Rosie Mireles

I am a stay-at-home mother finishing the transfer pattern for a pre-med degree with the goal of one day working as a trauma surgeon. When I was planning my path to med school, my counselor said I would need to major in a Biological Sciences field, so I asked, "which one solves very complicated problems?” and the answer was Molecular Biology.  So that’s what I went with. 

This fall will be my fourth semester at MPC.  I took most of my pre-requisite and gen-ed classes at Hartnell, but when I became pregnant, the morning sickness was terrible and my CHEM prof wisely suggested I drop out to focus on myself for a while. I took 6 months off and then Covid hit -- right after I gave birth to my son. Returning to school, this time at MPC, I took CHEM1B with Frank Rivera and really liked the way he teaches. Compared to Hartnell, the MPC classes are smaller, which helps me get to know the professors a bit more. Now I’m just finishing up with BIO and PHYS classes -- about 6 more to go before transfer. 

I am not one to give up easily. While she was carrying me, my mother experienced complications, and the doctors did not give her much hope of going to full term, but God had other plans. As a child I spent about five years with an emotionally and psychologically abusive foster parent. I became convinced I was truly not worth anything. Luckily my biological mother saw the signs and arranged for me to work with a therapist, so I got the help I needed to become a survivor of this instead of a victim. That’s where my motivation comes from. Now I am grateful for everything my foster mother did, both good and bad. If she hadn’t, I may not have harvested the courage to become someone. 

I joined the duck race after reading the announcement about the January makerspace workshop at MPC. After the first week, we got to choose our project from a list, but nothing stood out except the duck. I liked that it had nothing to do with what I'm studying. How can you build a robotic duck, a small boat, really, and drive it on the water? And we worked really hard on it and took second place! 

I always like to try something new. It was the same with the DNA micro-internship with Dr. Gilbert. That experience exposed us to a type of biology research that goes beyond test tubes and pipettes and lab work, the amazing possibilities in bioengineering. School is great at building connections like these. I also need to thank EOPS at MPC for connecting me with the NextUp program that supports students from the foster care system with grants for essential needs and things like medical expenses. 

I have a son now and that comes with even more complicated problems, but ever since I became a mother, I fell in love with the role. I am not sure how raising kids will work out with my educational goals, but I still have this craving for knowledge, for keeping up with all the changes going on. Right now my fiancée is giving me the liberty to be feminine, to be the best mother I can be, and at the same time he’s giving me the chance to go to school and learn. So maybe I can fulfill both roles at the same time. Nothing is impossible. 

The best thing I have learned so far is not to let people dictate what you can and cannot do. Just because one person says no, doesn't mean all the doors are closed. When we were naming my son we wanted to choose a middle name that connected him to our ancestors. After doing some research, I chose for him the name Ikal, after the Mayan spirit that means “one who changes the world.”