Without the Canal Alliance high school counselors and a fierce determination, Ana may not have graduated from high school. Instead, she’s filling out college applications. Emigrating from Mexico two and a half years ago, her first week in high school was a terrifying jumble of fast-spoken English and unfamiliar faces.

Ana, college bound.

“There is not a worse experience than not knowing what people around you are saying and not knowing how to answer. It was like being deaf,” Ana declared.

Under this pressure, she briefly considered quitting the school where she felt so alone and alien. At Canal Alliance, Ana joined the high school academic workshop programs and began improving her English, and realized that there are others that share her experience. And she realized what she would miss without school in her life. “I would never learn English, I would never be a professional as my parents want me to be, I would not be a good role model for my children, I wouldn’t be proud of myself.”

Ana now has the confidence to move forward. She is currently applying to colleges, and is looking to the future. “I know it is going to be harder and maybe it’s going to take me longer than other people, because I’m still learning English, but I still can make it. I learned this from one of the many people who believe in me, a tutor at Canal Alliance.”