Brigitte Mendoza, New America School, Class of 2012

I’m twenty years old and my birthplace is Lima, Peru. I came to The United States almost two years ago with all my family to find work. I left my home, my friends and my university; I knew that my life would be different and harder because my first language is Spanish.

At The New America School-Lowry, I learned and am still learning new things every day. At NAS I found a second family, I found the help I needed to be successful, and my teachers are patient and are helpful. I am learning English and still able to work. I will miss this school so much but I will come back and help when I can because I like helping my teachers, learning new things and meeting new people who could need my help.

My dream is to be in a big room teaching math with thirty or forty students, and making students believe and prove that math is not that hard. I wish to speak educated and professional English. I know I will have reached that level when one day I can read, understand and enjoy one of my favorite books, “Crime and Punishment” by Feodor Dostoyevsky, as well as I did in Spanish.

I will make my dream come true and I know this is not going to be easy. I miss being in Peru – the food, the people, the warm feeling, the places, the weather, and every single thing that sometimes made me feel happy and sad as well. But now I have decided to start this long journey in order to graduate from college and then from university, and I will not give me up, no matter how difficult it might get.