Her counselors had told her she should consider vocational school.

Her parents never thought she would amount to anything more than a farm worker in Oklahoma. Her family suggested she would go nowhere and no one before he recieved a diploma.But in the end, Rio Waller was too stubborn to listen. She had to satisfy her desire to see a new world, to see something different and to discover who she can be.

At the age of 17, Waller left behind the farm she had known her whole life, hoping to find a brighter path. With little money and poor grades, she moved to California and enrolled at Fresno City College.

The adjustment to a new world proved to be difficult. Waller found herself learning how to navigate in a world that was not as sheltered as the world she had known. “It made me grow up real quick. I got a taste of the real world early on”, said Waller, who was making the transition from a party girl in high school to a serious student in community college. “I realized that a lot of the stuff that I thought that was fun to do was really self destructive,” said Waller. “I had to look at why I was doing that and how I was being self destructive.”

In college, the challenges Waller faced since elementary school still haunted her. Among these challenges were reading phonetics. “I had to memorize words. I couldn’t sound them out. I felt like that held me back for a long time,” said Waller.

It was not until after community college that Waller sought out help with phonetics. “It actually didn’t take that much effort to jump over what  I thought was a huge hurdle,”said Waller. “I just had to be willing to give it sometime.”

Waller also had to develop study habits that she never had in high school.”I was still somebody very social. I had to learn to set limits on myself,” said Waller.”I would tell myself I had to get my work done before I go out.”

At times Waller felt that the finish line was too far to reach. With the minimal funding she received, she had to depend on Top Ramen to make it through most days.

When Waller was offered job positions, she refused, wanting instead to focus on her education. “Those were hard choices to make,” said Waller.”It’s alluring when someone is offering you money. There was something in me that pushed me to say that if I stuck with school, I would eventually be in a better position.”

Having seen how her parents struggled, Waller was determined to not follow the same path. “What helped me make it through was wanting not to be my parents. I wanted something better,” said Waller.

Her father had recommended studying agriculture, but Waller quickly learned that was not the road for her. “I knew from day one I did not want to be in agriculture. I was like, ‘why am I doing this’? The classes were not fun,” said Waller.

Before long, Waller discovered a new path and this time, it was love at first sight. She learned from her counselors about Information Technology and enrolled in computer classes. Waller was in awe of what she was witnessing. “Just hearing about computers lit me up,” she said. “I took every computer class I can take.”

When computer classes weren’t enough, Waller worked at the computer department in the college. “It was so awesome. They put me in a big room with big computers and some manuals,” said Waller.”I just read manual after manual and it was so fun.”

Waller continued to work in the computer industry for many more years, but it was not until she met a computer instructor named Dan Owens that she found the best job yet. Owens had told Waller what a great teacher she would be, but Waller was not convinced.  Still Owens remained persistent and at last convinced Waller to teach one web development class. On the first night of teaching, Waller went home and couldn’t sleep.”I knew I had found what I wanted to do,” she said.

Waller was soon hired at Fresno City College as a full time teacher, but at the same time, she pursued her masters degree. “It was brutal. I was a new teacher going to full time graduate school and full time working,” said Waller.

The girl who had grown up eating nothing but meat and potatoes matured and took it up on herself to change her lifestyle. “I remember in elementary school when I was playing basketball and they made teams based on weight. I had to go into the older students division because of what I weighed,” said Waller. Fueled by the haunting memory, Waller began growing fresh produce in her own backyard.

She discovered that the adjustment was not as difficult as it had seemed for so many years. “When I changed the kinds of food I was eating, I realized I just need to eat nutritionally dense food,” said Waller. “I didn’t need to eat as much of it. In our society we are overfed and undernourished.”

Soon, the only hunger Waller felt was a hunger to see how far she can push herself. She made running a ritual and eventually ran a marathon. She climbed Half Dome, a rock in Yosemite with an elevation of 8,842 feet. “I felt like my body was waking up. I had all this energy. I wanted to know what else I can do,” said Waller.”I thought I can do anything. There’s nothing I can’t do.”

Waller decided to not only change her body, but also her environment. She took a look at the world around her and realized something had to change. She decided the best change she could make was a change to herself. “The way I walk the earth is the best change I can make,” says Waller. “Rather than complaining about what people are doing, be the change and hope that people can see that. They may or may not see that but you know you have done the best you can do.”        

Waller now uses solar, captures water for her plants and rides her bike to work everyday. After all her efforts, Waller has learned that being an environmentalist is actually less expensive.

As a teacher, Waller has made a big difference in the lives of many students and in the computer department. Dean of business division Dr. Tim Woods says “She is absolutely passionate about student success. She has developed high tech lecture capture video that allows instructors to capture lectures and make them widely accessible to students.”

President of CIT 0 club, Clayton Ritchie says, “She is willing to listen to students demand. She teaches students how to solve problems and work ahead of time. She wants students to work hard but work smart.”

Waller says the most important message she can send to young people is to do what they love. “Be willing not to be mediocre,” says Waller.”The world needs you to be much more and it’s much more fun.”