By Chris Cunningham

"As a child, I learned to dream big, but not having an education slowly buried (my) confidence in dreaming big," says Lane Community College alumnus Teodora Wences.

When she arrived in Eugene from Mexico in 1999, she spoke just a few words of English. Even so, she took a bold step forward and registered for fall classes in the college's English as a Second Language program.

Wences, 40, now a licensed Realtor® at Windermere Real Estate in Eugene, says she sensed that Lane's staff really cared, as they patiently listened to and guided her.

As a student in Lane's Adult Basic and Secondary Education High School Program, and while completing course requirements for her AA degree, she knew Lane's instructors wanted her to succeed.

"But, John Steel and Jody Larson took the extra time to help me reach my potential. And, public speaking instructor, Karen Krumrey-Fulks, also was instrumental to my success."

Lane "gives students the mental muscle to move forward in (their) lives," Wences says.

After she earned her AA degree in 2006, she was eager to launch a business career, an interest she had developed during school, when she bought, refurbished and sold homes, with her husband.

With real-world experience in the housing market, Wences decided to take the next logical step and enroll in Lane's real estate program, a decision she hasn't regretted.

Since then, Wences has taught a class called Universal Design Concepts—housing for all ages and abilities—through the Continuing Education program. She says one of her current goals is "to start a housing project where baby-boomers and seniors can age-in-place in the comfort of their own homes."

She says, "Now that my confidence has been restored, my big dream is to become the leading realtor in universal design concepts ... and to be of good (service) to the community."

Wences says, "Lane believed in me and made me believe in myself."