BUSCA program helps student make it

By Anthony Medora
Collegian Staff
Febraury 7, 2007

Judy Carbonell was up against great odds when she arrived in Philadelphia from her native Puerto Rico in 1982.  

Just a teenager herself, she had to take care of her younger siblings after her mother fell ill with ovarian cancer. What’s more, she spoke only broken English and had difficulty understanding her schoolwork at Philadelphia’s Edison High School.

But with the help of La Salle’s Bilingual Undergradute Studies for Collegiate Advancement (BUSCA) program, Carbonell will soon earn a bachelor’s degree from La Salle and pursue the career she always dreamed of—teaching.

“I love children,” she said. “I always knew I wanted to work with them.”

Carbonell grew up in a small neighborhood in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. She was the seventh of 14 children living in a small home. It did not stop her from receiving straight A’s throughout grammar school. Carbonell’s parents divorced when she was one, and it was her mother who raised her and her brothers and sisters. Her father remained nearby to support the family.  

“My father was still always there for us when my mother needed him,” she said.  

Carbonell’s mother took care of her for the first 15 years of her life, but during the next few years, it was Carbonell who would have to care for her mother.  

When she was 15, Carbonell learned that her mother was suffering from ovarian cancer. Her mother, who was 48-years-old, saw four doctors in Puerto Rico, all who told her there was no cure. However, her mother would not back down so easily. She took Carbonell and her four younger brothers to the United States, where she was confident she could be healed.

“My mother knew she could be cured in the United States and she never doubted it for a minute,” Carbonell said.

But when Carbonell’s family reached North Philadelphia where they were to live with her mother’s friend and their family, the situation became even more grim.

The doctors in Philadelphia did not have any better news for Carbonell’s mother.   The cancer had spread to her kidney, and she was given only three months to live.  

“I was so scared,” Carbonell said. “I thought my mother was going to die. And here I was having to take care of my four younger brothers by myself in a country where I did not even speak the language.”

But her mother remained unflappable. She made a promise to her daughter.  

“She told me she wouldn’t die because she had children to raise. She promised me she would not leave me by myself with the children,” Carbonell said.

Carbonell had to be stable for her younger brothers who were 10, eight, five and four years of age while their mother was suffering.  

“I was able to stay strong in front of my brothers. I told them their mother was sick but the doctors would make her better soon,” she said.

Her mother knew she could beat cancer and would not break her promise to her daughter. The doctors placed her on chemo-therapy and removed her ovaries, as well as one of her kidneys. Somehow, she managed to pull through.  

“She lost her hair, teeth, everything,” Carbonell said. “It was really hard to see her like that, but she made it.”

Her mother overcoming cancer was only the beginning of Carbonell’s struggles after relocating to Philadelphia. Including her mother, friends and family, Carbonell lived with a total of nine other individuals in a tiny row home located in the poorest parts of the city. Since her mother was still very ill, Carbonell had to take on the responsibilities of a woman twice her age.

Her mother overcoming cancer was only the beginning of Carbonell’s struggles after relocating to Philadelphia. Including her mother, friends and family, Carbonell lived with a total of nine other individuals in a tiny row home located in the poorest parts of the city. Since her mother was still very ill, Carbonell had to take on the responsibilities of a woman twice her age.

Meanwhile, Carbonell was struggling to get by in school herself. Accustomed to straight As while she was in Puerto Rico, the American setting was extremely difficult for her.

“In Puerto Rico, they only teach you basic English, nothing I was able to use in Philadelphia. And my father was not there to help me with my homework like he used to,” she said.

Carbonell barely passed her first two years of high school.  

“My mother was just so weak. It was really hard for me,” she said.

Then, when Carbonell was just 16 years old, she would meet the man who would help her turn her life around. She was introduced to 20-year-old Pedro Carbonell while on her way to school one day. He lived close by in the neighborhood and worked in a hotel downtown. They immediately fell in love, and after only five months, they began to make wedding plans.  

“Pedro financially supported the family a lot,” Carbonell said. “He became like a family member, like a brother to all of us.”

Carbonell and Pedro moved a block down the street together in order for Cardonell to remain caring for her family. She enrolled at Edison High School, where she was able to take classes at night, allowing her to care for the family during the daytime. However, Carbonell’s English was not improving, and she struggled to receive her diploma.  

“I would speak Spanish with my family, neighbors and everyone around me. It was still really hard to speak English well,” she said.

After high school, Carbonell decided to attend Wilfrette Academy, where she trained to become a hairdresser. She immediately knew she was not cut out for the profession.

“I just didn’t like it. It wasn’t for me,” she said.  

It was not until her 4-year-old son Peter began pre-kindergarten that Carbonell discovered her passion for children, and for teaching. When she was 19, Carbonell volunteered at her son’s school, St. Boniface, in Philadelphia. When the school’s principal Sr. Rose saw how well she interacted with the children, she offered Carbonell a paying job as a teacher’s aid.  

While working at St. Boniface, she decided to continue her education at the Community College of Philadelphia. However, before she was able to begin her studying the school demanded she take mandatory classes to learn English. Carbonell struggled and it took her a year and a half to complete the necessary courses. “They didn’t teach me well there for all of the money I was spending,” she said. “It was the same level of English the entire time.

After the experience with English courses, Carbonell decided not to continue with her education.   But Rose would not let her be discouraged.   “I was too afraid of the language barrier and my economic situation,” Carbonell said.

“She told me that I worked too well with children to give up on my degree,” she said.

Rose introduced her to La Salle, where she discovered the BUSCA program. BUSCA is a program geared toward Spanish speaking students to help them learn English and earn an associate’s degree after completion of the program. Carbonell applied and was accepted into the program.  

“BUSCA was like a heaven for me,” she said. “It made me feel like I could achieve anything I wanted. Teachers encourage you not to worry about the language barrier and offer a lot of support. BUSCA also helps a lot with grants after a year.”

“I mean my English wasn’t too great when I entered the program,” she said. “Talking English on the street doesn’t mean you really know it.   But they really helped me so much.”

After two-and-a-half years in the program, Carbonell was able to earn her associate’s degree in 2003. She immediately received a full-time teaching job at St. Boniface, teaching gym class in the morning and computer class in the afternoon.

Peter, who she can thank for helping her discover her passion for teaching, also recently graduated from La Salle last spring with a bachelor’s degree in multimedia design.

Carbonell’s mother is now 70 and still lives in Philadelphia.   She is doing well, along with the rest of her family who moved back to Puerto Rico.

Carbonell is scheduled to graduate this May with a bachelor’s degree in history. She aspires to work as a history teacher.  

“I know I belong in the classroom,” she said.

Carbonell also hopes to earn her master’s degree in the near future.

medoraa1@lasalle.edu