Portland State University Magazine Fall 1991

20 PSU A new scholarship is making it possible for women like Eleanor Dominquez to return to school. Nancy Ryles F or a single mother of three children , a bachelor's degree might seem like the unat– tainable dream. But for Eleanor Dominquez that dream will come true, thanks to a scholarship estab– lished for Nancy Ryles, a former O regon Public Utility Commiss ioner and longtime state senator who died a year ago of a brain tumor. In May, Dominquez became the first recipient of the Nancy Ryles Scholarship, which ex ists solely to help women return to college. "This has been like a door opening fo r me," says the 30-year-o ld Domin– quez. "I just didn't have the finances it would have taken to pay fo r school." Dominquez lives in Portland 's Garden Home area with her children: Helen, 9; Marie, 7; and Stephen, 5. She is a 1979 graduate of Hillsboro High School and attended Concordia College for two years. "I've wanted to be a teacher since I was six years old," she says. "But things change. I married my high school sweetheart and became a wife and mom. Ten years later, I was divorced and on my own with the kids ." After many months of "healing" and counseling for herself and the children, Dominquez began looking toward the future. "I saw other older adults taking classes and going back to school and I thought, 'Why not me?' I've had a number of office and part-time jobs over the years, but I still really wanted to be a teacher. " Then, last October something caught her attention. "One night on the news, I saw a story about Nancy Ryles and the scholarship in her memory. I knew that was fo r me. The next day I called Portland State and was told it had not been set up yet and to call back in February ." While disappointed at the time, Dominquez was stil l determined to go back to school somehow. She applied fo r other student financial aid and en– rolled at PSU in January. "Without a scholarship, I knew I would be looking at a debt of $15,000 or more to complete my education . But the kids and I talked a lot about what I wanted to do and why. They were all for it," sa id Dominquez. When February rolled around, she called about the Ryles Scholarsh ip aga in, submitted an application and put the thought aside in the turmoil of fu ll-time classes and family respon– sibilities. "I was really busy juggling my time at school and home. It was incredible. Bes ides that, I didn't think I had a chance for the scholarship. There are so many women who need and deserve this," said Dominquez. Then in April she was called fo r an interview. "I was so excited and scared," she says. "This money meant that I could finish school without wor– rying about where my next penny was coming from. I could afford child care. It meant I could take a new direction and build a career that would support my family." Dominquez went to the interview with high hopes, but determined not to get upset if she didn't make the grade. "The peop le in the interview were wonderful. They were so supportive of what I was trying to accomplish . The app lication is pretty thorough, and you give them a lot of personal back– ground in an essay. But they made me fee l like my goals were valid. For me, it confirmed that what I was doing was the right thing," she said . That same evening, Dominquez received a call telling her she had been se lected from the 26 applicants.