How a Palm Beach Atlantic University Professor’s Heritage Enriches Her Career

As an assistant professor of counseling in Palm Beach Atlantic University's (PBA) counselor education program, Dr. Ana Jaramillo De Graham's story is largely defined by her academic journey. In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, she delved into her cultural background to share how her story has enriched her professional experiences.

De Graham was born and raised in Cali, Colombia, the second largest city by land and third most populous city in the country. Until she turned 10 years old, De Graham would describe her life as comfortable and traditional. She and her sister were immersed in Catholicism, and De Graham can't remember a time when she didn't know Jesus. Their parents were successful professionals; their mother, a psychologist, and their father, the owner of an electrical engineering firm. Unfortunately, like many Colombians in the early 2000s, their lives were turned upside down.

SeekingSafety Abroad

Civil war created an upheaval of political and economic unrest, and De Graham's family was targeted. To escape the threat of kidnapping, they moved to the capital, Bogotá. There, they lived in a hotel for several months and continued their education under the instruction of tutors, venturing out on the weekends for exams and assessments.

Hiding and constant fear for their safety wore them down. De Graham's parents decided to take a sabbatical year in the United States and enrolled at Nova Southeastern University, sending De Graham and her sister to public school.

"The idea was to just learn English, let things calm down, and then go back to Colombia," De Graham remembers. "But within a couple months of living here, my parents realized the quality of life and kind of future that my sister and I could have."

Creating a New Home Together

With the success of his business in Colombia, De Graham's father was able to establish his company in the U.S. and started building homes in Palm Beach County. De Graham and her sister learned English more quickly than their parents and attended many business and banking appointments to translate for them.

"My sister and I were very close," De Graham describes. "We were a tight unit, dependent on each other in so many ways."

Her family continued to settle and became U.S. citizens while De Graham sped up her academic journey. She finished high school a year early to graduate at the same time as her boyfriend-now husband-and earned her undergraduate degree at Florida Atlantic University in two and a half years. While taking classes, she gained her first counseling experience at a local counseling practice and earned certifications to lead addiction recovery groups.

When accepted into the University of Florida's Marriage and Family Therapy graduate program, De Graham was both excited and disappointed, as this meant a continued long-distance relationship with her high school sweetheart. The disappointment evaporated quickly in the Florida sun, as her sister got to be her roommate while studying in the pre-med track. De Graham was later invited into the Counselor Education and Supervision doctoral program, prolonging her time with her sister as they studied to become the first doctors in their family.

"My kids joke that I'm the fake doctor in the family," De Graham says, laughing. "But I was the trendsetter."

The Impact of Higher Education

After De Graham and her husband moved to South Florida to start their family, she pulled all-nighters to finish her doctorate between the pregnancies of her son and daughter.

"After I graduated, I was very dedicated to my kids," De Graham says. "I stayed home with them and supported my husband's business. When my daughter started elementary school, I had a personal crisis and missed feeling fulfilled by my work."

DeGraham joined the PBA faculty in 2021.

"PBA is a great institution for someone like me, because my priority really is my family," De Graham says. "Our program is geared toward adult learners, so we teach in the evenings and I don't miss out on my kids' stuff."

De Graham also gets to make the most of summer break with her kids. Every summer, she takes them to her childhood neighborhood in Colombia. Engaging in her family in summer camps and other activities that defined her childhood brings De Graham's story full circle for their bicultural family.

She believes that coming from a different background enriches her teaching experience. She enjoys hearing different perspectives from her students and reminding them to be aware of diverse experiences.

"The discourse with students is so enriching to students who are going to be working with people in the community," De Graham describes. "We have to be ready for anybody regardless of their background."

To learn more about PBA's counseling programs, click here.