{"id":6999,"date":"2012-05-09T12:27:01","date_gmt":"2012-05-09T18:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=6999"},"modified":"2018-01-12T08:47:15","modified_gmt":"2018-01-12T15:47:15","slug":"staff-member-son-to-graduate-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=6999","title":{"rendered":"Staff member, son to graduate together"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note: This is the\u00a0second feature about a UCCS staff member who is also graduating. More features are planned as UCCS prepares for Spring Commencement Ceremonies on May 18.<\/em><\/p>\n

Twenty-three years ago, Melissa Lucero, administrative assistant, Office of Human Resources, was a pregnant first-year California community college student.<\/p>\n

She quit school, went to work full-time and leaned heavily on family for support. Times were tough as she struggled to raise the four-pound, one-month premature boy with the help of her grandparents.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Melissa Lucero, left, and son Jeff will graduate May 18.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But Lucero, now 43, isn\u2019t looking backward. On May 18, she and son, Jeff Tejada, will both participate in University of Colorado Colorado Springs commencement exercises. Lucero will earn a bachelor\u2019s degree in communication and Tejada a bachelor\u2019s degree in political science. Though Lucero must still take a summer class, she will participate in ceremonies with her son, now more than six feet tall and weighing more than 200 pounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a little late,\u201d Lucero said. \u201cMy goal was to finish by the time I was 40. When I found out Jeff was going to graduate, I knew I had to step it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lucero worked with her supervisor, Cindy Corwin, director, Human Resources to squeeze in as many classes as possible to complete the degree she started at another university in 2005 and continued at UCCS after her 2008 arrival. Balancing the demands of five children and a full-time job processing payroll, administering CU Jobs postings, and assisting classified staff members was a challenge.<\/p>\n

Lunch hours and weekends were sacrificed. Work hours were adjusted and Lucero found herself staying late as well as studying alongside her four younger children still living at home. While hectic, Lucero knows that she established a strong role model for her children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoyed my classes but I want my lunchtime and weekends back,\u201d Lucero said.<\/p>\n

Lucero did not use the tuition benefit provided to employees for herself. Instead, she transferred the tuition for nine credit hours per year benefit to Tejada, a recent administrative policy change that she appreciates.<\/p>\n

\u201cUCCS has been great for me and for my son,\u201d Lucero said. \u201cWith the help of the tuition benefit, he\u2019ll graduate with a relatively small amount of student debt. That\u2019s a great gift for a parent to be able to give to a child.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her advice to others considering starting a degree or finishing one started years ago is simple. Talk to your supervisor about a flexible schedule and have a support system.<\/p>\n

\u201cI almost quit lots of times,\u201d Lucero said. \u201cI\u2019d tell my husband I was going to skip class and we\u2019d go out to dinner or something. His response was \u2018go to class, we\u2019ll go out tomorrow night.\u2019 That kind of support kept me working toward my goal. I\u2019m thankful I had it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note: This is the\u00a0second feature about a UCCS staff member who is also graduating. More features are planned as UCCS prepares for Spring Commencement Ceremonies on May 18. Twenty-three years ago, Melissa Lucero, administrative (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[42],"class_list":["post-6999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","tag-commencement"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/P4210005-300x259.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-1OT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6999"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29253,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6999\/revisions\/29253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}