El Vaquero

Issue date: 6/11/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Fabienne Niederberger Glendale alumna turned author Maria del Toro signs books after her lecture at Kreider Hall.

She returned fourteen years later to campus, the place that she had first come to without direction, and where through hard work she found her writer's voice, the key to her future as a novelist.

Maria del Toro, author of two women's fiction novels that focus on strong female characters, shared her story with students, faculty, and former classmates during the Lang Lecture Series at Kreider Hall on May 29.

Del Toro came to GCC when she was 18, the first in her family to continue education beyond high school.

"It was a very scary time; I didn't know what I was doing here," she said. "I signed up for a full load of classes and managed to fail every single one of them. Not because I couldn't do the work, but because I didn't do it. I had never been a stellar student before."

The following semester, administration placed her on academic probation.
"I didn't tell anyone what I had done because I was embarrassed. I had failed big time," said del Toro.

Little by little she raised her GPA until one semester she got all A's and was on the dean's list.

"Raising my grades was a pretty huge accomplishment," del Toro said. "But I still had no idea what I was going to do with my life. I didn't know what I was doing beyond working toward raising [my grades from] that first semester.

"I eventually met with an academic counselor, something I suggest everyone do a lot sooner …" she said. "You don't always have to shoulder it on your own; there are people here who will help you."

Three credits short of completing her certificate in child development, she switched to a major she enjoyed more, sociology, which she thought about pursuing after college. She didn't want to take care of kids at $6 per hour.

At this point, she had to drop her algebra class she wasn't doing well in, and take another class to maintain a full-time status. On her sister's recommendation, she chose Mass Communications 101 with Professor Mike Eberts.

After completing the class with an A, Eberts encouraged her to join El Vaquero. Del Toro was planning to quit school and begin working, but she accepted his invitation.

Continued...

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