Ana Maria Armano

Older Graduate Award from CLE for 2006

Ana Maria Armano, who will celebrate her 80th birthday on June 11, has been chosen to receive CLE’s annual award of $250 which is presented each year to an older CSUF graduate with a high G.P.A. Ana Maria will graduate cum laude with a B.A. degree in Anthropology during commencement exercises on May 26. She is looking forward to wearing her cap and gown when she receives her degree with her family and friends in attendance.

Although she was born in Chicago, at the age of three her parents took Ana Maria to Mexico where she lived with her grandmother and uncles. She recalled the evenings after dinner when she would sit on her grandmother’s lap and listen to the narrative by one of her uncles about the books he had read. She usually fell asleep before the end of the stories and couldn’t wait until she could read the works of Alexander Dumas and Victor Hugo, to name a few, for herself. Thus began her zest for learning which continues to this day.

Years later she moved back to the United States where she married and became the mother of a son and a daughter who are well educated professionals, according to Ana Maria. She has three grandchildren.

Ana Maria worked in the business office of the Centinella Valley School District for many years. Because she is bi-lingual, she received training in teaching one business class each semester to adults during the evening. After she retired she was finally free to pursue a college education. Following her graduation from El Camino College, Ana Maria enrolled at Cal State Fullerton in 1998. She majored in anthropology because she was interested in the origins and development of man. If she hadn’t studied anthropology, she would have majored in astronomy, she said.

Ana Maria is undecided whether or not she will pursue graduate studies.

She is in good health at the present time; however, she suffered two strokes and one heart attack while at Cal State. 

Ana Maria loves to read and especially enjoys the novels of American authors Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck and those of the Scottish writer A. J. Cronin. She said she has many friends and is very active in her church. “If I don’t work toward my master’s degree, I’d like to study speech and take gourmet cooking classes,” said Ana Maria.

Whether or not she continues her education at Cal State, we hope she will join CLE. Her energy, intelligence, positive attitude toward life and especially her charming and effervescent personality would be a great asset for our organization. Members of CLE, as well as her family and many friends, congratulate Ana Maria on her numerous accomplishments and wish her health, happiness and continued learning in the future!

Lorraine Gerni                                                             

Editor