Beating the Odds: Once a ninth grade dropout, Hernandez lands dream job at UNC Health Care

Dulce Hernandez worked 15-hour shifts, six days per week at Chipotle while also attending Durham Tech – all to support her two children.

“Sometimes I’d be up crying at 3 a.m., after I got home from work because I knew I wasn’t going to get any sleep,” said Hernandez, 26. “But it was all worth it in the end. Everything you put in, you will get back.”

This determination and grit got Hernandez through the toughest 10 years of her life.

After she became pregnant with her daughter in the ninth grade, Hernandez dropped out of Riverside High School.

She struggled for months with family issues before her sister co-signed for an apartment, so the 16-year-old would have a place to raise her family.

Four years later, Hernandez welcomed her son and worked full time at McDonald’s to make ends meet.

“Eventually, I decided that was not the life I wanted,” she said. “I didn’t want to fall victim to the stereotype of women that dropout of school, have kids, and then that’s all they do the rest of their lives. I wanted to break that cycle and provide more for my kids, so I decided it was time to go back to school.”

Hernandez enrolled in the Gateway to College program at Durham Tech to earn her high school diploma.

She was told it would take three years.

“I wanted to finish as soon as possible, so I took seven classes each semester,” she said. “I knew it would take time away from my kids, but I kept thinking of how it would pay off in the end.”

She earned her diploma in less than two years.

Hernandez said she’s thankful for Dorene MacKinnon, Lead Resource Specialist in Gateway to College program, and Phil Gowins, Instructor, who both encouraged her to continue her education.

“After I got my high school diploma, they really got me thinking, ‘Okay, there’s something more after this. I can’t just quit now,’’’ she said. “They encouraged me to keep going and reminded me that I’d be the first person in my family to graduate college.”

Hernandez decided to take the leap.

She wasn’t sure which career path to pursue until her son ended up in the hospital after an asthma attack.

“I started talking to someone in the respiratory department and asked them a bunch of questions about the causes of asthma and why it happens more in the winter,” she said. “I found everything they were saying so interesting.”

Two months prior, Hernandez herself was at the hospital for an asthma attack – her first one.

“It felt like a sign, like something was going on. Maybe this is a field I need to look into to,” she said. “It just sparked something in me. I went online and started looking into the Respiratory Therapy program at Durham Tech.”

Hernandez applied for the program immediately but had to wait a full year before starting due to not having some of the prerequisite classes.

She didn’t let it stop her.

“I had a whole year in front of me, so I decided to get my Phlebotomy Certificate to get my foot in the door somewhere,” she said. “It took five months to get my certificate. Then I got a job offer from LabCorp. Later that same week, I received an email saying I got accepted into the Respiratory Therapy program.”

Hernandez was torn.

“'Do I accept the job?' It was a Monday through Friday, 8 to 5. It paid more than I’d ever earned before, and I’d get to spend more time with my kids," she said. "'Or do I start the program?' It was what I had been waiting for all along anyway. I didn’t know what to do.”

It was a big decision.

“I finally realized that I wanted more than phlebotomy. I wanted to grow,” she said. “So I decided to turn down the job. I told myself only two more years of school and only two more years at Chipotle. I’ve got this.”

Fast forward to April 2019.

One month before she graduated, Hernandez interviewed with two health care agencies and received job offers from both within 30 minutes of each other.

One of those was UNC Hospital.

“When I got the call from Human Resources at UNC, I was in shock,” she said. “They made me an offer on the phone, and I accepted immediately. I was so happy.”

Her first day was June 3.

“I absolutely love my job, even more than I thought I would. I’m excited to go to work every day, and when I’m not working, I want to go to work,” Hernandez said.

MacKinnon said she is awestruck by Hernandez’s transformation since they first met in the Gateway to College program.

“In 2013, there was a shy, young lady who’d sit outside my Algebra classroom studying each morning. She would smile and sometimes chat about life. Today, Dulce has transformed into a confident, bold young woman,” MacKinnon said. “The Respiratory Therapy program is academically and clinically rigorous, but consider doing it while working full time plus and raising two children. This was Dulce’s life for her entire academic journey, and she has always managed to see life’s open doors versus dwelling on the closed ones. To say I’m proud of her just isn’t enough.”

In a few years, Hernandez plans on pursuing her bachelor’s degree with help from UNC’s Tuition Reimbursement program, but for now, she’s enjoying this new chapter in her life and said she won’t forget the impact of Durham Tech.

“If I would have chosen any other college, I don’t think I would be the person I am today,” she said. “The support I received from the people at Durham Tech was just amazing. I now have a job where I can spend time with my kids and not worry about how I’m going to pay rent. I’m really, really grateful.”

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Contact Marcy W. Gardner, Coordinator for Content and Social Media, at gardnerm@durhamtech.edu