For Immediate Release
May 15, 2008

African Immigrant Overcomes Homelessness, Language Barriers, to Become Valedictorian at Cañada College

Leopoldine Matialeu will be honored at the 40th annual commencement ceremony May 30.

Leopoldine “Leo” Matialeu, a 21-year-old African immigrant who had to overcome homelessness and language barriers, will be honored as the Class of 2008 valedictorian for Cañada College at the school’s annual commencement ceremony on Friday, May 30.

The college will honor a graduating class of approximately 250 students. They will be receiving associate degrees and professional certificates in a variety of subjects. The ceremony will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in the college’s Main Theater, located at 4200 Farm Hill Blvd., in Redwood City. This year’s commencement speaker will be San Mateo County Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson.

For Palo Alto resident Matialeu, the ceremony will be the culmination of two years of hard work and a single-minded determination that helped her record a perfect 4.0 GPA and earn acceptance to UC Davis next fall where she will study biochemistry and Spanish.

“When I arrived in America I didn’t understand English and that was difficult,” she said. Not long after she arrived, her mother lost her job, leaving Leo, her 9-year-old sister and her mother living in a variety of homeless shelters on the Peninsula.

“I was working at a thrift store and trying to learn English and going to school,” she said. “I finally got a job on campus working in the chemistry lab and tutoring chemistry in the Learning Center. That was important because I was taking 18 units and working on the weekends and I didn’t want anything to interfere with my studies.”

Tom Mohr, Cañada College president, called Matialeu an inspiration to her classmates.

“It’s amazing to think of what she has had to overcome and to emerge as a college valedictorian with a perfect grade point average is truly inspirational,” he said.

The commencement ceremony will also honor two other students for their contributions to campus life. David Ibañez Doria and Noel Chavez will receive the 2008 President’s Student Leadership Award. Both students were involved with a variety of student clubs.

For more information, contact Robert Hood, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, at hoodr@smccd.edu or 306-3340