The featured graduate from American Career College's Summer 2016 Commencement was born in East Los Angeles in 1988. She is the oldest of six children and the only girl.
Stephanie Benhumea's parents divorced and she moved with her dad to Orange County and became the main caretaker for the family. They moved frequently and she attended two junior high schools and four high schools. She craved a normal life, stability and wanted to be a regular kid.
Despite doing her best in school, the constant moving and disruption made it nearly impossible to earn her high school diploma. At the same time she was taking care of her little brothers — doing all the cooking, cleaning, homework, doctors’ appointments and anything else needed. Although she never dropped out of high school, she did not earn enough credits to graduate. Unbeknownst to her, she enrolled in a continuation high school which was not accredited by the state.
At 18, she was working at the Disneyland Resort, pregnant, and living in a motel by herself. After she gave birth to her son Omarii, she got a job selling Kirby vacuum cleaners door to door, leaving her house at 5:30 in the morning and not getting home until 9:30 p.m.
She eventually got a job in fast food and met her future husband. When he got laid off, she supported the whole family, including her little brother Jose, who she has been taking care of like a son for the past six years and discovered she was pregnant with her son Karim, who is now almost 3 years old.
Every day Benhumea would see ACC TV commercials and had always wanted to be a medical assistant. She was apprehensive and didn’t know what school she could trust. She visited two colleges and ACC was the only one who gave her a tour where she envisioned herself as if she was a student already.
She couldn’t wait to start school and enrolled in the medical assisting program. Imagine the blow when she found out her high diploma was not accredited nor accepted by ACC. She enrolled in the High School Equivalency Program offered by the ACC Foundation and committed to doing whatever it took. She started with enthusiasm which soon waned due to the rigor of the requirements. She says she could not have completed without her instructor, Ivan. He called her when she
missed a day of class and motivated her to keep going. She thought about her kids and the life she wanted for them and did not quit.
Once she passed her official high school equivalency test, she was so happy to finally enroll in the medical assistant program at the Orange County campus.
She had every reason to quit, but her kids and their future was what kept her going no matter what. Some days she would sit down and cry, but she just kept going.
Due to her circumstances her grades suffered and Benhumea failed a module. She changed schedules to make up for credits doing whatever it took to make it. At the end of the program, Benhumea knew if she did not pass her last test on her last day she would not graduate.
When she found out she passed, she cried with relief. Her externship was a starting point and the doctor she was working for saw her constantly on the computer improving her skills during her lunch break. He asked her what she was doing and when she told him she didn’t have a computer at home, he made sure she got one.
After she completed extern it took two months to find a job because she was on the bus, had kids, and needed something that would take care of her family. When she attended the Anaheim ACC Career Fair she met a recruiter from the UC Irvine Medical Center. The recruiter invited her for a second interview and after six trips to Irvine, she was hired. Now Benhumea works as a medical assistant, taking care of breast cancer patients in the aesthetics and plastic surgery department at UCI.
She now has weekends to spend with her family. On Friday nights they watch movies and the kids love spending time with their mom. She is saving money for the future. Her goal is to become an RN. She is happy and confident and is an example of what it means to have grit.
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