West Valley graduate earns UC scholarship
West Valley College graduate Lia Cracraft was awarded a $20,000 scholarship to UC-Santa Cruz, where she plans to study anthropology this fall. She was one of 13 scholarship recipients selected from community colleges in the UCSC area.
When Cracraft first enrolled at West Valley a few years ago, she was working 14 hours a day at three minimum-wage jobs to support her two children.
"I had to receive housing assistance because I couldn't afford the rent," Cracraft said. "West Valley's re-entry program ... made it easy for me to juggle school, work and family."
In applying for the UCSC scholarship, Cracraft had to write four essays and was interviewed by Chancellor Karl Pister and a panel of community leaders and financial-aid staff. During the interview, the panel asked her how she handled schoolwork, a part-time job and raising two children.
"I told them I just got used to working hard and being busy every minute of the day," Cracraft recalled. "School was actually a break from work. My children and I did our homework together, and sometimes it was even in the same subject."
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, September 18, 1996.
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