Laura, Student

"If you take responsibility for yourself, you will develop a hunger to accomplish your dreams."
— Les Brown

After I came to San Miguel, my writing and my English got better. Spelling helped me with my English. I started reading a lot of books. I know that if I read, my English gets better.

Our teachers push us to be someone in life. They tell us that if we can speak both English and Spanish, it will make our lives better. In the mornings, my classmates and I like to come to school early to help each other with our homework.

Our teachers tell us to read every night and do our homework, so I do that.

My dad says I have to reach for my goal. He says it's like a star on the top of a mountain. You're going up the mountain and you need to reach up high to get the star.

When my parents were growing up in Mexico, their parents didn't have money and there were a lot of brothers and sisters. My dad was the oldest. He just finished high school. He always tells me to study. My mom studied through high school. Now she's working, but she can't get a high paying job because of her high school education.

My first dream was to be a teacher so I started thinking of college when I was in second grade. Now my dream is to be a lawyer.

My parents and my oldest sister told me they will help me with my dream. My sister says she will work so that I can go to college instead of her.

My parents care a lot about me. Sometimes my parents tell me not to do something that I want to do. But I know they're telling me these things because they love me, and they don't want anything to happen to me.

People have always told me I can reach my dreams. When I talk to my grandmother in Mexico, she says, "You can do it, just trust in yourself."

Everyone has trust in me: my family, aunties, cousins, and friends.

My mom always tells me, "I'm proud of you."