
2 minute read
Daniels Scholar Embraces Life as an Educator
By Robert Graham
Recent alumna Claudia Campos (BA 16) graduated from Texico High School in 2012 and entered ENMU as a sophomore. The Elementary Education/ Special Education major who minored in bilingual education and math is a bilingual kindergarten teacher at La Casita Elementary School in Clovis, NM.
“My teachers were my role models. I saw the passion that they had for helping others, and I saw myself,” says Claudia.
The newly minted educator is also a Daniels Scholar, an award named after World War II veteran, Golden Gloves champion and entrepreneur Bill Daniels. Claudia was one of 250 students selected for the scholarship from New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado— four states to which Bill Daniels had meaningful connections.

“I work to exemplify Mr. Daniels’ message to ‘make a difference one individual at a time’ through my work as an educator,” Claudia explains.
Matriculating efficiently through ENMU, Claudia was a member of Voices of Inclusive and Committed Education Students (VOICES), a premiere student organization on campus responsible for numerous educational-community outreach initiatives.
Claudia volunteered at the Family Math and Science Night at James Elementary in Portales for the duration of her college career. She was also tasked with selecting the quotation that her organization engraved on their ENMU stadium brick: “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself” by John Dewey.
“That quote means a lot to me because I firmly believe that it’s never too late to learn and that we learn every day,” says Claudia.
In addition to her role as a well-rounded educator, Claudia is well-traveled.
“Zacatecas and Guanajuato are two places I frequently travel to in Mexico. A benefit of my travels is that I have learned to see the differences in the Mexican and U.S. education systems, which I think makes me much more aware as an educator,” she says.
Already, Claudia is considering graduate school in either Reading Instruction or Administration. She appreciates her support network that includes her former advisor and ENMU professor Geni Flores, advising center director Susan Cramp, her husband Victor, daughter Elizabel, sister Jennifer and parents Heriberto and Estela Campos.