Completing the IET program and getting my HSED means everything. It means that I can do anything.
For more than two decades, Mildred Ramos kept a secret.
As a teenager, the Milwaukee native cleaned hotel rooms, hauled away trash and waited tables. Later, she had two children, a boy and a girl. Every once and a while she had the chance to get a better-paying job.
Since she didn’t have a high school diploma, she lied.
“As long as the place I wanted to work didn’t ask to see it, I was in the clear,” Ramos recalled.
In 2007, she took a job with H&R Block, a national tax preparation firm. She has done well and has a real chance to advance within the company. So her self-confessed dishonesty, even if only by omission, needed to stop.
“I find myself wanting to have that validation,” Ramos said. “In the past, I settled. But now I don’t want to be overlooked for a position because I don’t have education.”
Thanks to Milwaukee Area Technical College, Ramos this month earned her High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED) and college credit through the Integrated Education & Training (IET) program where students take college courses while simultaneously completing their alternative high school credential, like a HSED or General Education Development (GED).
Ramos was among 19 MATC students who received IET career pathway completion certificates in Healthcare Customer Service and Office Technology on December 10, 2024, at the MATC Education Center at Walker’s Square.
“You have shown it’s never too late to invest in yourself and your future,” Dr. Sadique Isahaku, executive dean of academic strategy and innovation, said at the ceremony. “Never underestimate the power of your dreams and your belief in education.”
“You have written a story of bravery, resilience and excellence,” added Dr. Clavon Byrd, associate dean of Community Education. “Taking college courses while finishing your high school credential is brave.”
Ramos dropped out of Milwaukee Public Schools’ South Division High School in 1999 after falling in love with a boy and running away from home.
“I was having problems with my mom,” Ramos said. “We argued every day. One day I had enough and I left. It was winter break at school and when it was time to go back, I just didn’t.”
Eventually she broke up with the guy, moved back home and took whatever jobs she could — as long as she didn’t have to show her high school diploma. A quarter century later, she was ready to come clean and show herself, and her children, the importance of education.
“I wanted my kids to know what they can do,” Ramos said. “I want to show them what is possible, to show them that if Momma can do it, so can they.”
At first she signed up for GED classes at the Oak Creek Campus. Then she heard about the HSED 5.09, a competency-based high school completion program that requires students to demonstrate proficiency in communication, social studies, science, math, health, civics and employability. She also enrolled in the IET program.
“I wanted to get my high school diploma as fast as I could,” Ramos said. “The workload was a lot, but I knew I was working toward my goals.”
Ramos will get her HSED on December 17, 2024. With both her diploma and college credits in hand, she plans to return to MATC to get an associate degree in Business Management and eventually a bachelor’s degree in business.
Meanwhile, her daughter, 18, is enrolled in MATC’s Laboratory Technician program, while her son, 20, will start classes in the Computer Simulation and Gaming program in January.
“Completing the IET program and getting my HSED means everything. It means that I can do anything,” Ramos said. “I don’t need to sit around and wait to see if I can do something. Now I can choose if I want to do it. And that’s important to me.”
Learn more about MATC’s IET program
About MATC: As Wisconsin’s largest technical college and one of the most diverse two-year institutions in the Midwest, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a key driver of southeastern Wisconsin’s economy and has provided innovative education in the region since 1912. Nearly 30,000 students per year attend the college’s four campuses and community-based sites or learn online. MATC offers affordable and accessible education and training opportunities that empower and transform lives in the community. The college offers more than 180 academic programs; and transfer options leading to bachelor’s degrees with more than 40 four-year colleges and universities. Overwhelmingly, MATC graduates build careers and businesses in southeastern Wisconsin. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
