Racing from her last class of the day at Cal State Long Beach, Shellv Candler had about an hour to get to Wilmington. Her mother was trying to save her a bed at the Doors of Hope Women’s Shelter, but curfew was 6:45 sharp.
The college student’s commute by bus and train was stressful. But she and her mother had been through worse. The foreclosure of the family home. Evictions. Relatives who could give them shelter for only so long. Some nights, with nowhere to go, they’d ridden the bus until daylight. Once they’d slept in a hospital morgue.
Six classes from graduating, Candler persevered.
“There were times I thought about dropping out,” she said. “But going to school was my escape — to be able to take all that anger, frustration, sadness, disappointment, to take all of that and put it into something as proactive as my education…. This is my chance to be able to do something with my life.”
Cal State, the nation’s largest public university system, has embarked on an unprecedented effort to identify and count its many students who, like Candler, quietly juggle classes, multiple jobs and the anxiety of figuring out where to sleep at night — those who dutifully show up at classes but then curl up in their cars, shower at the gym and shuffle between couches and motels.
To continue reading this article by Roxanne Xia, go to: http://www.latimes.com/local/l...-adv-snap-story.html
Comments (0)