Modesto Junior College grad shows it’s never too late to seek higher education
When Ana Fimbres enrolled in Modesto Junior College, she didn’t expect her education journey to extend past two years. Now, she knows this month’s graduation ceremony won’t be her last.
At 37, Fimbres graduated with an associate’s degree in agricultural business from MJC and will start work on her bachelor’s degree at CSU Stanislaus in the fall.
“I’ll take it as far as I can,” Fimbres said. “Right now, I’m saying bachelor’s, [but] you know, maybe I’ll get my master’s.”
On May 2, Fimbres joined 838 fellow graduates on stage at MJC, marking the 103-year-old college’s largest graduating class ever. She is also the first in her family to graduate from college.
“Anna is an amazing student who works extremely hard and always has a smile on her face! I love her enthusiasm for education, her determination to succeed and most of all her winning personality,” said Lori Marchy, Fimbres’ agriculture instructor at MJC.
In high school, Fimbres enjoyed her English and history classes but never gave much thought to what she wanted to do in the future.
“My goal was just to graduate. We’ll see where life takes me,” Fimbres said.
After graduating, Fimbres worked at Wendy’s for 10 years before getting a job in quality assurance at Foster Farms. She wanted to focus on working to help her mom with the bills instead of going to college.
Her mom, who immigrated from Sonora, Mexico, made many sacrifices for their family, like giving up her career as a hairstylist back home. This motivated Fimbres to aspire for a good job, hoping to provide her mom with a comfortable retirement.
In 2010, Fimbres briefly attended MJC but had to leave because she couldn’t afford tuition fees and didn’t know she could apply for financial aid.
Two years ago, her employers at Foster Farms encouraged her to return to school to grow her prospects within the company.
Working 40 hours a week while enrolled at MJC, she learned to balance work and school — taking morning classes to align with her swing shifts. She commuted to campus each day from her home in Livingston.
“In those hard times, I had to be my own biggest cheerleader. I had to tell myself, ‘It can get done. You will find time. You can make it work,’” she said.
Looking back, one of her biggest accomplishments at MJC was passing the statistics class she took one summer.
As someone who hadn’t taken a math class in 18 years, she was doubtful she could do it. However, as with many other challenging classes, she forced herself to embrace the subject.
“I realized that if I could pass that, I could do anything,” she said.
Since graduation, she’s been catching up on sleep to make up for the past two years before she begins her studies at Stan State, where she’ll continue to study agriculture.
Above all, she’s learned to show herself a lot of grace in her education journey. She encourages anyone who is considering going back to school to do it. It’s a hard journey, but nothing beats the feeling of sitting in one of those seats on graduation day, regardless of your age, she said.
“I’m no spring chicken, but seeking a higher education doesn’t have a time limit. It never expires,” she said.
Ojo: The Latino student enrollment at MJC is 53.4%, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
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