Luna College & Career Readiness Institute (CCRI) student Samuel Gabaldon is representing the college as its ambassador. He along with CCRI manager Lisa Bentson and five instructors recently attended the New Mexico Adult Education Conference in Albuquerque. As part of his duties as an ambassador, Gabaldon wrote an inspirational essay that captured the hearts of many. Gabaldon is a childhood cancer survivor and has a goal to help the world be a better place. The following is his essay.
Adult Education: Our New Future
Hello. My name is Samuel Gabaldon from the small town of Las Vegas, New Mexico. I am a math guy who draws inspiration from the world around me. This past summer, I had the opportunity to visit the New Croton dam on the Hudson River in Upstate New York. This dam has been providing drinking water to the inhabitants of New York City for over 100 years. I was awestruck at how this one engineering masterpiece has helped so many people for so long, and I found my calling: I want to help make something that can impact people generationally. Today I stand in front of you as an aspiring civil engineer.
I am also a childhood cancer survivor. In 2013, during my sixth grade year, when I was twelve years old, I was diagnosed with APML Leukemia. Hospitalizations and chemo lasted two and half years. Serious complications kept me essentially bedridden for the next seven and a half. I could barely move, let alone physically or mentally succeed at school. One of my hardest personal moments was being unable to complete my high school education with my class of 2019.
In late 2022, I gained the health and mobility to begin to take my life back. My family and I started looking into options for adult education, and I am incredibly grateful that the Luna College Career Readiness Institute was available. After 5 years of being completely out of school, my self-confidence was basically non-existent. I doubted my ability to even physically attend the classes, let alone to succeed. The program was flexible, considerate and understanding of my needs, over 8 months I began to gain experience, skills and successes. To date, I have passed two of the five HiSet tests: math, which has always been my strongest subject, and reading, which has always been a challenge due to my dyslexia.
A particular highlight for me at Luna’s CCRI is their STEM program, which features aviation projects. Last semester I participated in a skywriting project using calculations done by the students and culminating in us writing the letters “LCC” in the sky over campus. This project helped challenge my preconceptions about what I can and cannot do and helped me realize that I can change the world around me for the better.
As a student of Adult Education, I stand for the people who, despite the odds, come back and fight for a better future for themselves and their communities. My peers around me have demonstrated motivation on a whole other level: from a mother who brings her kid to class while writing a flight path; to future EMT’s, nurses, teachers, engineers, electricians, carpenters – you name it. We are determined and resilient, as we inspire each other.
For those who don’t have a high school diploma this is what I would say to you: if you doubt yourself, you are not alone. I highly recommend visiting your local Adult Education Program where you will find a welcoming and understanding environment. Adult Education is ready to accept you where and how you are, and to prepare you for independence and success in meeting your life goals. All of us are working together to pave our new future. My goal is to enroll as an engineering student at the University of New Mexico in the spring – wish me luck!
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Luna College & Career Readiness Institute student Samuel Gabaldon is a childhood cancer survivor and has big dreams to make this world a better place. He is pictured with Luna CCRI manager Lisa Bentson.
