EL PASO, TEXAS–

Starting in the fall of 1997 Lorenzo Arredondo set out on a new adventure–college. The trip would take him over 800 miles to the north Texas town of Sherman. It was here that Lorenzo would begin his first year at Austin College, a small private liberal arts school that was founded in 1849. Being a freshman at a college so far away from home was a challenge that Lorenzo was ready to take on. One of these challenges included Lorenzo’s first job–a college work study job in the school snack bar that involved making burgers, making pizzas, and making memories.

Attending Austin College for 2 years in what was then a $20,000 year tuition was financially tough. Arredondo had grown to feel Austin College was too far, too expensive, and too lonely, and soon saw these factors affecting his spirits and his academic performance. There’s so much to be said about having to take courses and study for a career you want to be a part of before you’ve figured that part on your own. At this crossing in life, figuring out who you are and what you want, Lorenzo was given the difficult choice of remaining in Sherman or transferring home to attend the University of Texas at El Paso. Believing he was beginning to figure out his place in the world, he chose the latter.

A new school closer to home would still pose challenges. University life is just as challenging as college life, though each possess their own challenges. Whereas one challenges you to deal with life in a small graduating class, the other forces you to face your academic existence as one student in a crowd of thousands. transferring over to the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) would cost Lorenzo an additional year because of courses that would not transfer over. Arredondo knew though that becoming a teacher was not a possibility, it was an inevitability.

To reach his degree he would now have to work harder,
meet all challenges head on,
and enter the classroom confident in his success.

What had started at one school he would finish at another. It was during these years that his grades, his spirit, and his future started to look brighter. These moments were what made The College Years.