Czech-born Halka Brunerova among 1,600 graduating from Pueblo Community College
Halka Brunerova was 16 years old when the Berlin Wall fell and the Velvet Revolution broke out in her home country of what was then Czechoslovakia.
More than three decades later, after moving to the United States and eventually making her way to Pueblo, Brunerova has accomplished something she never imagined when she first moved to the U.S. — graduating with a degree from an American college.
Brunerova is the President's Distinguished Scholar this year at Pueblo Community College. She is one of 1,360 graduates receiving a degree or certificate at PCC's graduation ceremony for its Pueblo and Fremont campuses on Thursday, May 11, at the Southwest Motors Events Center.
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While she will be walking in and delivering a brief speech during Thursday's 8:30 a.m. ceremony, Brunerova graduated from PCC with her associate degree in history last semester. In January, she began working toward a bachelor's degree from Colorado State University Pueblo.
"As an immigrant, for so many years, I never had any sort of thought that I could go to school and do something in that direction," Brunerova said.
Brunerova is from Prague — the Czech Republic's capital and largest city. She always loved to travel and knew she wanted to live in another country some day after she vacationed in Bulgaria as a child. At 23, she took "the first opportunity to leave" the Czech Republic to work in Holmdel, New Jersey as an au pair. She went back to the Czech Republic for two years but then returned to the U.S.
While living in New Jersey, Brunerova made good friends and visited different parts of the East Coast, but didn't see herself living there the rest of her life. During her last month on the East Coast, she took a road trip through several western states, including North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.
She said Colorado was the state that "felt like home."
Brunerova spent more than a decade in Boulder before relocating to Red Feather Lakes in Larimer County in 2012. She volunteered with a Buddhist retreat and worked in massage therapy, but after the pandemic hit she decided to pursue a college education.
"I drove by PCC and just felt the energy," she said. "I wanted to move there and go to that school."
At PCC, Brunerova was president of Associated Student Government and the History Club. At CSU Pueblo, she is majoring in history with minors in anthropology and religious studies and is considering a third minor in Spanish. She dreams of working with the United Nations, doing relief work with refugees and residents of post-war countries. She also has a passion for and admiration of indigenous communities and immigrants.
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Three different ceremonies will be held Thursday for PCC graduates. Students from the Division of Arts and Sciences will graduate during the 8:30 a.m. ceremony and Division of Business and Advanced Technology students will graduate during an 11:30 a.m. ceremony.
At 2:30 p.m., PCC will hold a ceremony for students from the Division of Health and Public Safety along with students from the Division of Medical and Behavioral Health. Students from PCC's Southwest campus will graduate on Saturday, May 13, at Montezuma-Cortez High School's auditorium at noon.
More than 1,600 students graduated from PCC's three campuses this year.
Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached by email at JBartolo@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Distinguished scholar Halka Brunerova among 1,600 graduating from PCC
