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Michelle describes her coming to the US as “sudden”. She was born in the US and lived here her first 7 years, then her family returned to Mexico. Michelle knew she could come here to visit family for vacations but in her mind, the plan was to complete high school in Mexico and graduate with her friends.

In July of her Sophomore year, she was highly encouraged by her family in the US to come over to finish high school, they offered to support her in all possible ways. She was 15 years old, flying alone for the first time and leaving her mom behind. It was not an easy decision, but Michelle went for it! She says she only began to get nervous after settling in, during the first three days she had several doctor’s appointments and started high school as a Junior in Pasco High school. She felt overwhelmed without understanding a word of English. During her first year, she translated every single lesson and paper that crossed her path, an incredible amount of work, one that surprised her friends on regular bases, they commented on how time-consuming that task seemed.

Michelle was used to having only a few teachers back in Mexico and remained in one classroom all day. Moving around was strange to her, she became more reserved.

Around November she run into a KPOP video in what she describes as a “very weird experience”. Michelle took interest in them since it was something completely different from everything she knew, from the language to the far-away culture. She felt relief in watching their videos and their soap operas. She found comfort in learning some Korean words since no one around her knew the language, and no one could judge her. Michelle felt this came to her in a more natural way than English. She is not sure exactly what way, perhaps due to the sudden nature of her move.

Little by little Michelle felt more comfortable, mostly with writing and knowing she was understanding. Now, she has a good friend who has a similar experience as her and speaks Spanish. Michelle is doing wonderful in school and has plans to attend PHCC and hopefully a university for accounting, even though she is open to exploring more options. Her mother, back in Mexico, is very proud of her accomplishments, she will be the second one in her family to seek higher education after high school.

Michelle is very aware of how life provides the fruits of what is harvested! She feels secure in her courses, supported, and proud of how long she has come. Michelle has an outstanding GPA and has passed all her graduation-required state assessments. This young lady is a great example of what hard work and dedication can achieve! We wish her all the very best.

Parent's bill of rights

Make sure to log in mystudent to complete this as soon as you can. You can learn more by clicking this link: https://www.pasco.k12.fl.us/oll_documents/parent-bill-of-rights

Magda Mackenzie, Curriculum Specialist (Imagine learning/Lexia/Rosseta stone)

Alicia del carmen Montijo-Alicea, Supervisor for ESOL and migrant programs

Luisa Ojeda-Vera, Curriculum Specialist (ESOL endorsement courses for teachers and ELD -English language development- classes for students)

Andrea Knauber, ELL parent and community ITC