Student receives $1,000

Published in the CSUF Daily Titan newspaper on March 20.

A new reality came barreling down on CSUF student Julia Patricia Torre, 37, when she transitioned from housewife to struggling single mother.

"I got divorced in this country," said Torre, who is originally from Mexico City. "I was a housewife and all of a sudden, I had to provide for my family. It's hard to rebuild your life. I'm trying to teach my children that education has rewards and you don't have to wait for a prince to solve your problems."

Torre, a senior, won the $1,000 Soroptimist Women's Opportunity Award. On March 17, a luncheon at the Wyndham Hotel in Fullerton allowed her to receive the award along with a certificate of commendation from the city of Fullerton and a Certificate of Congressional Recognition from Congressman Ed Royce.

"I was very excited [to win]," said Torre, an international business major. "[To me,] the award means recognition for efforts a single mom puts into school while raising kids."

The word soroptimist is a combination of sorority and optimist and can be defined as "best for women," according to the Soroptimist Web site.

The organization, Soroptimist International of the Americas, was founded in 1921 with the mission to better the lives of women and girls.

An overwhelming vote by Soroptimist members helped create the Soroptimist Women's Opportunity Award in 1972.

Born in Mexico City, Torre moved to Huntington Beach in 1993 after she met her ex-husband while working and attending college. Although she began studying for a business degree in Mexico, she started school all over again when the family moved to Miami in 1994.

She received her associate degree in business from Miami Dade Community College. At Miami Dade she graduated with honors and made the dean's list.

In 2003 Torre left her husband, worked for a year and half and then began studying again in 2005 at Golden West College in Huntington Beach. From there she transfered to CSUF.

While registering at CSUF, another low blow hit Torre. She learned the college would only accept 37 out of the 92 units she had accumulated.

"I was almost ready to go and work," Torre said.

Torre, a Huntington Beach resident, is now ready to graduate and begin the master's program in the fall.

"I want to save the [award] money for tuition for the master's program," Torre said. "I'll put it in a safe until I can pay for the first semester."

Torre's school involvement does not end simply with homework. She is also the co-vice president for the international honor society Phi Beta Delta and she recently finished an internship for the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce, which included a trip to China where she toured jade, silk and carpet factories and interviewed government officials.

"I would like to run my own business importing art from Latin American countries," Torre said. "There's a lot of art that people in this country don't know about and through art we can learn about other cultures and respect them. That's my dream."

University Police Cpl. Iris Cortes-Valle made the call to inform Torre of her accomplishment.

"Julia had us in tears at the reception," said Cortes-Valle, who is also a member of the Soroptimist International of Fullerton. "She spoke from the heart."

Cortes-Valle said that since Torre won the award for the Fullerton club, her application will be reviewed along with all of the other winners for the region. The regional winner will be awarded $3,000.

"[The organization] is about helping people, such as Julia -- somebody that's had such hardships -- and giving them an opportunity to be recognized and enable them to feel a little more confident about what they're doing," Cortes-Valle said. "I think for Julia [this] is a wonderful opportunity to be an example for other people and to say you can break that cycle."

Assistant Dean of Student Affairs in the Mihaylo College of Business and Economics Emeline Yong encouraged Torre to apply for the award.

"Julia had shared her story with me a year ago," Yong wrote in an e-mail. "Once I heard the criteria for the scholarship, I thought of Julia. I'm so happy she was chosen. She has gone through a lot in life and she deserves this type of recognition."