
More than 20 years after leaving school to support herself, Dawn Branscombe earned a diploma from the Newman-Crows Landing alternative education program.
NEWMAN – Like many of her fellow graduates in the Class of 2013, life circumstances led Dawn Branscombe to take a detour from formal education before returning to complete her studies.
Hers, however, was a bit longer than most.
More than two decades after Branscombe dropped out of high school, she proudly accepted her Newman-Crows Landing Adult Education diploma on May 29 and, at 39 years of age, became a high school graduate with a new world of opportunities before her.
“That I finally accomplished it….after so many years actually did it, I’m proud of myself,” the new graduate exclaimed. “I will be able to go further with a lot more than I could have in the past (with a high school diploma).”
Returning to school seemed an unlikely outcome for many years, Branscombe acknowledged.
She was 16 and living in Modesto when life circumstances forced her to leave school.
Faced with a difficult home life, Branscombe said, she had to go to work in order to feed herself.
She attempted to arrange home studies in order to juggle job and schooling, Branscombe explained, but was told by her principal that she had to attend classes.
“Necessities had to come first, so I never went back,” she recalled.
Life’s path took her away from education, into parenthood, through a failed marriage and into a second.
The thought of returning to school crossed her mind occasionally, she acknowledged, but for a long time that prospect seemed dim.
“For a time, I forgot about it and moved on with life. When I had my daughter Alyssa and she started going to school I thought, you know, maybe I should go back and finish. Finally it was like, okay, I’m going to do it.”
Branscombe, who has lived in Newman since 1995, credits her support network with motivating her to go back to school and helping her through the rough spots she encountered.
Husband Dave was instrumental, she said, encouraging her to go back to school and providing support through her renewed educational journey.
She said the alternative education staff – including teacher Louie Dominguez and secretaries Carole Silva and Debbie Castillo – made her success possible.
“They were absolutely wonderful,” Branscombe shared. “They went out of their way to make sure I had what I needed.”
Branscombe had left high school early in her sophomore year – and was nowhere near the credit requirements for graduation.
“I basically needed 185 or 190 credits of the 210 that they required,” she said. “I just started, and worked little by little. At first I was going for my real estate license and diploma at the same time, but I figured the diploma was more important, so I dropped the real estate.”
Branscombe completed some of her studies in the 2011-12 school year, but estimates that 90 percent of her work took place in the recently-completed school year.
The on-line courses were challenging.
“I couldn’t believe how much things had changed. It was just very difficult to pick up and understand some of it” she reflected. “I hadn’t taken any proper English courses in 20 years. There were a couple of times, especially with the English courses, when I was like, I can’t do this.”
Algebra was another challenge…..but foreign exchange students Alice Fogliacco and Jennifer Petersen, who stayed with the Branscombe family this year, helped out.
Even fourth-grader Alyssa pitched in, assisting mom out with suffixes and prefixes.
In addition to accumulating her credits, Branscombe also was required to pass the high school exit exam.
She completed her studies – and has both a sense of satisfaction and broader range of opportunities to go along with her new diploma.
Her options were sometimes limited because she had not completed high school, Branscombe said, but now new doors are opening.
She has, for example, worked as a volunteer crossing guard supervisor and yard duty at Hunt Elementary, where Alyssa just completed fourth grade.
“Now that I have my high school diploma, they can hire me,” said Branscombe.
She also works as a coordinator with a program that places foreign exchange students.
Hers is a story which underscores the fact that it is never too late to complete an education, she reflected.
“It is important to continue,” Branscombe emphasized, “no matter what your problems are.”