Army Veteran Rosa Ramirez Finds Her Footing at CSU Pueblo

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I retired from the Army on November 16, 2014. I worked as a food inspector in public health, and I wanted to keep working in medicine after I left. Before I enlisted, I had been a nurse assistant. While I was in uniform, I started a bachelor’s degree in healthcare management. I deployed in 2013, first to Kuwait and then to Afghanistan, where I supported medical operations.

My injuries started at basic training. I have high arches, and my military boots did not fit my feet. Over the years, my feet, ankles and nerves paid for it. I now have nerve damage in my hands and arms too. Pain follows me every day, and most people cannot see it.

After I retired, I tried to get certified as a medical assistant. I had taken a practice test and passed it with flying colors. When I told the state agency about my disability and my medical restrictions, they said I could not sit for the test because I could not work with patients. I was depressed for five and a half years after that. I had lost two dreams, the military and medicine, and I did not know what to do next.

In May 2020, during the pandemic, I went back to work at Memorial Hospital North in Colorado Springs as a housekeeper. I am bilingual, so supervisors kept pulling me off my job to translate for patients. Nobody paid me extra for it. I worked on the women’s floor, where mothers in labor and mothers with high-risk pregnancies carried fears they could not express. I have raised children, and I understand that fear. Those translation calls changed my plan. I decided I wanted to become a professor and teach doctors and nurses how to communicate with the Hispanic women they serve.

A counselor who had graduated from CSU told me about a university in Pueblo, so I did not have to drive to Denver. My husband and I applied together. I got accepted first, and then he did.

I felt the connection from orientation day. I walked into the ballroom and saw students of every background, age and ability mixing like they had known each other for years. I was 44 years old, older than most of the students in my group. Student leaders wore red shirts and black pants and welcomed us. One of them sat down at our table and opened her arms to us. That moment made me feel I belonged here.

School has not always been easy. Some of my younger classmates and I disagreed in class, especially about friendships. If a friend is toxic to me, I step away from that person. Some of the younger students saw it differently and argued that loyalty comes first. Those debates taught me that generations see the world differently. My experience is valid. It is not the only valid way to see things.

My professors have helped me more than I can measure. My disability does not show, so I rely on them to understand what I need. One professor from Puerto Rico, who is also a veteran, made me feel at ease when I felt intimidated. Another professor asked me directly, “What do you need?” She offered more time on assignments. She said it was okay to step out of class if I started to break down. She told me I could talk to her about anything. Veterans grieve the end of their service long before they are ready to let it go. Hearing a professor say, “You can do this,” meant a great deal to me.

I finish my degrees this December and walk in May. My goal is a Ph.D. in sociology, with a focus on dialects and cultures. I was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and I was raised in New York, so I speak with a mix of accents. People in the United States often assume every Spanish speaker uses the same language. We do not. That question pushed me toward social linguistics.

CSU Pueblo does not offer the program I want, so I am looking at schools in Washington state, South Carolina and upstate New York. I also looked at Harvard. Its sociology program did not match what I study, so I crossed it off.

I am a McNair Scholar at CSU Pueblo, and that program is where I have done my research. The program honors physicist and Challenger astronaut Dr. Ronald E. McNair. It gives me a faculty mentor, research time and the graduate school preparation I need to reach a doctorate. The university launched its program in August 2024 with a five-year, $1.25 million federal grant to support 25 students annually. Presenting my work to other researchers taught me that my lived experience belongs in academic research. I plan to keep doing that work.