Professional Women Cite Strategies for Success

By Michael Bromka

As part of Women’s History Month, a panel of professionals publicly talked about sundry rungs up the ladder in schooling and the working world. Samantha Villa, SENMC Library Director, introduced its moderator, Dr. Karima Mourhat.

Dr. Mourhat, a professor of Criminal Justice, posed incisive questions germane to professional working women. Which issues are vital? What person or experience sparked your motivation? In school or work, what were valuable lessons? What barriers were daunting in your education and advancement? How can we encourage women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)?

Mourhat, as a young student, owed most to her mother. She also cites a professor who encouraged her as a young adult to venture from Morocco to attend university in the USA.

Yolanda Jimenez works as an engineer and compliance inspector for the BLM. She encourages safety in our local oil and gas industries.

Growing up in Jackson, MS, she acknowledges the “rugged history” of the Deep South. Yet, she benefited from a local HBCU providing outreach to schools. “Nobody ever told me I couldn’t do math.” On the contrary, they encouraged her burgeoning proficiencies.

A teacher also insisted that students not merely read a poem aloud to the class. “It had to be acted out dramatically.” Jimenez honed her skills as an actress, which she still uses periodically in solo performances.

“Theatrics help you build eloquence in life and industry. Beyond knowing a situation or process, you must convey that knowledge in words.”

Not all private sector listeners are eager to accept official word from a woman of color. More than once, Jimenez has heard, “I wanna speak to the engineer.” Sober as a judge, she’ll reply, “Sir, I am the engineer.”

Upon graduating with an engineering degree, she found the industry closed off, unwilling to hire a woman. Her fallback was teaching school. There, she realized the value of speaking Spanish with students and parents. On her own dime, she traveled to Guatemala during the summer to improve her fluency.

First in state and now in federal government, Jimenez notes how important diplomacy is, especially when dealing with someone with an attitude. She listens attentively, responds tactically—yet holds her rightful ground.

Letticia Martinez is Executive Director of the Literacy Coalition of the Permian Basin, which includes Eddy, Chaves, and Lea Counties. Middle-to-high-income homes in this region provide an average of 13 books per child. Low-income homes have only one age-appropriate book per 300 children. A mother’s reading skill hugely influences her children’s progress.

Literacy concerns are also grave for regional adults at all income levels. “One-third of adults here read at a third-grade level. Half our population reads at an eighth-grade level.”

Even once a successful student makes it to university, money can be tight. To finance her college years, Martinez needed every scholarship nickel. “Ramen noodles and Pell grants got me through.

“Always psyche yourself up, not out,” she said. “Compare your newer work just to your past. Take heart in progress. You’re building this new best you.”

Betty Ortega is an Admissions Coordinator Lead for SENMC. She urges students to earn proper academic credentials to qualify for advancement in industry. Experience and higher education both have the power to get you ahead. Lacking a credential can hold you back.

Her supervisor and mentor, JoAnn Moore, inspired her early work life. Ortega emulated her by tutoring GED students and teaching ESL to Spanish speakers eager to improve their English. She notes how fear inhibits students in their early steps. Encouragement should always be offered.

Mothers who seek college education have three particular needs beyond just time to study. Vital are financial assistance, childcare, and scheduling classes in person.

Not everyone can breeze through online classes via computer screen. Tentative students need the face-to-face motivation and immediate response you get best live in the college classroom.

Rocio Espinoza is the HSI Project Director at SENMC’s Grant Services office. Her Mom arrived in the USA with only a sixth-grade education. Nonetheless, she encouraged her daughter, “Be your best!” Espinoza has taught ESL students eager to gain their footing in life.

“Make your subject clear. Inspire young minds. Present each challenge as an opportunity for growth.” Likewise, for adults, “Mentoring is vital to developing leadership. We should promote networking and gender diversity.”

She suggested that, Individually, each young person should look to her proper work/life balance. Rocio meditates in the morning before work.

“Put yourself first to build strength. Seek positive people. Compete only with yourself to improve step by step.”

Dr. Effrosyni Seitaridou studied Physics in her native country of Greece. Nobody told her sciences were difficult, so she thrived. Now, she’s the SENMC Vice President of Academic Affairs.

She owes progress in part to encouragement from her grandmother, who was born in 1920, and then was left in a basket on the doorstep of literate parents.

Encouraged by her adoptive parents, once she married, she became the one person in her new locality who could write letters with precision and eloquence. Adults far beyond her years came for her to dispatch family news or vital business to distant points. In time, even candidates for public office sought her endorsement before launching campaigns.

Perhaps the self-starting chutzpah of Dr. Seitaridou’s grandmother most clearly demonstrates the strength and potential in women of all ages seeking education to better themselves, their families, and their communities. Each should strive to be so strong.