First Latina Student To Earn Criminal Justice & High School Diploma at Northside HS | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

Fatima Garcia overcame three separate medical crises to become the first Latina student to earn both a high school diploma from Northside HS and a Criminal Justice Technology Diploma from BCCC.

    WASHINGTON, N.C     This last academic year has been a rough ride for many students attending Beaufort County Community College. They adjusted to new video and online classes, but some students had additional hurdles outside of class. Fatima Garcia, a senior at Northside High School refused to withdraw from college classes so that she can stay on track, even as her family endured COVID-19 and a car wreck, and she had an appendectomy with complications. Garcia will graduate this spring with her high school diploma from Northside High School and a Criminal Justice Technology Diploma from Beaufort County Community College, the first Latina student to do so.

    Garcia has already been accepted at Belmont-Abbey College in Belmont, N.C., located west of Charlotte, where she will attend this fall. Building off her Criminal Justice Technology Diploma, she plans to major in criminal justice to become a detective. Inspired by friends to join the field, she will be the first in her family in law enforcement, as well as the first one to graduate high school and go to college.

    "The part that really interests me is the science of it: finding DNA or any kind of evidence, investing crime scenes, sending stuff off to the lab," Garcia says.

    "I wanted to start on my career as early as I could. I wanted to learn more about the field, about the criminal justice system as a whole," she says about participating in Career and College Promise, the free dual-enrollment program that allowed her to take college classes while still in high school. "Beaufort has helped me grow a lot. It's helped me to be more responsible with my work, turning it in on time. It's helped me to grow as a person. In high school they still hold your hand a little, but at Beaufort they don't. It's either you do the assignment or not."

    One of the professors who helped her to mature was Crystal Watts, lead professor for criminal justice technology. "She's a very good instructor. She's very understanding," Garcia says about Watts. "She has the patience to explain something to you. I've had a lot of ups and downs, you know. I've had surgery and other personal things in the way. She's been understanding in those situations." Regardless of the circumstances, Garcia knew that if she wanted to complete the classes by graduation, she could not withdraw from a class.

    Her public speaking professor Ben Deck was another understanding but firm instructor, "which is a good thing because I don't like to procrastinate. They both helped to be responsible," she says.

    In July 2020, Garcia and both of her parents were hospitalized with COVID-19. Her breathing was heavily affected, and she was on medication while in and out of the hospital, forcing her to drop her psychology class. She would go on to repeat this class in the spring.

    In January 2021, both her parents were in a serious car wreck that left her mother with fractured ribs. A lack of Spanish interpreters at the hospital meant that Garcia needed to spend a few days at the hospital as her mother recovered. Interpreters were only available over video and not available at all hours, so she stayed.

    "I was in the hospital with her. I couldn't get to my computer. It was a tough couple of days," she reflects.

    The experience helped her to think about the importance of her Spanish knowledge in her career in law enforcement. High stress and high stakes interactions such as court proceedings, police interactions and medical emergencies are complicated and become even more stressful when a language barrier exists.

    Garcia would face yet another crisis when in February she went to the doctor complaining about sharp pains on her right side. By that night she was in surgery to have her inflamed appendix removed. Usually an outpatient procedure, Garcia's breathing problems from COVID-19 now complicated her recovery.

    "I had to be put on oxygen because I couldn't breathe on my own. I was in there for a week. It took a while to get my oxygen levels where they needed to me." Her oxygen level was at 70 percent, whereas a normal patient would be above 95 percent.

    Even throughout her surgery and complicated recovery, she was focused on college.

    "I was afraid to lose everything I had worked for in college. I just had that gut feeling." She emailed all of her instructors the day after her surgery. There was a chance that she would need to withdraw from her classes due to her missing so much time in class.

    With her assignments turned in well before her due dates, she is on track to graduate from both Northside and Beaufort, breaking new ground in her family. BCCC wishes her success as she continues her education at Belmont-Abbey College.

    Career and College Promise is a free program available to qualifying high school juniors and seniors. Students can also take advantage of the Criminal Justice Fellows program. The N.C. Department of Justice offers 100 percent forgivable loans to acquire an associate's degree in exchange for the student working in an eligible profession and county. Students can inquire about either program through the Admissions Office at 252-940-6237.


  • Attila Nemecz
  • Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator
  • Beaufort County Community College
  • 5337 U.S. Highway 264 East
  • Washington, N.C. 27889
  • Ph: 252-940-6387
  • Cell: 252-940-8672
  • attila.nemecz@beaufortccc.edu

Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Operation Medicine Drop — April 24, 2021 Community, Beaufort County Community College, School News Limited Scholarships Available For Summer Enrichment Programs for Kids & Teens


HbAD0

Latest School News

A new scholarship will help more North Carolina families attend university and offer them debt-free community college.
A Google search on Pirates and New York City yields numerous results, including a Seattle Times article stating that in New York in 1692, “piracy was a leading economic-development tool in the city’s competition with the ports of Boston and Philadelphia.”
The turquoise waters surrounding the small island chain that includes Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands hold opportunities for exploring future wind energy projects. But they also hold important archaeological and cultural heritage sites.
WASHINGTON, NC— The Beaufort County Community College Foundation received a $40,000 donation from the First Annual Belhaven Trout Tournament and Festival.
First Panhellenic endowment is tribute to sisterhood
East Carolina University’s commencement ceremony will take place Friday, Dec. 15, at 10 a.m. in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum to celebrate approximately 1,925 members of the fall Class of 2023. ECU alumnus Kelly S. King will be the keynote speaker.
Beaufort County Community College celebrated the successful completion of its first-ever Patrol K-9 class, marking a new venture in law enforcement training.

HbAD1

 
Back to Top