Ada
Manson is a first generation college student who graduated in May. A single
Mom with an 8 year old son, Max, she has worked hard to balance a learning
disability, motherhood, and a tough class schedule. Ada was born in Fresno,
but spent a good deal of her youth moving from place to place. She moved back
to the valley a little more than 10 years ago and graduated from Porterville
High School.
While at Porterville College, Ada was an active member of Phi Theta Kappa, made the President?s list, and was nominated to be in Who's Who Among Students in American Junior Colleges. Her favorite aspect of her education has been gaining new knowledge and a renewed self-confidence, a sense of worth. Although she struggled with the discipline that studying takes, she is pleased with the results.
Ada graduated with a degree in Social Science and hopes to continue her education
at Fresno State, eventually earning her PhD in psychology. Ada is passionately
drawn to helping people. She has sympathy for the homeless, children with
domestic issues, and wants to take part in crisis intervention. Ada feels that
there are many individuals, as well as families, who struggle with a cycle of
dysfunction. They feel locked into a situation that they are stuck with like a
gene or a trait. They do not have a good support system and they don?t know
how to make their lives better. She hopes to change that situation for as many
people as possible, to break the cycle.
It is no wonder that Ada's favorite classes at PC were her Psychology classes because they helped her to understand why people are the way that they are and increased her level of compassion for others. She is humbled by her experiences. She attributes her accomplishment to perseverance, as well as the dedication of instructors, such as Robert Johnson. "He had faith in me, saw potential that others didn't see, and that kept me in school," Ada says. Besides Mr. Johnson, Ada also looks up to Math professor, Stewart Hathaway for taking the initiative to do a study on math anxiety, English professor, Ted Wise, who gave credibility and validity to her writing abilities, and to Counselor/Director of the Disability Resource Center, Carol Wilkins, for initiating the help that Ada needed to get through school.
The CalWORKs program is proud to announce Ada Manson as a graduate from our program and from Porterville College. We know that she will be a huge success where ever life takes her and we wish her the best of everything.