For the Delgado family, it's all academic

After completing her Master’s program to be a family nurse practitioner, Edna Delgado was supposed to attend her graduation ceremony last Saturday. But that didn’t happen.
 
“I had to cancel to attend his graduation,” said Delgado, referring to her 17-year-old son, Yanni. “I missed my graduation, but that’s OK.”
 
Yanni Ramirez recently graduated from Downey High School with honors with a 4.62 GPA. He was accepted to several distinguished schools before deciding to attend Cornell University.
 
And he’s not the only one of Delgado’s children making great strides in education.

In fact, all three of Delgado’s children seem to have a firm grasp on the importance of education.
 
Delgado has been a single mother for the last 17 years. She says she’s raised her children, gone to school and worked full time without any assistance.
 
“I’ve been raising my kids alone,” said Delgado. “I don’t receive any government assistance. I don’t receive any child support. All their achievement I like to take the credit for.”
 
According to Ramirez, a lot of the motivation and inspiration for his academic success came from his mom.

“At a very young age she instilled that education is the key to success,” said Ramirez. “It shows you that there’s this whole world out there, and if you don’t have an education you lose the chance to see it at its true value…I love education now.”
 
In addition to Yanni, Delgado is also mother to 20-year-old Chloe and 19-year-old Aron. Both are already enjoying promising futures in their post-secondary educations.
 
“My daughter also graduated from Downey High School; great student, never had any problems. She was accepted to a few universities [in the] Cal State system,” said Delgado. “She decided to take the community college path. In doing so she took a vocational trade – I think following her mother’s footsteps – so she’s working as a medical assistant for a research company. That has motivated her to continue her education. She’s second year at Santa Monica [College] and she’s getting ready to transfer. Her ideal school is UCLA.”
 
Delgado’s middle child, Aron, is currently studying United States History at Stanford University. He credits his academic success not only to his mother, but the school district he grew up in.
 
“Growing up in the DUSD system, we knew that education was important. We were supposed to go to school; it was a place for us to really take it seriously,” he said. “Once my mom started getting her own education… we see our mom going back to school full time while working full time and while still raising us. I thought this is incredible. She was so dedicated. From there I started asking what role does education have in my life?”  
 
Delgado says she feels blessed.
 
“It hasn’t been an easy road working full time, going to school, raising these wonderful kids,” said Delgado. “I think any single parent - whether it’s a mom or dad – I think they can do it as long as they stay connected with their children.”