FIU Alumni Profile

Carmen Castro

Determination for most college students means mastering sleepless nights, long papers, daunting books and many tests.   

For Carmen Castro, 30, determination means all that while being a single mother and dealing with the life-long effects of a stroke.

On Monday, Dec. 20, Castro will walk across the stage with her four-year-old daughter Gina to receive her bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts.

The road leading to that diploma has taken many turns since the day she suffered a stroke at age 14. A brain aneurysm-a swollen portion of a blood vessel running through the brain-- burst, putting Castro in a coma that lasted six months and causing considerable damage in her brain. Doctors put her in rehabilitative therapy so she could regain her basic motor skills, but the doctors feared her mental capacity had reverted to that of a 3 rd -grader. Just living became a titanic struggle for Castro.

"Sort of made me change the way I look at things because you could lose everything in a minute," Castro says.

Doctors warned her that she might not have the mental ability to return to school. That hopeless prognosis only gave Castro the determination to fight harder. After a year of therapy and more brain surgery, she returned to the ninth grade and went on to complete high school in 1994.

Her high school graduation was a monumental accomplishment and her success was honored by Disney with a "Dreamers and Doers" award.  

"Finishing high school made me feel like I could do anything if I worked hard enough," says Castro.

After high school, Castro started Miami-Dade College where she obtained an associate's degree. In 1998, Castro enrolled at FIU and started to work toward her bachelor's degree. At FIU, she fell in love, married and became pregnant. The marriage, however, did not last.

"It was a hard to deal with all this turmoil and a newborn baby, but again, the determination to look beyond my troubles prevailed," said Castro.

Once again, Castro's determination pulled her through, and after taking two years off to care for her child, she came back to FIU.

Says Castro: "My dreams in life were to have a baby and to be educated. I'm proud to say that I have been able to do both."