Making kids ‘good at school’

Amelia De La Rosa is passing onto students her love of education

By California State University, Bakersfield

July 21^st, 2020

Editor’s note: This is the latest in a series of stories about the CSUB Alumni Association’s 2020-2021 alumni scholarship recipients, awarded to CSUB grads pursuing their graduate degree on campus.

There came a point when Amelia De La Rosa knew she had to break the vicious cycle of abuse and dysfunction in her family for the good of her children and her future.

She left toxic relationships behind and focused on completing her college education and raising her children on her own.

“And I just never looked back,” De La Rosa said.

Five years later, De La Rosa has earned her liberal studies degree from CSUB and is finishing up her credential to continue teaching elementary school. She just completed her first year teaching kindergarten at McKinley Elementary in central Bakersfield.

De La Rosa jokes that some people are good at playing instruments, some at sports. What she was always good at was school.

And so when it came time to pick a new career path, De La Rosa thought to herself, “I’m good at school. Maybe I can make other people good at school.”

School was always a place of needed stability for De La Rosa, the seventh of eight children from her mother. Her father was absent and most of her siblings struggle with mental health issues; four are incarcerated.

“I remember all the teachers I had at Inyokern Elementary, and each one having a huge impact on my life,” De La Rosa said. “School was very organized and structured, and it made up for something I didn’t have at home.”

One thing De La Rosa did have at home was a supportive, encouraging mother who made some mistakes but was a role model for pursuing higher education while trying to build a loving home amid challenging circumstances. Her mom would walk miles up a hill to attend Cerro Coso Community College classes.

Amelia De La Rosa and her two sons, 5-year-old Andres Emiliano (left) and 3-year-old James Sebastian. — De La Rosa and her two sons, 5-year-old Andres Emiliano (left) and 3-year-old James Sebastian.

After graduating from Ridgeview High School, De La Rosa enrolled in Bakersfield College. She worked her way up from sales associate to assistant manager at a small clothing boutique in the mall while attending school full-time.

De La Rosa earned an associate degree in criminal justice from BC and then transferred to CSUB with plans to study forensic studies. She had dreams of working with young offenders in the juvenile justice system or courts.

But in the face of many obstacles, De La Rosa failed her challenging science courses and “had to reevaluate everything.” She found out she would be expecting her first child during the middle of her first quarter and struggled to accept her fate of staying in an unhealthy relationship that had turned abusive.

De La Rosa is grateful to her CSUB advisors for suggesting she change her major to liberal studies and pursue teaching.

“Go to school for life?” De La Rosa said at the time. “That sounds fun.”

De La Rosa took a semester off after having her baby. She had her second son in early 2017, so it took her an extra two years to finally complete her degree.

De La Rosa got her foot in the door in education as a paraprofessional with the Bakersfield City School District in 2016, working with and planning interventions for at-risk students performing below grade level in reading and math.

After graduating from CSUB in 2019, De La Rosa applied for a full-time teaching position. She choked up while explaining to a district administrator and three principals why she wanted to teach for BCSD.

“Because I want children, especially those who are less fortunate like myself, to grow a love for learning, and to pursue their education,” De La Rosa said she told them.

The first year was a challenge but she was lucky to have fellow teachers, a principal and a mentor who were supportive and whose work she could observe.

De La Rosa said she will always remember her first class because she and they learned together, from the first day of school until the transition to distance learning due to COVID-19.

Her attitude was, “’If I mess up, or if we don’t finish something, or my lesson doesn’t go exactly as planned, it’s OK,’” she said, chuckling. “Tomorrow’s a new day and we can try again tomorrow.’”