When Adriana came to the United States 28 years ago to further her education, her road to success was blocked by the language and cultural barriers encountered by so many immigrants. Despite this, Adriana was successful in her new country. Adriana had graduated in Mexico where she studied bookkeeping. At the time, her father was working in the United States, and she was applying for bookkeeping jobs in Mexico. Unfortunately, every place she applied required knowledge of English, of which she had very little. To increase her chances of finding a job, she asked her father to bring her to the States to learn English and complete a bookkeeping certificate.
She and her father started a new life here, and she restarted her bookkeeping studies. Sadly, her educational plans lost priority. The most she could do was attend an English class for adults, but most of her English she learned while working. She could not afford school or to miss work and did not realize how fast time was passing. In time she fell in love, married, raised a family, went to work, became a U.S. citizen and always continued working. She prioritized her children's well-being over her own dreams, and she was so happy to see them complete what she had neglected for herself, an education.
She gave everything for her family and was happy to do so, but her future at the factory where she worked was not promising. She discussed the situation with her boss, and they determined it was time for Adriana to go back to school.
While searching for high school diploma programs, she found the NEDP, created for people like her who have full-time jobs. It took her almost a year to complete the program, and she is happy to say she has graduated. Adriana said, “It was very challenging learning about subjects like math, science, and English after so many years out of school, but the program is great at allowing me to learn at my own pace.”
With the patience, time, support, and dedication from the NEDP staff, she completed the NEDP, even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. With perseverance, she quickly adapted to the distance-learning environment, demonstrated the competencies, and earned her diploma.
Now Adriana is pursuing the education she had to put on hold, and the same qualities she demonstrated while working in the NEDP will serve her well as she continues her journey. She is dedicated, self-directed, self-motivated, organized, capable of working independently, and has a high maturity level. She enrolled at her local community college in the bookkeeping program with the dream of finally receiving the certificate that brought her to this country in the first place. She explained, “Working as an immigrant, you learn to take whatever job you get, but after completing the NEDP I feel confident I will find a job I enjoy.”
“The American dream is something that everyone who comes to this country thinks about. For some people it is work, others education, but we all need to believe and persist to achieve this dream. While I was able to build a life for my family, it took 27 years of hard work in the same factory, and I had to put my education behind me. All these years later, I am able to further my education thanks to the NEDP.”