Napa Valley College: NVC Graduate Becomes Second Latina Mayor Of Woodland, CA

Press release from Napa Valley College:

2022-02-28

How does a young Latina woman make the journey from young Mexican immigrant to high school graduate, to community college graduate, to college dropout to holder of bachelor’s and master’s degrees, to parent, working professional and mayor of a California city of 63,000 people?

The answer, according to Mayra Vega: Hard work, giving back and asking for mentorship.

Vega and her family moved to Napa from Mexico when she was 5 years old. Three decades later, she is the second Latina mayor of Woodland, an agricultural city in Yolo County, up CA-113 from I-80.

Along the way, she says, she took advantage of opportunities, worked hard, had stops and starts, and yes, asked for advice through mentors.

“I went to Napa High School, and participated in Upward Bound, a program that was aimed at first-generation college students,” she says. “It made me take that first step on to the Napa Valley College campus and helped me to navigate what post high school might look like for me.”

She took an NVC Spanish class while still in high school, then enrolled full-time in the fall of 2003, after graduating from Napa High.

“There was an entire support system [at NVC],” she says. “A lot of tutoring, counseling … I was involved with Club Hispano Americano. I felt connected. I graduated with AAs in IGETC [UC required general ed transfer courses], social and behavioral sciences, natural sciences, and math.

“During those three years, I also got married and had my first child,” Vega continues. “The onsite childcare program made it possible for me to go to school and have a full-time job, otherwise there is no way I could have done it.”

Confident she was on her way, Vega enrolled at UC Davis as an economics major. But it wasn’t the experience she expected.

This press release was produced by Napa Valley College. The views expressed here are the author’s own.