Our Stories

Graduate Spotlight: They Found A Better Way

By Jeff Sanchez | JANUARY 17, 2020 Student loan debt is a real problem. According to a 2019 article in Forbes magazine, student loan debt in America has hit 1.5 trillion dollars.[1] Saddling new graduates with debt can have serious consequences for their futures. New graduates often have to settle for lower-paying jobs so they […]

Graduate Spotlight: Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help

By Jeff Sanchez | DECEMBER 18, 2019 It was a long road for Lud Guerrero to get where she is now. In a society that values instant results, such as free 2-day shipping, and drive-thru windows, it takes a special kind of courage to keep fighting when things take longer than expected. Lud never expected […]

Season for Caring: Alicia Gonzales

PUBLISHED DECEMBER 4, 2019 This year Capital IDEA student, Alicia Gonzales, is a featured family in the Austin American Statesman Season for Caring. Since 1999, Statesman readers have generously donated more than 11 million dollars in cash and in-kind goods and services, all of which have benefited the featured families and hundreds of others like […]

Student Journey: Child Care Doesn’t Need to Hold You Back

By Jeff Sanchez | PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 20, 2019 When Melinda Sertuche decided to go back to school, her 8-year old daughter didn’t understand why. “It was hard for her at first, because it was new. I don’t have any family members that had gone to college, so it’s not something that’s a normal thing in […]

Graduate Spotlight: Just Keep Showing Up

By Jeff Sanchez | PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2, 2019 Amber Bothne’s journey through nursing school was anything but easy. “I felt like I was challenged every step of the way.” Her experiences during nursing school would have kept most people from finishing. Yet, while the obstacles kept piling on, Amber believed that if she just kept […]

Graduate Spotlight: Giving Up Is Not An Option

By Jeff Sanchez | PUBLISHED AUGUST 21, 2019 “You can’t give up.” Jessica Jaimes holds this motto close to her heart and strives to live it out on a daily basis. It would have been easy for her to give up, and after enduring what she described as a “horrible and abusive” relationship, and the […]

Graduate Spotlight: I’m Not Going Down Those Old Roads

PUBLISHED APRIL 15, 2019 GRADUATE SPEAKER Jeremy spoke at Captial IDEA’s Celebration of Achievements in February 2019 and was featured in Capital IDEA’s 2018 Annual Report. Good afternoon, my name is Jeremy Acosta and I’m honored to be here as a Capital IDEA alumn and one of the first graduates to come from the IT […]