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Pace presentation

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Mike Qaissaunee
Mike Qaissaunee

A presentation I've giving May 15th for the PACE graduation. PACE is the Program for Acceleration in Careers of Engineering, a science and engineering awareness program in which professionals volunteer their time to work with local minority high school students to help prepare them for technical careers. In this presentation, I detail the journey of Eduardo Padron, the inspiring President of Miami Dade College

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Eduardo Padron
15-year-old Eduardo and his 12-year-old brother left Cuba with just a suitcase full of clothes, landing in a country where they knew almost nothing.
Padron describes his 鍖rst experiences in U.S. public schools with one word: "terrifying." "I got to the school and I didn't understand a word and everything was alien to me,"
"The teacher and students are talking to you and you don't know what they're saying. Not being able to communicate, not being able to understand the homework assignment.
He worked three jobs, delivering the newspaper, doing inventory at a department store and separating clothing at a dry cleaners.
...
Eduardo sat in his high school counselor's office, ready to discuss his future and ful鍖ll the promise he had made his mother before leaving Cuba.
But the counselor told Padron he wasn't college material. ... You should apply to a trade school, she said.
"When she said that, the voice of my mother in the back of my head was telling me, 'No, you're going to college and you can do much better,'
Rejecting the counselor's advice, he applied to many schools. He was accepted at just one
Padron enrolled in Miami Dade Community College, which was just one campus and about 5,000 students, mostly from poor and working-class families who couldn't afford larger private and state universities.
Padron would wake up at around 4:30 a.m. each morning and take three buses or carpool with students who each pitched in a quarter for gas and squeezed into a car
He'd take early classes and then head back to work. ... the stress of going to school, working and caring for his younger brother took a toll
This, Padron says, "was the place where I gained self con鍖dence. Where I truly felt I belonged." He found a group of supportive students who had similar stories and concerns, and dedicated professors.
His academic career 鍖ourished, culminating with a doctorate from the University of Florida in 1970.
Padron returned to Miami Dade Community College in 1995 as ...
President!
Miami Dade College is now one of the nation's largest institutions of higher education, with more than 170,000 students and eight campuses
Time magazine named him one of the 10 best college presidents in the United States - the only community college leader on the list.
Takeaways! Never let anyone tell you "you can't" - make it your mission to prove them wrong. Follow your own path. Follow your passion! Give back.

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Pace presentation

  • 2. 15-year-old Eduardo and his 12-year-old brother left Cuba with just a suitcase full of clothes, landing in a country where they knew almost nothing.
  • 3. Padron describes his 鍖rst experiences in U.S. public schools with one word: "terrifying." "I got to the school and I didn't understand a word and everything was alien to me,"
  • 4. "The teacher and students are talking to you and you don't know what they're saying. Not being able to communicate, not being able to understand the homework assignment.
  • 5. He worked three jobs, delivering the newspaper, doing inventory at a department store and separating clothing at a dry cleaners.
  • 6. ...
  • 7. Eduardo sat in his high school counselor's office, ready to discuss his future and ful鍖ll the promise he had made his mother before leaving Cuba.
  • 8. But the counselor told Padron he wasn't college material. ... You should apply to a trade school, she said.
  • 9. "When she said that, the voice of my mother in the back of my head was telling me, 'No, you're going to college and you can do much better,'
  • 10. Rejecting the counselor's advice, he applied to many schools. He was accepted at just one
  • 11. Padron enrolled in Miami Dade Community College, which was just one campus and about 5,000 students, mostly from poor and working-class families who couldn't afford larger private and state universities.
  • 12. Padron would wake up at around 4:30 a.m. each morning and take three buses or carpool with students who each pitched in a quarter for gas and squeezed into a car
  • 13. He'd take early classes and then head back to work. ... the stress of going to school, working and caring for his younger brother took a toll
  • 14. This, Padron says, "was the place where I gained self con鍖dence. Where I truly felt I belonged." He found a group of supportive students who had similar stories and concerns, and dedicated professors.
  • 15. His academic career 鍖ourished, culminating with a doctorate from the University of Florida in 1970.
  • 16. Padron returned to Miami Dade Community College in 1995 as ...
  • 18. Miami Dade College is now one of the nation's largest institutions of higher education, with more than 170,000 students and eight campuses
  • 19. Time magazine named him one of the 10 best college presidents in the United States - the only community college leader on the list.
  • 20. Takeaways! Never let anyone tell you "you can't" - make it your mission to prove them wrong. Follow your own path. Follow your passion! Give back.