For Dr. Yolando Romero, history isn’t old news. It’s an ever-changing tapestry of events in which people of all heritages can pick up the threads that are their own. And it’s a chronicle of the continuation of the human struggle.
Dr. Romero knows something about struggling, particularly in pursuing an education. Born in Mexico, she moved to West Texas with her family before she was one year old and grew up in Lubbock. She had a dream of going to college, which she did — but it wasn’t easy and it wasn’t fast. It took her nearly 12 years to earn a bachelor’s degree in history from Texas Tech University, having worked most of the time so that she could attend college part-time.
But she didn’t stop there. She went on to earn a master’s degree in history from Texas Tech, and then when she completed her doctoral work there became the first Hispanic woman to earn a doctorate in history in the state of Texas. For several years, she taught history at Texas Tech and then had all but signed a contract to teach at Texas A&M University.
That’s when North Lake College came calling, and administrators there pursued her actively. Though she had never even been on a community college campus before, she was intrigued by the diversity of the student body — from ethnicity to age. “I saw so much diversity in the community college setting, and because of my experience I really felt like I could help students,” she says. “I understand what it’s like to be an older student, to take a long time to get your degree, to be a minority student.”
Dr. Romero publishes yearly; author of numerous articles, book reviews and essays, she is also in the process of writing two books. One is on the subject of Tejanos in the Vietnam conflict; the other, on the Mexican-American frontier experience in northwest Texas, has been favorably reviewed in advance by Pulitzer Prize-winning Texas author Larry McMurtry.
She is the recipient of numerous teaching awards but is most proud of being selected a national winner in the Voices outstanding teacher campaign sponsored by Charming Shops. For that honor, a group of her students filled out the nomination form in a local mall; she traveled to New York City to accept the award at the national level.
She came to North Lake in 1980, intending to stay five years before moving back to university-level teaching. But more than 25 years later, she is still happy about her choice to remain in the community college setting.
For Dr. Romero, teaching is not at all about resting on her own considerable laurels but in encouraging students in continuing their education, despite the challenges. “I had my own barriers,” she says. “When students say they just can’t stay in school for whatever reason, I say, sit down and let me tell you my story. It feels good to have really made a difference. It’s worth it — the students are worth it.”
For Dr. Yolanda Romero, it all began here.