Elida Escarcega, who earned her bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University in social science, found her way to the University of Texas Permian Basin as fast as she could.
She will graduate with her master’s in public administration and leadership at 9 a.m. Dec. 17 at the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center.
The College of Business is having its graduation at 6 p.m. Dec. 16; and the Colleges of Education, Engineering and Health Sciences and Human Performance are having their commencement at 1 p.m. Dec. 17.
Escarcega’s degree is through the College of Arts and Sciences.
She serves as communications and recruitment specialist for the College of Arts and Sciences at UTPB.
“I want to stay in higher education, for sure. In what role I’m not sure, but higher ed is where I think my calling is,” Escarcega said.
Her mom also works in higher education.
Working full time and going to school has been stressful.
“But I do feel like having been able to get the degree from UTPB while working at UTPB, I had more of a connection … with professors or with other students, and it was easier for me to navigate any questions I had or finding resources or things like that,” Escarcega said.
After she graduated from Kansas State, she moved back to her hometown of Liberal, Kan.
“I was just working at the community college there and … after a couple of years, I wanted to leave the state. I just started applying at jobs all over the country and just took a chance really, and UTPB was the first … one that offered me an interview. By the time I had came for my interview, I already had other interviews in different institutions in different states. But when I came here, they offered me the job that same day, and so I just took a chance and said yes, canceled all my other interviews and ended up here. I was an admissions counselor,” Escarcega said.
She started at UTPB in July 2019.
“Employees get a scholarship for working on any type of degree and so that was a first thing is that I would get some type of financial assistance. Then I also liked that the program I’m graduating in is an accelerated program, so instead of taking full semester classes, I can take classes every eight weeks. To me, that was easier … I’m a better learner online than I am in person, so all of those things combined was just perfect for me,” Escarcega said.
For something in math, she added that she would probably have needed in-person classes.
But with her degree, there was a lot of reading and writing involved.
“I think that’s why for me it was easier to just do it on my own time at a more focused pace,” Escarcega said.
The eight-week classes feel like they go fast.
“It’s a lot of information condensed into eight weeks, so I started by taking only one eight-week course every eight weeks every once in a while. In order to graduate when I wanted to graduate, which was this December, I had to double up a couple of times and take two eight-week courses at a time. I feel like that was pushing it. It was a lot. It was probably not the best idea, but I think it’s a perfect timeline really for me anyways. I think 16 weeks is a little long,” she added.
She noted that because the courses were eight weeks, she was able to take two classes a semester.
“So first eight weeks and second eight weeks. That way, I didn’t have to take two classes at a time if they would have been 16 week classes,” Escarcega said.
She added that she’s very excited about graduating.
“I’ve been not thinking about it too much just because I want to make sure I finish strong before I get too excited about actual graduation. I barely got my cap and gown today and graduation is less than two weeks,” Escarcega said.
“But it’s very exciting. I’ve been doing nonstop school for the last two years, so I’m ready to have a little bit of a break,” she added.
Escarcega said she will stay at UTPB for a while.
“I have a younger sister that’s a sophomore in high school, so my hope is that she comes to UTPB someday, just because it’s also an affordable school for her. I’ll be here at least until she makes a decision on where she wants to go,” she added.
Her sister attends Permian High School.
“I’ve been here for three years and my whole family’s making the transition now to move here. My sister moved in with me in August and then my mom is in the process of selling her house to buy a house here and also move over here, so everyone’s making the move to Texas,” she said.
“I’m happy because I’ve missed being close to them,” Escarcega said.
If other people were considering coming to UTPB, Escarcega said she would tell them to reach out to the Office of Admissions, or just the college that they’re interested in and get information on their program.
Sometimes students don’t know what certain programs entail, or what the classes or careers look like.
“I think we have a lot of great people here that are willing to give students all this information. And we’re here, ready for them to ask. That’s kind of what we all do. So I would definitely advise them to reach out to us, visit us, just stop by and we’ll be more than happy to help. I think that helps students make the transition easier, especially if they’re transitioning from high school to college; or if maybe it’s a student that’s been out of school for a while, and they’re coming back. I think having those questions answered is one of the best ways to make that decision,” Escarcega said.
Alexa Dunson, director of strategic communications at UTPB, lauded Escarcega for juggling everything successfully.
“Elida is such a hard worker and brings great ideas for recruitment strategies to the University. In her role, she now brings extra value by being an alum. She is truly passionate about helping students. We are so proud of her accomplishments — working full-time and going to school full-time is no easy feat,” Dunson said.
