Myrna Gallardo

Student

“I never imagined I would go to a university, but SMC gave me the opportunity to dream.”

Myrna Gallardo has a couple of little problems. The first one is mastery of the English language, which she’s grappled with since her family moved here from Guadalajara, Mexico. “Many times I feel like I cannot take all the regular classes because of my lack of English,” she says. “But I don’t give up, and I see my tutor as much as I can.” Myrna’s second little problem is that almost no one thinks that she might have a problem.

“Because I am a math tutor, everyone thinks, ‘Oh, it’s all so easy for you. You are the teacher!’ But this is not true, because it’s very difficult for me. And sometimes I feel a little ashamed,” she admits, “because I have to ask so many questions. There’s a lot of peer pressure. I’ve seen other colleges with a low transfer rate, but at SMC, it seems like everybody wants to go on to a university. So I have the same worries that everyone else has here.”

To cut down the ‘worry quotient’ for future generations, Myrna plans to transfer to Cal State Domin-guez Hills and, ultimately, teach math in high school. “So many high school students have only a very low understanding of math,” says Myrna. “So when they get to college, they have to waste a lot of time getting ready for a university. But math is very easy for me to explain, so I think I will be a good teacher and help a lot of people to move up.” On a final note, Myrna adds, “Everybody has some kind of weak area, so people should never be afraid to ask for help. Even tutors need tutors!”

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