Made for More
COLLEGE COMMUNITY LEADS TO LIFE UNIMAGINED
W
ith her megawatt smile and warm personality, Claudia Artola is the last person you’d describe as “angsty” or “shy.” But those are exactly the words she uses when talking about her life before enrolling at Muscatine Community College (MCC). A first generation college student who grew up in Guatemala City, Guatemala, Artola moved to Muscatine just two years after her family immigrated to California. At the time, she wasn’t exactly thrilled about the move. “I was really angry at the world because I had just been removed from so many places,” Artola said. “I thought, ‘I’m not going to make any friends, I am from other places, what are we going to have in common?’” With family already in Muscatine and greater opportunities for work and affordable housing, Artola reluctantly made Muscatine home. Not knowing much about Iowa, let alone her new community, she never imagined this “small” town would house the place destined to change her life. “When I arrived here, I did not know I had a possibility to go to community college because we didn’t save like most people had the chance to,” she said. “However, I learned about financial aid and received scholarships, so I was able to enroll.”
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