Lone Star College-University Park graduate Heather Rouat is familiar with adversity. At the age of 14, Rouat left France and crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the United States without speaking English. However, with a gift for language and communication, Rouat learned English quickly. Only six years after her arrival, Rouat’s never-give-up spirit and LSC-University Park’s supportive environment helped her reach graduation in May 2020.
In 2014, Rouat decided that living with her alcoholic father in France was too much to endure. She came to Houston to live with her mother, stepdad and siblings to find a new beginning. Over the next few years, Rouat studied English and was ready to enroll in her first semester full-time at LSC-University Park in 2018.
“I had this big apprehension about college, yet it turned out to be the best experience,” said Rouat. “Yes, there is stress when you are an overachiever like me, but you learn things and expand your knowledge and judgment beyond what was deemed possible.”
While at LSC-University Park, she was also a caregiver to her 9-year-old twin siblings and worked as a fundraising representative for the Houston Texans Foundation. Rouat was able to successfully balance these commitments and a full-time course load with membership in the LSC-University Park Honors College and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.
Rouat credits her strength of character and tenacity, and the support of LSC-University Park faculty, for enabling her to manage all of her responsibilities and still successfully graduate with honors in two years.
Rouat recalled a time when she struggled with math, which was not her strongest subject. It was then that she reached out to Maria Purcell, an LSC-University Park professor of mathematics, for help. Purcell worked with Rouat during her lunch hour. Rouat would study figures and Purcell would tutor her between bites of food.
“Rouat is a remarkable student and our college is proud to have supported her in her education,” said LSC-University Park President Dr. Shah Ardalan. “Like many of our 12,500-plus students at LSC-Unversity Park, she has overcome quite a lot to be where she is today. Our facuilty and staff are passionate about and dedicated to our students and their individual paths to success. Like professor Purcell, our faculty do not hesitate to take extraordinary measures for students who are determined to finish what they start and graduate. Compassion and care are hallmarks of LSC-University Park’s faculty and staff.”
For Purcell, Heather’s accomplishments show how she has overcome hardships with perseverance and a positive attitude.
“I am proud to call her a successful Lone Star College-University Park graduate, my former student, and my friend,” she said. “Heather has the ability to make every person she meets feel special. As a caretaker to a younger sibling with special needs, she is active in Best Buddies International; it is through this program that she lives out her values of recognizing and celebrating the inherent value of each individual.”
In May 2020, Rouat graduated with an Associate of Arts degree from LSC-University Park. Though she did not get to walk across the commencement stage due to COVID-19, Rouat plans to continue moving along her educational path by attending Sam Houston State University to earn both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communications. It is her dream to be the advertising manager for an NFL team. She hopes that the COVID-19 pandemic will end in time for her to begin face-to-face classes in spring 2021. Thanks, in part, to the confidence she gained at LSC-University Park, she has no doubt she will be able to overcome whatever circumstances come her way. Rouat has set her cap for success, and she will persevere as she has done all her life.
“It will get hard, but don’t give up,” said Rouat. “Any hardship is a blessing in disguise.”