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ALEX ROBINSON/KANSAN
Grecia Rucoba combs through pictures to help create a project dedicated to the retired professor of the Multicultural Scholars Program.
Rucoba, who is a Woman of Distinction, is from a family of Mexican immigrants. She was encouraged to be the first child in her family to attend college.
ALEX ROBINSON/KANSAN
GRECIA RUCOBA
A first-generation student determined to make her time at KU count
NATALE CRAIG
@natjcraig
It's a weekday in 2012, and in the mix of all the mail at Grecia Rucoba's house lies a blue envelope from the University of Kansas.
It's tangible proof of Rucboa's hard work - her acceptance letter. While some students accepted to the University take it for granted, for first-generation college student Rucboa, it was the biggest deal.
"Every day that I am in class, that is a success to me," she said. "Just to be here on campus is a success to me."
here on campus is a success to me.
Rucuba, a senior at the University and daughter of immigrants from Mexico, said her parents always pushed her to further her education after high school because they never had that opportunity.
"It was never a question to my parents about me going to college," she said. "They were like, 'You are going. Just because we couldn't doesn't mean we are not going to do everything we can to help you.'"
Rucoba said the biggest challenge of being a child of immigrants is money.
"I didn't always have a cell phone and the things that my peers have but I never experienced any kind of hardship like my mom has so I consider myself to be so blessed," she said.
Rucoba works five jobs and has received scholarships to help finance her education. While her parents cannot support her financially, they are her source of moral support.
Rucoba's mother, Lucila Rucoba,
grew up in Jalisco, Mexico. She came to
the United States in 1988 when she
was 31. Rucoba looks to her mother
"Just because the monetary assistance is not there doesn't mean they haven't given me everything I need to the best of their ability," she said.
as her source of inspiration.
"I am inspired by my mom because she grew up with literally nothing," she said. "She had 13 brothers and sisters, and she got her first pair of shoes as a gift for her first communion. When [she] would get a banana, [she] would split it 13 ways for each of her brothers and sisters. I always remember that when I'm having a hard day, I just think about the bananas. That is what keeps me going."
As a senior, Rucoba has made a name for herself on campus through her leadership in the scholarship halls, as well as her involvement in the Multicultural Scholars Program and Multicultural Business Scholars Program. Then this year she received a KU Woman of Distinction award.
"I was shocked that out of the girls in my scholarship hall, Margaret Amiini, I was chosen, and then campus-wide, that was crazy," she said. "So many of the women are so much older and they have PhDs, and it was just such an honor to be included on that list."
As a KU Woman of Distinction, she wants to set an example for other students.
"It has really made me have a deeper appreciation for the type of role model I can be because I am a lot of different things," she said. "I am a woman, I am a first-generation college student, I pay for my own school, I am Hispanic, and I feel like in all of those things I can be a role model to women, to first-generation college students, to all these different groups of students. And each one of those labels comes with their own challenges."
As a Hispanic, Rucoba said she faces many challenges at the University, especially with a lack of diverse role models.
"I will look around and see a room
full of white men in a lot, of my classes, and that is a little bit disheartening just because I don't see strong Hispanic professors or leaders," Rubocba said. "I mean, there's a couple here and there, and I really admire them, but I just wish there were more, especially among my peers. I feel like KU could definitely benefit from diversity, and that is a hard conversation with not a lot of answers."
However, Rucoba finds a sense of community within the Multicultural Scholars Program.
"A lot of those students have parents from different countries, and that feels like the closest to a family that I've had on this campus," she said. "They renew my energy a lot because I see all of them going through similar things."
Rucoba said that in the program, all of the students have similar work hours to her.
"I think we average 22 to 25 hours a week and that is average," she said.
"I know some students who work 30 to 35 hours a week on top of 15 to 16 credit hours. They make it seem easy"
Through all of the challenges, she still remains driven. Rucoba will graduate in May with a major in accounting and will return next fall for the Master's of Accounting program. She has an internship this summer with CBIZ in Kansas City and said she hopes to eventually have a job working with a nonprofit organization.
"I think that it is a really valuable degree. Everyone needs an accountant so I do not think I will ever be out of work, which is reassuring," she said. "I hope to move into a controller or CFO or reporting position in a non-for-profit; that sounds like goals to me."
AUSTIN, TEXAS, REGIONAL
The No. 3 Texas Longhorns (27-2), the No. 14 UCLA Bruins (25-7), the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers (28-6) and the No. 11 Florida Gators (24-6) make up the Austin, Texas, Regional. The Longhorns and the Bruins face off on Friday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. central time. The match will be streamed on ESPN3. The Badgers and the Gators face off on Friday, Dec. 11 at 4:30 p.m. central time. The match will be streamed on ESPN3.
PREDICTION: Texas tops UCLA, and Wisconsin defeats Florida, with Texas upending Wisconsin for a bid to the Final Four.
LEXINGTON, KY., REGIONAL
The No. 5 Washington Huskies (30-2), the No. 12 Ohio State Buckeyes (25-9), the No. 4 Nebraska Cornhuskers (28-4) and the No. 13 BYU Cougars (28-3) make up the Lexington, Ky., Regional.
The Huskies and the Buckeyes face off on Friday, Dec. 11 at 6:30
p.m. central time. The match will be streamed on ESPN3.
The Huskers and the Cougars play on Friday, Dec. 11 at 4 p.m. central time. The match will be streamed on ESPN3.
PREDICTION: Washington defeats Ohio State, and Nebraska tops BYU. Nebraska edges out Washington for a Final Four bid.
Graphic by Jake Kaufmann/KANSAN
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