Mother of Four Never Gave Up On Her College Dreams
When Sabine Glore crosses the stage to accept her college diploma, it will serve as a testament to how important it is to never give up on what you want.
The 56-year-old emigrated to America from her native Germany and got married in 1985. In the United States, she seized an opportunity to pursue a lifelong goal and on May 19, she will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies.
“Earning a university degree has always been my dream,” Glore said, “but I couldn’t study in Germany because of gender inequalities.”
Shortly after coming to the United States, she enrolled at Golden West College to take general education courses.
While at Golden West, Glore started a family, which resulted in her taking a break from college. In 1987, she decided to put college on hold and focus on raising her children.
“Thankfully, at the time, my husband had a pretty good job so we managed to live off one income,” she said.
Over time, she alleges that her ex-husband became abusive, which forced her to leave home.
“The older he became, the worse it got,” she said. “He also spent two years in Iraq, which didn’t help. When he returned from the war, it was really bad, and I realized I couldn’t live like that anymore.”
Glore became homeless with her four children for a couple of months before finding an apartment in Buena Park.
“The first thing I did after I left was apply for college,” she said. “In 2015, I started taking classes at Cypress College and then transferred to Cal Poly Pomona.”
Today, three of Glore’s children are university graduates and she is graduating with honors from the Kellogg Honors College, a competitive academic program at CPP that typically admits incoming freshman at a 3.96 GPA and transfer students at a 3.80 GPA.
Honors students receive priority registration, individual advising and mentoring. They take Honors sections for most of their required courses. They also participate in community service and attend local, state and national conferences as well as cultural events at no cost.
“Being a part of the Honors College has been a great privilege and honor for me,” she said. “I enjoyed the small classes, which were no more than 20 students, and sometimes there were only ten. This provided a great learning experience and more time to engage with my professors and get to know my peers on a more personal level.”
After graduation, Glore plans to substitute teach and attend graduate school to become a community college professor.
“I’m really proud that I’ve managed to finish my education because there were a few times when I wanted to quit due to financial hardship,” she said. “Thankfully, there were so many amazing people at CPP to help me get through. From faculty to staff, they went above and beyond the call of duty to make my college experience very positive and uplifting.”
“I’m such a firm believer in finishing school,” said Glore. “No matter how long it takes, even if you have to take one class at a time, never give up.”