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San Diego County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
Smart Voter Full Biography for Eileen Fernandez

Candidate for
Board Member; Vista Unified School District

This information is provided by the candidate

1. Married a disabled Vietnam Vet.
2. Became single when our child was young and raised her on my own.
3. Taught her how to read when she was 3-yrs-old.
4. Volunteered in her elementary classrooms in Vista until I began working full-time.
5. Encouraged her studies and stayed involved.
6. Made sure she kept up her grades while she participated in volleyball, the orchestra playing saxophone, ballet and other dance forms, AWANA, various church activities, theater.
7. Managed an apartment complex in addition to working a full-time job as I raised her.
8. While she was on a "sabbatical" from school for a year after graduating with honors from Vista High in 2007, I worked diligently to make sure all bases were covered for her to attend college. I completed taxes for both of us, FAFSA forms, scholarship applications, VA forms for a College Fee Waiver, and continued a seemingly impossible search for her dad's military records for a Chapter 35 claim after he passed away.

Many single parents must do these same things, but an added challenge for us was that she was in Mexico for five of those months with a student ministry group and some deadlines were missed or barely met as we tried to keep up communication. She often had no access to the internet or phones, and mail was only delivered every two weeks.
9. The efforts from both of us paid off and she is now a freshman at Cal State San Marcos, with a major in Special Education Teaching!
10. This really is my biography because helping her receive a quality education has been such a priority for me that my own personal stats pale in comparison.

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 27, 2008 21:48
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