Of all places, there’s a Subway restaurant inside a Shell gas station on the corner of Piuma Avenue and Alondra Boulevard in the city of Norwalk.
The gas station is down the street from Cerritos College, where Alma Gallardo works as a receptionist for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs — or GEAR UP.
Although this is the last semester at Cal State Long Beach for the liberal arts and Chicano-Latino studies double major, Gallardo is forced to take any extra hours at work that come her way.
The Shell station is only a block from the junior college, but the walk is a very long one, especially when you’re conducting a quick interview so your subject is not late for work.
After Gallardo pays for her foot-long sandwich and we head out the door, she tells me that half of the sandwich will be her lunch and the other half will be dinner.
Until recently, Gallardo was receiving financial aid. But, due to a very personal family matter that she asked not to reveal, Gallardo couldn’t complete her classes for the spring 2009 semester.
Because she couldn’t complete the semester, the financial aid was gone. She was disqualified to receive assistance and was forced to set up an installment plan to pay for her fall classes.
“I realized that I had to take extra hours at work,” Gallardo said. “And because I work at an educational institution that had a hiring freeze due to budget cuts, Cerritos was trying to use me as much as possible. “
It’s not as though Gallardo has the luxury of telling her boss she can’t work the extra hours. She has, after all, an installment payment to meet — on top of her regular bills at home.
If there is one thing Gallardo enjoys about her job, it’s the opportunity she gets to interact with possible transfer students. Because Gallardo herself transferred from Cerritos College to CSULB, these students see her as a very important resource.
Despite whatever feeling one gets from trying to make a difference in somebody else’s life, Gallardo feels she’s concentrating too much on work rather than putting all of her energies into her own education.
“There are days in class that I can’t get my thoughts organized,” Gallardo said. “I try to pay attention, but because I didn’t have enough sleep the night before from working too much, I’m just, like, in and out.”
If you’re been directly affected by fee increases and budget cuts, and want your story to be heard, please e-mail Julio Salgado at [email protected]
-Julio Salgado