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Welcome to our e-newsletter
Minds in Motion
It's graduation month, and we're celebrating our remarkable Class of 2014, along with alumna Hilda Rivas, '11, who walked the stage of St. Edward's University earlier this month. And in the midst of much cheering, we're preparing the way for next year's class. Never a dull moment at Free Minds!
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Free Minds Honors 2014 Graduates
On May 20, students' friends and family gathered with Free Minds supporters on the UT campus to celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2014. Each graduate walked the stage to receive a medal of achievement from the Free Minds faculty, marking their completion of the two-semester course in humanities. As Project Director Vivé Griffith pointed out, the donning of medals represents a tremendous amount of work. "Completing Free Minds means, among other things, reading a stack of books as tall as my head," she said, gesturing from the podium.
Amid words of congratulations from community and academic leaders, student voices rang loud. Kellye Mireles offered an original poem in gratitude to her four sons who sacrificed time with their mom on class evenings. Elizabeth Price recited from memory one of her favorite poems, "Invictus," explaining that though she first encountered the poem as a teenager, its message of persistence in the face of adversity has taken on greater meaning through her Free Minds experience. Tañia Rivera and Michael Thibodeaux also spoke as the peer-appointed representatives of their class. You can read an excerpt from both speeches in the Final Word below.
This year's class is the seventh to complete Free Minds since its founding in 2006. Graduates' plans for the future include pursuing degrees in education, accounting, and criminal justice, publishing a book of poems, and directing a feature-length documentary film.
Want to see more of our 2014 grads? You can check out their bios here.
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Apply for the Free Minds
Class of 2015!
We are currently accepting applications for next year's Free Minds class. Click here to learn about who's eligible, what we study, and how to apply.
The application deadline is Monday, July 7. |
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Alumna Hilda Rivas with her family at St. Edward's University graduation
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Three Cheers for Hilda Rivas
"Three years ago I was sitting where you are," Hilda Rivas told the Class of 2014 in her remarks at graduation. When she finished Free Minds in 2011, Hilda was pregnant with her third child, proud of her accomplishment, but uncertain how to keep moving forward with her education. She did so slowly and steadily, taking classes at night while working full time and raising her family. This month she earned her bachelor's degree in Human Services from St. Edward's University.
Her inspiring news didn't end there. She is also starting a new job as a care coordinator at Communities in Schools, where she'll be offering wrap-around services to families in need. The entire Free Minds community celebrates her accomplishment and how confidently she is leading the way.
"When I walked across that stage I knew, without a doubt, that the past few years have been worth it," she said. Turning toward the new graduates, she added, "Don't give up on your dreams of an education."
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Special Thanks
As this academic year comes to a close, we are brimming with gratitude for the faculty who made our classroom so lively and productive this year. Thanks also to all who visited the class this spring to share their expertise.
Dr. Matthew Daude Laurents, philosophy |creative writing | Dr. Patricia Garcia, literature | Michael Noll, analytical writing | Dr. Pauline Strong, anthropology
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Sally Baker, World Book Night | Annette Carlozzi, Blanton Museum | Dr. Evan Carton, UT Austin | Alice Graulty, Foundation Communities | Charlotte Gullick, ACC | Tari Jordan, Free Minds '13 | Andrea Mason, Camp Fire USA | Dr. Eileen McGinnis, UT Austin | Karl Meyer, ACC | Ellen Moutos-Lee, Regional Foundation Library | Jacob Peeples, Foundation Communities | Lilia Rosas, Resistencia Books
If you are interested in volunteering with or supporting Free Minds, you can find more information on our website.
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Minds in Motion Archive April 2014 Free Minds writers joined forces for a reading at Malvern Books, and a student-made video tells the story of class community.
Students dive into the world of field research and members of our community offer favorite reasons to amplify Free Minds!
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The Final Word
Tañia Rivera and Michael Thibodeaux were selected by their fellow students to speak on behalf of the class at graduation. They get the last word this month, with excerpts from their eloquent remarks.
 Many of us come from poor, working families where higher education is not taught to be a priority. Yet, what I learned from participating in Free Minds is that I shared a common struggle with my classmates who desired prosperity in attaining a better life through education. And that my socioeconomic status like theirs did not determine our worth nor our drive to excel and receive the best things life had to offer through academic engagement. We are your mothers, daughters, sisters, fathers, brothers, and sons. We are also ex-prisoners, recovering addicts, migrant workers, city and county employees, single-parents, divorced, drop outs, two-spirited, and dual citizens. We were not supposed to succeed and leave our mark pressed upon our society, but we have! We still have to fight for the opportunity to make a difference in our lives and our children's lives no matter what our circumstances...The graduating class of 2014 kept a tight grip on each other, and I would like to personally acknowledge each and every one of you for sharing a piece of yourselves in the classroom. --Tañia Rivera
 For the last two semesters the Free Minds program has provided a safe haven for expression with room for personal growth to us... I believe I speak for the class when I say how proud we are to have created a community where others' opinions are valued and expression is cherished. The transformation of our classroom from a room full of strangers reluctant to speak in the first semester's discussions into a community engaged in discourse was magical... Free Minds has given us the confidence in our abilities to reach for our collective dream of formal education and cast aside our fear of overreaching. I leave Free Minds with a heavy heart. I don't imagine I will ever get an opportunity to learn in an environment as conducive as Free Minds again, but I feel our dream has been demystified, and we are able to achieve the formal education we, the Free Minds Class of 2014, desire. WE DID IT! --Michael Thibodeaux
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A program of Foundation Communities, in partnership with The University of Texas at Austin and Austin Community College, Free Minds offers a two-semester college course in the humanities for Central Texas adults who want to fulfill their intellectual potential and begin a new chapter in their lives.
Free Minds Project
Foundation Communities
3036 South 1st Street
Austin TX, 78704
Project Director: Vivé Griffith Program Coordinator: Amelia Pace-Borah Ph: 512-610-7961 F: 512-447-0288
www.FreeMindsAustin.org |
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