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Written by Nicole Guzman
When 16-year-old Natalie Sandoval moved out of her parents’ house after facing a difficult personal situation, she moved to San Francisco and later Denver on her own motivated to become successful and prove her parents wrong. Today, Sandoval reflects on her days as a young adult and how her experiences sculpted her motivation as a student and healthcare worker.
After Sandoval moved out of her parents’ home at age 16, she moved in with her grandparents, who were immigrants from El Salvador. Sandoval explained how they were not equipped with the knowledge and resources to help her transition from high school to college, which remains a struggle amongst first-generation students.
Sandoval is part of the 51% of female identifying Latinas that have graduated high school. Latinos were much more likely to be first-generation college students than those of other racial or ethnic groups, according to Excelencia in Education. She is also part of the 37% of third-generation immigrant Latino students who attend university given her mother is an immigrant of El Salvador.
Growing up, Sandoval received comments from her mother and stepfather claiming she would never amount to anything in her life and would fall into the stereotypes of her community such as being a teen mom or becoming addicted to drugs in high school. Sandoval applied to colleges as far away as possible, and once she was accepted to Notre Dame de Namur University in San Francisco, she packed up her things and left.
“Since I was not on speaking terms with my mom or my stepdad, they had no idea that I moved to San Francisco until I came back for Thanksgiving Break,” said Sandoval. “I feel that because of those comments that I’ve heard ever since I was 16, they still motivate me today so I can prove that I am not a stereotype and don’t fit into the stereotype.”
When Sandoval began her freshman year of college, she was on academic probation because she didn’t know how to balance school and work and wasn’t educated on logistical information regarding college such as registration and financial aid.
However, she was able to turn her 1.8 GPA to a 3.0 GPA. She was worried she was going to flunk out of school and have to move back home, and she didn’t want to prove her parents right or disappoint her grandparents. Sandoval started doing her research on student loans and merit scholarships and fought for every scholarship she could. Regarding how she prioritized her academics, Sandoval stated, “I made academics number one and hanging out with friends and doing extra stuff outside of class was second.”
Sandoval had gotten an on-campus job at her dining hall, but they were not flexible with her school hours sometimes scheduling her to work at 4:30 a.m. before her 8 a.m. class. Later she got a second job at Claire’s, and soon she realized that she did not need two jobs and decided to quit her job at the dining hall.
Sandoval explained her motivation for picking up more shifts on top of her part time schedule stating, “With the need of a bunch of textbooks, I had a really crappy laptop at the time, so I had to pay to fix it all the time, or I had to pay to rent laptops at school, that was my motivation to pick up more hours.”
Like Sandoval, most Latino students who are enrolled in college worked more than 30 hours a week, and sometimes worked overtime to finance their education, according to Excelencia in Education. Over 75% of Latinos who primarily identify as students noted working as a means to meet and pay for their expenses.
After two years at Notre Dame de Namur University, the institution was on the brink of closing and Sandoval began to look for other private universities where her credits could be transferred. New attempts made by her parents to reconnect had made Sandoval uneasy knowing they were 6 hours away by car, so she decided to move to Denver, Colorado.
Sandoval enrolled in Johnson and Wales University (JWU) Denver and majored in Public Health. After moving to San Francisco by herself, Sandoval explained how the move to Denver was easier and she was able to settle in more smoothly despite having to make this large move without the help of her family. Sandoval explained how she felt expressing, “I feel like once I moved out here, I was able to breathe.”
“I have some sort of comfort being by myself and knowing that I worked by myself to get here…that I didn’t have any help.” Sandoval grinned as she reflected on her experience with her moves.
Sandoval maintained a 3.5 GPA throughout her years at JWU and graduated with a 3.8 GPA in December 2020 with honors despite fears of rising cases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite uncertainties in the pandemic, Sandoval received guidance from her professor who had she has a close connection with and was aware about her situation with her parents.
Sandoval explained to her professor how she was struggling to find a job that matched with what she wanted to do. He later sent her a form for an application to UC Health and the same day she was called for an interview the next day. The next day, she was hired.
Today, Sandoval is working her dream job at UC Health and is attending graduate school at the University of Denver for her master’s degree in public health with a concentration in environmental health and safety.
“Nothing is very easy, and I knew that the moment I moved out of my mom’s house when I was 16, but at the end of the day I know that I have myself,” smiled Sandoval. “I know that if I’m not working for anything, then nothing is going to be handed to me, and I need to work for what I want and for my future.”
