In high school, that big picture was falling into place: she graduated valedictorian in 2020 from Carmen High School of Science and Technology.

“I don’t think it’s because I’m smart,” she says. “I think it’s just because I worked really hard.”

As valedictorian, her hard work spoke for itself, and it was what the University of Wisconsin-Madison recognized in her. She was set to go to her dream college after four years of persistence and hard work. The only thing not on her side was personal timing and a global pandemic.

Rosie enrolled at the peak of COVID-19, when the campus she’d dreamed about was basically a ghost town and her chemistry class had 200 students on Zoom. She struggled academically in a way she never had before, and it shook her. “I gave up on myself,” she recalls. “I’m like, I can’t do this. College isn’t for me.”

As an All-In Milwaukee scholar, she attributes advising support as a big pillar in helping her through a difficult time. Her advisor recognized the circumstantial struggle she was facing and encouraged her to take a leave of absence instead of walking away for good. The college trajectory isn’t linear for every student, and that was an angle Rosie never explored. 

In Rosie’s trajectory, life took the lead: Rosie got married at 19 and became a mom. Outside of her academic endeavors, Rosie wanted to start a family early, and this became a priority in her life. All-In Milwaukee continued to provide the necessary support to ensure Rosie never lost sight of that dream of obtaining a degree.

When she was ready to shift back into school mode and obtain her degree, her advisor was there to support that transition – but not at UW-Madison.

Rosie enrolled at Alverno College, but it wasn’t smooth sailing either. She was juggling more than most of her classmates could imagine. Some days she brought her daughter, Esther, to class because she didn’t have childcare.

Through this new experience, Rosie’s scholar advisor checked in on deadlines, showed up for meetings and held her accountable in the same way her advisors at Carmen once had. At one point, she brought Esther into the All-In Milwaukee office, just a few months old and the staff gathered around her. It was a small moment, but it stuck.

“It just felt so special,” Rosie says. “Especially as a new mom, it’s a very vulnerable time.” What mattered most was that her advisors never reduced her to a single part of her story. They saw a student with a plan, not just a young mom trying to get by. “They saw me as my own person, and not just a mom or a wife,” she says. “These people really are not letting me give up,” she remembers thinking.

All of this was building toward something she’d had her sights on since she was 17. Her interest in nursing started in high school. Carmen offered a free CNA certification course, and Rosie took it at 17. Her first real job caring for elderly patients, many with Alzheimer’s and dementia, turned out to be the clearest signal she’d ever gotten about what she wanted to do with her life.

She kept working as a CNA straight through college, including while she was pregnant, and All-In Milwaukee’s career partnership with Froedtert Thedacare Health made that continuity possible. Rosie worked toward a CNA internship that eventually became years of experience by the time she graduated. It was the kind of introduction that’s hard to manufacture on your own, and it put her exactly where she needed to be.