Story by Eric Jay Toll/Special to GCU News
Tuesday slideshow / Tuesday livestream
Selina Ravae Cardenas-Toledo went back to work bartending right after having her daughter. She was making great money. But “I still felt like there was something missing and that I knew I wasn't going to be doing this for the rest of my life,” she said.
That realization set the young, single mother from California on a mission toward a bachelor's in sociology, a master's in mental health and wellness, and, as of Tuesday, a doctorate, all online from Grand Canyon University. She received her Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership With an Emphasis in Behavioral Health and is among GCU's 2024-25 graduating class of 31,104 students, 25,435 of them who studied online.
Cardenas-Toledo continues up the career ladder as a children’s social worker for Los Angeles County.
“I feel I’ve made a statement,” she said. “I’m not only part of the 1% of the population with (doctorates), I’m part of the 1% of Ph.D.s who are Latinas. I wanted to show the way for others, too.”
Cardenas-Toledo said her mother, who raised two daughters on her own, was the role model for her to achieve her goals and dreams.
“I never wanted to struggle with my child,” she said. “I can't just get another job. I can't just go into something else I need to do.”
She said furthering her education was the only way to do more and start a career. At that time, her sister was attending GCU on the Phoenix campus. Her sister referred her to the college so that they could each receive a school T-shirt. Then, the former community college attendee’s life changed when she scrolled through her email one night and saw the referral from her sister, Mariah.
“I always knew I wanted to get into some sort of social service capacity,” she said. “I saw the bachelor’s in sociology. I put in my information, went to sleep, and the next morning, I received a call from a counselor. She was so incredibly, just amazing. So empathetic.”
With a child to support on her own, she was not going to be able to attend GCU in person. She said they explored it, but with a young daughter, it wasn’t feasible to live on campus.
“I started online classes and I just didn’t stop,” Cardenas-Toledo said. “It was never easy, but it was just more flexible for me. I still worked, but … there was some light at the end of the tunnel for me. I was actually doing something that I enjoyed doing. I felt like I was starting to find my purpose.”
Even though her academic career was online, she had to power through childhood trauma that also included an identity crisis with her Latino heritage.
“If you told me 10 years ago that I would actually be graduating with my doctorate, I probably would have been like, ‘you're lying,’” Cardenas-Toledo said. “Since my bachelor’s (program), I would always go and watch the commencement ceremonies every year just to give me motivation.”
She needed the motivation. Sometimes, she just wanted to quit because it seemed too much.
“Aside from going to school, working full time, being a mom, and dealing with all those challenges, it wasn't easy. I would just watch the commencement ceremonies,” Cardenas-Toledo said. “I remember they were introducing the doctoral candidates, and I thought, wow, how amazing would that be? It wasn't leaving my mind. After commencement, I went back to my hotel and (my fiancé, now husband) at the time (said), ‘Why wouldn't you think you would be capable?’ And I'm like, ‘I don't know.’
She thought, at first, she was not “deserving” of earning a Ph.D. Her then fiancé asked her, ‘Why wouldn’t you just continue? It’s something you want.’
“I remember thinking, ‘Why am I counting myself out?’ Why wouldn't I be able to embark on my own doctoral journey?” she recounted. “I didn't know how hard it was going to be, and I didn't know it was going to take so long. I didn't think about all the logistics of it, but the next day I just sent an e-mail to … a counselor. I was like, you know what? I'm going to do it. Yeah, I'm going to.”
She said that GCU helped her map out her education program and find her purpose from the beginning. Cardenas-Toledo believes she transcended into the person she was always meant to be: a mother, a mentor and an advocate to help people with her story so they don’t count themselves out.
She touts the flexibility and how GCU helps students balance their lives and pursue a path from the array of programs for something that interests them. She encourages anyone she can to consider returning to school.
“You can be a mom, you can be someone who works full time, and you can also pursue higher education," Cardenas-Toledo said. “So it's been. It's definitely been an amazing journey, and I have nothing but good things to say about what GCU has done for me.”
Phoenix-based Eric Jay Toll is an award-winning freelance journalist and photographer covering business, the economy and travel. His work has appeared in such publications as the Phoenix Business Journal and USA Today.
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