Portales students take next step

PORTALES - An old adage says life is more about the journey than the destination.

PHS graduate Carmen Valadez' immediate destination on Friday was Greyhound Arena to receive her diploma, but her journey - both before and after Friday - is just as vital.

At the beginning of her senior year, Valadez' mother was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. Classes and homework were quickly supplanted by taking her mother to doctor's appointments and treatments.

"During that process I was in foster care for two weeks not knowing what was going on with my mom. She took treatment throughout my whole senior year," she said.

Valadez eventually regained her footing in school, retaking tests and enrolling in math "boot camps" to help her study, but a check-up for her mother last month revealed devastating news.

"About last month (my mom) went to the doctor for a check-up and the doctor said my mom had cancer in her heart too and that she only has a year (to live)," she said.

And yet, through those seemingly insurmountable odds (Valadez said she's surprised she is graduating), Valadez has emerged with more hope for the future than she began the year with.

"I want to go to (Clovis Community College) to be an RN. I like taking care of people and helping them. Hopefully I'll go in to be a doctor later on," she said, adding that her desire to enter the medical field was inspired by her experiences with her mother.

PHS Guidance counselor Tammy Fellows, who has spent the year getting to know Valadez, said the potential she sees in the senior now just needed to be unlocked.

"I think that she didn't believe in herself and she needed somebody to believe in her. She did it, she really did do it," she said.

Valadez recalled that when she was most overwhelmed with making up her work, Fellows gave her the encouragement she needed to continue.

"She missed a lot, so I think that the more she missed, I think the more she felt like she was getting behind and maybe couldn't pull it through," said Fellows. "When I met with her, I said, 'You can. When you're here, we'll make sure that you get what you need so that you can graduate.'"

As Valadez moves into the next stage of her life, Fellows said she is certain she will make something of herself.

Graduate Ally Beck delivered the welcome address, crediting her class' success to the support of teachers and her peers.

"We've took state championships, started fantastic theatrical productions, marched all over the state and played our hearts out. By just looking around this assembly, we can pick out the faces of those friends who have been with us through the best and the worst, the people whom without we would probably have lost our minds by now, and the people who will be our lifelong friends thanks to our shared experiences at Portales High," she said.