Maritza Rivera dropped out of college 23 years ago to raise her son. She returned to campus in time for them to graduate on the same day.
NEWARK -- In the summer of 1993, Maritza Rivera was working a full-time job while raising two young sons and going to college part time.
A political science major, Rivera hoped to take a few classes each semester, earn a degree from Montclair State University and attend law school, she said. But that all changed when she found out she was pregnant.
"Having a new baby takes a lot of time for a mom," said Rivera, who stopped taking classes that summer. "I really didn't think I was going to ever go back to school."
On Wednesday, 23 years after she walked away from her dream of becoming a lawyer, Rivera donned a black cap and gown at Montclair State's commencement ceremony after finally earning her degree in political science.
Michael Ruiz and his mother Maritza Rivera at Montclair State University Commencement 2016 held at the Prudential Center in Newark. 5/25/16 (Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) Her 22-year-old son, Michael Ruiz, stood beside her at the Prudential Center in his own cap and gown after completing a bachelor's degree in science and biology.
"It's double special," Rivera, 52, said before the ceremony. "Not only did I finish what I wanted to do but also my son, my baby, is finishing his first four years of college."
Rivera and Ruiz, both of Garfield, didn't plan to graduate on the same day, they said.
Rivera, who is divorced from Ruiz' father, raised her three sons in Passaic while working various jobs in payroll or accounting for local businesses, she said. She never imagined returning to college until she got laid off in 2013, she said.
As she looked for work, Rivera saw that many employers wanted someone with a college degree, she said. By re-enrolling at Montclair State, Rivera extended her unemployment benefits while securing that coveted degree.
"Everybody asks for a degree nowadays to do anything," Rivera said.
Rivera returned to school full-time in the fall of 2013 and kept applying for jobs, she said. Even when she landed a full-time position the following year as an office manger for a construction company in Clifton, she continued taking classes in the evening.
One semester, Rivera and Ruiz took the same world dance class and choose each other as dance partners when they could, he said.
"Me and my mom have a great relationship," Ruiz said. "If you would see us together you would think we were best friends."
Because Rivera retained about 40 credits she had completed in the early 1990s, she was able to complete her political science degree this spring, just as Ruiz was competing his bachelor's degree.
Ruiz will take courses at Rutgers-Newark this fall before starting medical school next year, he said.
Rivera doesn't know what's next for her but said she isn't ruling out graduate school.
"Who knows," she said. 'We'll see what happens."
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