When Lianet Moreno Lozano was notified she had won $10,000 from the Sewell Family of Companies, she didn’t think it was real.
Lozano, who is from Matanzas, Cuba, said they would never do anything like this where she is from.
Odessa College announced Oct. 3 that fall enrollment had reached 10,000 students. To celebrate the achievement, the college, in partnership with the Sewell Family of Companies, said they would be giving away $10,000 to one enrolled student.
As part of this celebration, on Oct. 24, OC selected 10 finalists from a pool of more than 10,000 students. The finalists were invited to attend a grand finale event on Oct. 29, where one winner was awarded the $10,000 prize.
Lozano spoke through a translator, David Zubiate, director for Business and Community Partnerships at OC. She did not attend the Oct. 29 event because she didn’t believe it was possible or true.
Her friends finally convinced her it was true. She also got a call from Zubiate about her win.
She had “a million feelings.” Lozano also was nervous, super excited and ecstatic.
She added that she plans to invest the money in completing her education at OC. Lozano noted that you can’t get a higher education in Cuba if you don’t agree with the system that is in place.
Lozano, a Permian High School graduate, wants to spend the money in the best possible way to honor her parents and the sacrifice they made for her. They are here with her, along with her aunt, Nidia Moreno.
In Cuba, even if you put in the effort, you’re smart and work hard, it doesn’t guarantee the opportunity to get a higher education.
She is also grateful to the college for being so open to a Hispanic woman and having the chance to get the higher education she’s getting at OC coming from a country like Cuba.
Lozano is a pre-nursing student. She understands English but isn’t entirely comfortable speaking it.
Her dream has always been to be in health sciences and to be a nurse. Ultimately, she would like to become a registered nurse and then a heart surgeon or a neurosurgeon.
She is expected to graduate from OC in about a year and a half.
She has taken some core courses and finished anatomy and physiology 1 and 2.
Along with taking courses, Lozano also is working part-time at a clinic so she has to put in maximum effort.
“I’m happy to have this money to break down that barrier and make my dream come true,” Lozano said through Zubiate.
She has wanted to go into medicine for as long as she can remember. Lozano loved the idea of the profession and how it heals people. When her grandmother was ill, Lozano would tell her she was going to find a cure or a medicine to heal her.
“I’ve just always had that heart of healing others and helping others,” she said.
She was looking at other universities when she was at Permian, but she had a close friend suggest she look at OC. When she came to OC, they were very supportive of her.
“I saw it as a perfect way to begin her career in the health sciences,” Lozano said.
She added that she loves Odessa College “100 percent” and she highly recommends it to any and all of her friends.
Lozano said she likes Odessa and its comfortable small-town feel.
“She loves how kind people are, the kindness that she sees and just how everyone is so kind,” she said.
She added that she plans to stay.