Update (Feb. 14, 2017): Mr. Rodolfo Castillo has been named the 2017 Outstanding Continuing Education Student by the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA), following a nationwide search.

Mr. Castillo was previously recognized as an Outstanding Nontraditional Student in UPCEA’s West Region, covering institutions in the western U.S. and Canada.

Sacramento State President Robert S. Nelsen personally wrote a letter in support of Mr. Castillo’s nomination, calling him “the personification of what it means to fight for your dreams and persevere through challenges.”  Read his letter in its entirety and below is a profile of Mr. Castillo as he achieved his lifelong dream.

(Published: June 21, 2016)  As he went about his custodial duties Rodolfo Castillo would notice the preschool teachers, how they taught a lesson and held a four-year-old’s attention, how they comforted a child in need and nurtured self-control. “I want to study what they’re doing,” he told himself, “and I want to do the same thing.”

He knew he had a lifetime of experience as an immigrant, an English language learner, and a U.S. Navy veteran. And he knew he could give them something extra in the way of “fatherly advice and a grandfather’s advice, too.”

“exemplifies everything that is important and good about immigration” – Sacramento State President Robert S. Nelsen 

This father of four and grandfather of six enrolled in a long-distance degree program through Sacramento State, which he completed while living and working in San Diego. In fact, just hours before the commencement ceremony, Castillo stepped foot on the campus for the first time. “It will be a wonderful moment for our family when he crosses that stage,” said his daughter Eleonor Castillo. Along with Eleonor, Castillo’s wife, youngest son and a grandson flew to Sacramento for the ceremony.

Castillo graduated with honors, magna cum laude, with his bachelor’s degree in child development. President Robert S. Nelsen spoke of Castillo’s journey during the College of Education commencement on May 20. “A story that I can hardly believe,” he told the audience.

“Mr. Rodolfo Castillo is from the Philippines and he joined the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War,” Nelsen explained. “Mr. Rudy, as the children call him, is from San Diego…and for the last three years he’s been working in an elementary school during the day while taking classes at night at age 75.”

Castillo, as the oldest graduate in the Class of 2016, plans to teach preschool for another five years, and as an immigrant “exemplifies everything that is important and good about immigration,” Nelsen said.

Castillo left behind poverty in the Philippines and by serving in the navy became eligible for U.S. citizenship. During his tour of duty he survived a gun battle off Vietnam and “discrimination in the armed forces,” according to Castillo, with menial jobs doled out because of his skin color. Yet he endured, says Eleonor, because “like other immigrants, my parents came to this country with hope.”

After a 28-year career in the navy and not yet ready to retire, Castillo applied for a job in the San Diego Unified School District, where he started as a custodian. In 2007, he earned an associate degree and was welcomed aboard as a preschool teacher. “I give them warm affection just like a parent,” he says, and his wife Elvira agrees he’s good with children. “He’s so mellow. He sits with them and he cares for them. It makes a difference.”

Yet teaching opportunities were passing him by, largely due to the Head Start program requiring a bachelor’s degree for preschool applicants. So while others his age were already retired, Castillo, in his 70s, went back to school.

“Rudy has done extremely well redefining how we can achieve our dreams” – Professor Idara Essien-Wood

“It was a challenging journey for him,” says Eleonor, who started her own teaching career at the same elementary school where her father now works. English is Castillo’s second language and Tagalog his first. Castillo remembers how the academic writing was “too rigorous and difficult to do” in the beginning, how he often read assignments three or four times “so it will stay in my brain.” Some nights he only got a few hours of sleep, staying up late doing homework.

On a particularly challenging assignment Castillo finally confided to his daughter, “I’m so old. I can’t do this.” And just as she’s done with her college students, Eleonor coached him through his research and writing. “You have to do it,” she encouraged him, “and you’ll find a way to do it differently.” She didn’t give him the answers either, but flipped the situation around and asked him: “What do you say to a child who is frustrated?”

Child development professor Idara Essien-Wood taught the classes in San Diego and supplemented the videotaped lectures by Sac State faculty. Castillo’s immigrant journey “is beyond beautiful,” she says. “Rudy has done extremely well redefining how we can achieve our dreams,” and in him she discovered “a compassionate and loving person and very welcoming. Kids feel that.”

“If Mr. Rudy could do it, I could do it” – Classmate Glinda Copridge

A classmate, Glinda Copridge, worked in the same school district as Castillo. “We don’t have many men teachers and he’s quite effective in the class,” she says. “Children really listen to Mr. Rudy. They find him interesting like a grandfather figure.” Castillo is at least 30 to 45 years older than everyone else in the class, and Copridge would sometimes remind herself, ”If Mr. Rudy could do it, I could do it.”

Earning a college degree was truly a family affair. Castillo’s wife earned her nursing degree years ago. His two sons graduated from West Point, one of his daughters from Point Loma Nazarene University, and Eleonor is working on her doctoral degree in education policy at the University of Maryland. Castillo has now completed the circle, the final member of his family to earn a bachelor’s degree. “It’s what he’s always wanted,” says grandson Alejandro Armendariz, a college freshman at UC Irvine, who attended the ceremony.

“Children come first in the Filipino culture,” says Eleonor, and “my parents sacrificed to get us through college.” Now her father can finally say, “It’s my time.” 

For more information, please visit the Bachelor of Arts in Child Development degree completion program web page. -Sharon Ito