CSUSM grad student Lauren Holland decided to channel her grief into action.
Next June, the 47-year-old single mother from Ramona will graduate with a master’s degree in Sociological Practice with an emphasis in pedestrian safety research. Her master’s thesis will focus on the statistics behind child pedestrian fatalities and how families grieve, cope and make sense of a senseless tragedy.
Last week, Holland was honored for her dedication and 3.88 GPA with the Hearst/CSU Trustees’ Award, one of the highest forms of recognition for student achievement in the CSU system. The Hearst award is given to just one student at each CSU campus annually, recognizing merit, academic achievement and community service in the face of financial and personal hardships.
“It’s an honor to be selected with a handful of my peers to be a Hearst Scholar,” Holland said, in a press release. “The award validates my hard work and encourages me by knowing that people are behind me and supporting me in achieving my goals.”
Holland was in the final months of her senior year at San Diego State when she got the news about her nephew’s son, Zach Cruz, who was struck by a truck and killed in a suburban crosswalk after getting off a school bus in Berkeley on Feb. 27, 2009.
Holland finished her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with cum laude honors, and threw herself into advocating for pedestrian safety through the Zachary Michael Cruz Foundation, established by Zach’s parents, Frank and Jodie Cruz. She hopes that she can use her master’s degree to lobby for pedestrian safety issues at the regional and national levels.
“I want to be an even stronger voice advocating for pedestrian safety education, enforcement and engineering,” she said, explaining that each year more than 1,000 pedestrians lose their lives in preventable accidents. “I know I can make a difference and the Hearst Award further reminds me to continue to push forward and give my very best.”
Holland’s own life has been touched by tragedy as well. She worked a series of low-wage jobs while raising two children on her own. Then several years ago, she was working on a construction project near SDSU when an accident at the jobsite left her with a disabling back injury.
Although it had been more than two decades since she’d been in a classroom, Holland knew she’d need to get an education to land a well-paying desk job, so she went back to school at San Diego State. She graduated in 2010.
She’s also volunteered her time with the March of Dimes, Head Start, Zonta International, the U.N. Association of San Diego and a local sobering facility, among other organizations.
Holland is one of 23 CSU students to receive the Hearst Award this fall. She received a $3,000 scholarship and a Sony technology package (including a notebook computer and camera).