A 2021 graduate of Northeast Community College is now “living the dream” – teaching students to love language through a dual language program in the Fremont Public Schools.
“I was the little girl who always wanted to play school,” said Ashley Pena. “And something that really inspired me was language.”
Ashley’s first language was Spanish, so she grew up going to ELL (English Language Learner) classes.
“I thought that one day, I would love to teach students to love their language and practice their language.”
Ashley has aunts in Mexico who are teachers, and her family would visit them in the summer.
“I loved going to their classrooms,” she said, “and I thought that maybe someday I could go there and teach English to those students.”
Ashley graduated from Norfolk Senior High in 2019, and continuing her education was not an easy choice.
“I was a first-generation college student,” she said. “My parents didn’t understand what college was like. At first, they were not as supportive as I wanted them to be. It was all new to them. They didn’t understand what a scholarship was. They thought I was getting myself into a lot of debt.”
Scholarships were a big help to Ashley in her college career.
“I think if I had not gotten all of the scholarships I got the first year, it would have been too expensive for me. I don’t know how I would have made it through college.”
When choosing a college to start her journey, Ashley wanted to stay close to home.
“I felt I wasn’t ready to be out of my bubble yet,” she said. “Northeast was a good fit. It was in Norfolk, so I was able to commute from my house and save myself some money, but also I was able to connect with different types of people because Northeast is very small, but very diverse.”
At Northeast, Ashley was part of TRIO SSS, a federally funded program that provides support for students who are first generation, economically disadvantaged, or disabled. A high school guidance counselor first introduced Ashley to the TRIO program.
“TRIO really helped me find a guide to things like – where do I get my books, where can I ask about financial aid, how can I learn about future things like jobs, how to write a resume, how to budget my money, how to get a credit card, all of that adulting stuff.”
At Northeast, Ashley said she “really cherished” two particular instructors, Mary O’Boyle and Haley Mattison.
“Mary O’Boyle helped me learn more about the professional side of education and being creative,” Ashley said. “Haley Mathison was fun, energetic. She was the teacher who said that we were going to have fun in class, but we were also going to learn.”
Ashley’s first semester at Northeast was fairly normal, but spring 2020 brought COVID and all of its restrictions. The rest of her classes at Northeast were online. She said she did get to walk across the stage in May of 2021 to get her associate’s degree, but she had to wear a mask.
Most colleges have a TRIO SSS program, so Ashley was automatically eligible for the same support when she transferred to the University of Nebraska-Kearney to complete work on her bachelor’s degree. She graduated from UNK in December of 2023.
After graduating from UNK, Ashley was hired as a third-grade dual language teacher in the Fremont Public Schools. Her classroom in 2024-25 had 23 students who learned in both English and Spanish. She said her plans are eventually to work on her masters’ degree, but for now, she is happy with her job.
‘It’s been worth it,” she said of all the effort needed to realize her dream. “At the end of the day, you made a happy little person smile, you taught a happy little person to write their name in cursive, you taught them to multiply, how to be happy, how to relax their emotions. A teacher plays lots of roles.”
Ashley said she tries to be a role model for her younger siblings. One brother has graduated from the Northeast welding program. Another brother and sister will be in middle school and junior high this fall.
“I try to help them understand that we can be someone in life,” Ashley said, “and we can go to college, and we can go for our dreams.”
Ashley’s advice for other students struggling to reach their goals is to put forth effort.
“If you are not putting any effort into your dreams or goals,” she said, “you won’t get where you need to go.”
And Ashley’s parents?
“They are very proud of me now,” she said. “They say, ‘My daughter is a teacher, my daughter teaches in Spanish, my daughter is bilingual.’”
Any student interested in learning more about Northeast Community College may visit northeast.edu/admissions.
Northeast Community College encourages all alumni to share their stories by visiting northeast.edu/giving/alumni.
ID: Ashley Pena
Please Note: This article is part of a series of features dedicated to sharing the significant success of students through Northeast Community College’s federally-funded TRiO Student Support Services (SSS) program, a program that is currently facing elimination in President Trump’s proposed FY 2026 budget.
A program for low-income, first-generation students and individuals with disabilities, Northeast’s TRiO SSS program stands as one of the most successful in the nation, boasting a 98% fall-to-fall persistence rate. In addition, 88% of Northeast TRiO SSS students graduate, compared to the national average of 39% for all community college students. Additionally, 98% of Northeast’s TRiO students maintain a GPA of 2.0 or higher.
Members of the public are asked to consider contacting their Congressional offices to voice their concerns about cuts or elimination of important higher education programs such as TRiO and Pell grants.
To view all the stories, graphics and photos in this series, please click here to be linked to the Northeast website.
https://northeast.edu/giving/feature-stories
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