’ve had so many ups and down in life, I thought that I could provide for others with my talents.”
Vallenilla继续追求她帮助人们的热情，获得了2023年的Sharon C. Stull口腔健康社区影响奖学金，以表彰她在汉普顿路提高口腔健康素养方面的领导和志愿者倡议.
尽管雅希兹在口腔卫生课程中表现出色, 没有什么能比得上她为社区服务的心,” said Brenda Bradshaw, assistant professor in the College of 健康 Sciences. “她以创新的成就和为当地西班牙裔社区服务而闻名.”
As the recipient of this scholarship, Vallenilla worked with her mentor, Professor Adaira Howell, 组织拉丁牙科服务日，为西班牙裔社区服务不足的个人提供牙科护理和口译服务. Vallenilla还自愿帮助她的同学将文件从英语翻译成西班牙语.
但英语，尤其是翻译，对瓦莱尼拉来说并不总是那么容易. She remembers being newly married, pregnant with her first child and moving to Ossining, New York where she struggled to adjust to her new surroundings.
“In the beginning it was really hard,”她说。. “I didn’t have any family here. If you think my English is bad now, imagine 18 years ago!”
决心为她的家人创造更好的生活，继续她的教育, 瓦莱尼拉开始周末在威彻斯特社区学院上英语课，最后在第九区牙科协会报名上夜校.
她工作，攒钱，最后加入了海军——这是她的另一个目标.
“当我回到厄瓜多尔的时候，我的想法是成为那里海军的一员，”她说. “I was doing the paperwork, but I married and moved here. So, I said to myself, let me check it out again.”
Vallenilla joined the U.S. Navy and completed bootcamp in Great Lakes, Illinois. 她回忆说，她30岁时是班上年龄最大的，最小的只有17岁.
“But it was fun for me,” Vallenilla laughed. “我们组的负责人对我们大喊大叫，让我们锻炼, 但最棒的是，他们说的话我什么都听不懂.”
当她在五大湖时，她学习电子技术员, and when she was transferred to Biloxi, 密西西比州, she went to school for weather radars. 2013年7月，瓦莱尼拉接到调往弗吉尼亚的命令. Upon arrival, she was immediately deployed on the CVN 75 Harry S. Truman until April 2014.
“当我在船上的时候，我们只有在午夜之后才能上网. So, 在那段时间里，我一直在寻找学校和住房，以便把我的女儿带到弗吉尼亚,”她说。. “我很幸运. I got a townhouse in the area and I found ODU.”
她于2017年申请了ODU的口腔卫生课程，但由于生活环境无法入学. 她再婚了, 生了两个孩子后，她决定专注于她的新家庭——她不后悔这个选择吗.
But in 2022, it was her time.
“Now is the time for me to go back to school,”她说。. “I liked ODU as an institution. It was close to my house and they had a dental hygiene program, which is my background and what I love to do. It was perfect for me.”
Vallenilla将她即将获得的学位和学业上的成功归功于她的教授, calling them “angels.”
“布兰达·布拉德肖教授和杰西卡·苏德贝克教授都很棒，”她说. “知道周围的人支持我，欣赏我，帮助我度过了难关. I would not be graduating without them.”
瓦莱尼拉谦卑地接受了教授们的支持, her professors were eager to be the ones she could rely on.
“Yahiz在口腔卫生项目中绝对是一颗闪亮的明星，作为她的高级诊所协调员，我很高兴和她一起工作,” said Jessica Suedbeck, assistant professor in the School of Dental Hygiene. “She has always excelled and pushed hard to be successful, 所以在2023年秋天，当我听到她可能因为个人问题离开这个项目的消息时, 我崩溃了. 我立即和雅希兹安排了一次会议，讨论我们能给她什么样的支持，我想让她知道，所有教员都在她身边为她加油. 我很感激她坚持不懈，从未放弃——她将成为一名真正杰出的牙科保健师! I will never forget Yahiz.”
In a full-circle moment, Vallenilla的大女儿一直陪伴着她，她将在ODU继承她母亲的遗产. She is 18 years old and a biomedical major.
瓦莱尼拉期待着毕业后能休息一段时间，希望能和孩子们一起度过两周的假期.
“I think I owe them that,”她说。.
在那之后, 她计划在切萨皮克护理诊所做一名牙科保健师和志愿者, doing what she loves and does best.
Vallenilla’s story is far from over, but when she does hang up her dental coat, 她希望将自己对知识的渴望和坚韧传递给孩子们.
“I think that education is better than inheritance,”她说。. “If you cannot leave your children a house or lots of money, 没关系, 只要你教育他们，给他们追求梦想的机会. I think that's the best.”