SWHM Guest: Louisa Bacio

Women’s History Month! Yeah! Today we have Louisa Bacio visiting and sharing a post with us. As always I tell guests to write about whatever they like, and I find the variety and breadth of topics so fascinating. Louisa is a first time guest to ALBTALBS, so we can meet her together! 😉

Cracking the Books
Louisa Bacio

The Big OneWhy go to college if you’re only going to get married and have kids?”

I’m the first woman in my family to graduate from college (tsk-tsk). I didn’t get married until I was 29 (old maid!). I did, however, live with someone for five years previously (for shame!). That didn’t work out (told you so).

Do you ever do things that maybe go against the family tradition? I can still hear my great-grandmother asking me the question above. After graduating high school, my parents move from Riverside, Calif., to Laguna Beach, and I went to junior college, a four-year university, and then decided to get not one, but two master’s degrees.

My father’s side of the family is Italian. My great-grandmother married at 15 to a man 10 years older, and started to have children right away. My grandmother never drove, or worked after she got hitched. Finally, by the time my aunt became a teen, she broke ground and got her driver’s license! Once her daughters were of a certain age, she also started working.

For me, though, it was all new territory. I’ve been fortunate to always know what I wanted to do – write. At an early age, I scribbled poetry, and got into yearbook and journalism in junior high and high school. My school studies followed the same path of journalism and English.

A Duel with DeathNow, in addition to writing, I’m a college professor. Along with the traditional on-campus work, I teach at the University of Phoenix online. About 90% or more of the students are female, and many are working, single mothers. Teaching has become my way of giving back. They’re able to get a good education, and a helping hand in the workforce, taking classes online.

It’s not an easy balance, and I understand.

Many of them are the first in their family to go for a degree, and they want to be good role models for their children. So often, I hear, “I want them to see how hard I worked,” and “make a better life for them.”

Why go to college if you’re only going to get married and have kids?”

Even if that’s “all” a woman ends up doing, and by no means am I putting down the responsibility of being a mother, think how much better of one you could be. I’m able to infuse my love of education into my two beautiful and smart daughters. They see what a woman can do – anything!

About Louisa Bacio: A Southern California native, Louisa Bacio can’t imagine living far away from the ocean. The multi-published author of erotic romance enjoys writing within all realms – from short stories to full-length novels.
Bacio shares her household with a supportive husband, two daughters growing “too fast,” and a multitude pet craziness: Two dogs, five fish tanks, an aviary, hamsters, rabbits and hermit crabs. In her other life, she teaches college classes in English, journalism and popular culture. Website. Facebook. Twitter.

So – what about you? Is this sentiment prevalent in your family? Did you bother with an advanced degree? I know the “trend” now is various skilled trades, which actually makes a lot (more?) sense to me … but then I’m just bitter about school and stuff. 😉 So spill! What was your experience like?

2 thoughts on “SWHM Guest: Louisa Bacio

  1. dholcomb1

    First one to go to college in my family! Paid my way, too–had some minor scholarships to help. One of my younger brothers has an associates–I have a BA! I did not go to college for the MRS. I did marry at guy I met at college–several years after graduation. I never made it to law school, but I did get my Paralegal certificate after college.

    Denise

    Reply

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