Laurie Pelayo is a history major who will be graduating this semester and has worked at the Schauerman Library for over two decades.

What is your position at the college?

I’m a library media technician in cataloguing. Cataloging is the area that puts the books into the computer for the students to find.

How long have you been working at the college?

Twenty one years. I was a student for two years before that, so I’ve been here for 23 years.

When did you first attend here?

I started at El Camino in the fall of ’81. I got married and had kids, but took classes off and on while working full time. I was a student worker for two years from ’82 to ’84 and then got hired full-time in May of ’84.

What made you want to come back to college?

I returned last fall with two courses left to get my A.A. and I took both of them. I wanted them over with. It was kind of a twofold sort of thing. Personally, I wanted to get it done. My daughter, Lessa, is here attending classes full-time and working. I figured if she could do it, I could do it. Ultimately, she inspired me to finish.

What did you originally want to do?

Originally, I wanted to be a journalist. That was my goal in high school: to be in radio.

Are you walking at graduation with your daughter?

Yeah, we will both be. She’ll be sitting with the honor students; I won’t be.

What are some of the challenges you faced?

I didn’t see a lot of my family because on nights I had classes I just stayed at the college. I would study when I got home, and on lunch and breaks I would go to the computer labs. It was hard, but also easy, because I was more mature and knew what was expected of me. It was a really rough semester.

What has surprised you about your career and education at EC?

It can be done. It’s not as hard as it sounds, but I also did it as a part-time student, not as a full-time student.

What are your plans for the future?

At this point, I’m going to wait until my youngest one is a little older and then I’m considering transferring to another school to get my bachelor’s degree in history; but it won’t be right away-I’m going to get my children though school, first.