Getting a degree would help me and my family so much financially. I want to be a good role model for my kids. I want them to see me go to school, to take advantage of opportunities and to be successful.
Dalia Cerda knows poverty.
Growing up in Guadalajara, Mexico, she slept on a dusty floor of a tiny house. At night she could see the sky through the flimsy plastic roof of her family’s home.
“We were very poor,” she recalled.
Today, Cerda is making sure her two sons never experience the same hardships.
After working in a nail salon for nine years, she started her own home remodeling business and enrolled at Milwaukee Area Technical College to get her High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED). This month she earned six credits through the college’s Integrated Education and Training (IET) program. She then plans to earn an associate degree in Business Management from MATC.
“Getting a degree would help me and my family so much financially,” said Cedra, who moved to Milwaukee from Mexico when she was 7 years old. “I want to be a good role model for my kids. I want them to see me go to school, to take advantage of opportunities and to be successful.”
In the past, success was fleeting for Cerda. She attended Nathan Hale High School in West Allis but left without getting a diploma. Soon after that her parents lost their home. So as the oldest of three daughters, Cerda went to work. For more than a year, she worked at the Garden-Fresh Foods factory on 12th Street from 3 a.m. to 1 p.m., then waited tables from 5 p.m. to midnight.
She helped her parents find and buy a new house. Her mother found her a job at a nail salon. “I loved it,” Cerda said. “But the thought of getting my high school diploma was always in my mind.”
Twice she started the process and twice she gave up. She was working long hours at the nail salon and was caring for two sons. “I was a single mom; I was working and trying to do school,” she said. “I would get tired and then get discouraged.”
Early in 2025, she and a longtime friend started a home remodeling business called Crafted Spaces Construction. He does most of the construction work and Cerda handles the paperwork. In June, she started MATC’s HSED program and began office technology courses in the IET program.
On Dec. 9, she was one of 14 students to receive certificates at a ceremony at the MATC Education Center at Walker’s Square.
“Dalia has worked hard,” said Lisett Roman, IET program coordinator. “She is going to school while being a mom and while working, and that is never easy. We are so proud of what she has been able to accomplish.”
Dr. Josephine Gomez, the college’s dean of community education and strategic engagement, encouraged Cerda and the other students to continue their educational journeys.
“This is just the start,” Dr. Gomez said. “IET is not easy. It takes discipline, curiosity and resilience. You have shown all those and are ready to take the next step. We’re here to support your dream.”
Cerda credited her classmates and instructors, especially Cindy Richardson, for her success.
“Our class has become very close,” Cerda said. “When someone gets down and thinks about quitting, the rest of us encourage them to keep going. Plus, MATC has some amazing instructors,” she said. “You can tell by how they work with us that they really love their jobs.
Cerda added, “It has been challenging. With two boys, it seems I have to be everywhere all the time. But I have told myself plenty of times that I will not give up. I want to make something better for myself and for my family.”
Learn about MATC’s Integrated Education and Training (IET) program
About MATC: 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. More than 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 — many that prepare students for jobs immediately upon completion and others that provide 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.