By ELSIE DENTON
News staff intern
July 18, 2007

There is an old adage about school that says once you take time off you’ll never go back. Armenia Sarrabia, a 29-year-old Hood River native, is proving such folk wisdom wrong.

Sarrabia recently became one of three recipients statewide to be awarded the Ford Restart scholarship. The scholarship given out by the Ford Family Foundation will cover 90 percent of Sarrabia’s unmet college expenses.

Recipients of the Ford Restart award must display a history of responsibility, a commitment to education and dedication to their community, all of which fits Sarrabia to a tee.

When Armenia graduated from Hood River Valley High School in 1997 she wanted to get a taste of life before moving on to higher education.

“I really wanted to experience life and see what was out there,” said Sarrabia. “Then things came up and before I knew it, it was 10 years later.”

Sarrabia has been using her interim time productively. She worked for several years at La Familia Sana, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of Hispanic families in the Mid Columbia. Later Sarrabia transferred to HOusing for PEople (HOPE) as a housing resource assistant.

Sarrabia jokingly said that she could talk for hours about how to make housing affordable, but she didn’t know where to start when it came to getting money for college.

She credits Carolyn Bondurant from the Summit Career Center at HRVHS with getting her back on the track to higher education.

“(Bondurant) attended one of our Wy’east meetings,” said Sarrabia. “Carolyn spoke about the importance of higher education and the availability of scholarship opportunities ... While I was translating for her I started to think ‘maybe I should do that.’ She opened up my knowledge about financial aid and what was out there.”

Bondurant wasn’t the only one helping Sarrabia realize her dream of obtaining a higher education. She said that the folks from the Ford Scholarship Foundation were very caring and generous and took time to understand what she had been through and accomplished as an individual.

“I definitely always wanted to go to college,” said Sarrabia. “I took a few classes through Columbia Gorge Community College but I had other things to take care of and was still learning my priorities.”

After school Sarrabia wants to work in the medical field, possibly as a physician’s assistant.

“That would be great because I really enjoy working with the community,” said Sarrabia.

Service to others is a pattern that can be applied to most of Sarrabia’s work to date.

“Being able to assist others is really rewarding,” said Sarrabia. “It gives me joy.”

In the fall Sarrabia will be enrolling with CGCC to finish up some basic requirements before transferring to Pacific University to complete her four-year degree.