Grad turns life around

PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico University on Saturday celebrated the achievements of the school's 763 graduates this year at its 134th commencement.

For one graduate, the degree she picked up at Greyhound Arena was six years in the making.

Raton native Patricia Duran finished high school one year early because she needed a change in her life following a two year-long struggle with depression. Now she plans to leave Portales and head back to her hometown with two degrees in hand.

"It really hasn't hit me yet honestly because I've been here for six years," Duran said. "But I feel really accomplished just because no person in my family has gotten a bachelor's or a master's yet."

During her sophomore year in high school, Duran said she decided to commit suicide, a plan she had been developing for two years, when the then-athiest decided to try to talk to God. That's when she found a new path, she said.

"Everything in my life started turning around, like every situation. It was almost magic. And about a year after that is when I started going to church and reading the Bible for real and it just completely changed my life," Duran said.

Duran took that new lease on life and turned it into a bachelor's degree in communication in 2016 and a master's degree in communication this year, which even incorporated her passion for religion with a revival as part of her capstone project.

Duran said her favorite memory that she will take away from ENMU is the people she met and the appreciation for her culture that she gained in Portales.

"When I came here I really didn't like being Hispanic because there's so many statistics around minorities," Duran said. "There was a time in my life when I used to scrub my skin because I didn't like being Hispanic at all and I was really ashamed. And just being here I met so many people and they were just so proud of their heritage and they were just excited to be at school. They really were inspirational where now I'm not ashamed to be (Hispanic) any more."

Duran said that appreciation for her culture is what gave her the chance to earn the Minority Graduate Fellowship, which paid for her graduate school and allowed her to graduate with a degree debt-free for the second time.

Rep. Dennis Roch, who delivered the commencement address at Saturday's ceremony, encouraged all of the graduates to cherish the relationships they developed during their time at ENMU.

"Above all hold onto the relationships you built here," Roch said. "The relationships with your classmates, your friends and even with your professors. They still have wisdom to share with you."

Following graduation Duran said she is headed back to Raton to work at a community center across the border in Colorado as the event coordinator and help build up the music program at a church where her husband will be the associate pastor.

She will take with her the wealth of knowledge she gained during her six years as a Greyhound.

"I think the most valuable thing (I learned at ENMU) was that there are people that really care about you," Duran said. "The biggest thing that I learned is that if you really invest in people and care about people, you're going to see them shine and that's what the professors did here."