Art has always been part of Nicole’s life, whether she was doodling in a notebook, helping with school projects, or operating a small business with her son. Until a couple of years ago, however, she didn’t believe it would become her career.
Urged by her parents, who didn’t attend college, Valdez originally enrolled at Pueblo Community College right after graduating from high school. She planned to become a nurse, but it wasn’t the right fit. She left before earning a degree. Over the next two decades, she started a family and always worked but didn’t have what she would call a career.
Things initially started changing in 2019, when Valdez suffered two aneurysms and spent the next four years gradually recovering from their effects. A family member who also had overcome significant challenges enrolled at PCC during that period.
“That’s what made me want to do it,” Valdez said.
It wasn’t long before she ended up in the office of Ann Oreskovich, a member of PCC’s art faculty, and Valdez’s lifelong passion became her career pathway. She has a work-study job in the art department, is a member of the PCC Art Club and Phi Theta Kappa, and has won several awards for her artwork. Her goal is to transfer to CSU Pueblo to complete her bachelor’s degree and become an art teacher.
Valdez believes her commitment to school has shown her three kids what is possible, and her own parents are thrilled that she’s now a first-generation college student.
“Them seeing me do it makes them so happy and I want them to know I’m going to be OK,” she said. “You always want to make your parents proud.”
Valdez's days are long. She wakes up at 5 a.m. for her primary job as a home health provider before navigating school, work-study hours, extracurricular activities, church and family needs before heading to bed around midnight. But if you see her on campus, she’ll have a smile on her face and probably some dried clay or paint on her hands.
“I feel like I had to take that (difficult) path to end up where I am now,” she said. “I’m alive and I want to live. I'm doing what I love, and you can tell.”
