Rocio Eldridge from Mexico What has really changed my life is that now I believe in myself. I came to the United States ten years ago. I would always say that I was trying to study, but there were always things like work and my kids that would not allow me to start. Now I realized that those were only excuses. What was stopping me is that I was afraid to start studying again. I always believed I would learn by myself. One day, however, my son told me that he was embarrassed because his friends would come over and I didn't understand them because I didn't speak English. He said, he was also sad because I could never help him with his homework. He asked me, when I was planning to learn English. That same day, I told myself, "Rocio, you have to start believing in yourself and you will see you can make it." That night I couldn't sleep. I was thinking that now I couldn't go back or let my kids down. All night long, I said that and thought about how I was going to start. Where was I going to go since I didn't know Fontana yet? The next day, I went downtown to look for a big banner in front of the school that said that they offered classes for adults. I came in to see if I could join, but the classes were closed already. That night I took the kids to the movies, and on the way back, I told them we would take a new route. I ended up getting lost. That's the way I found Chaffey College. At that moment, I saw how great God is and I told myself this is my time to really start. It was like a signal. The following Monday, I went to ask for information. They told me that summer school was starting that week. That's how I started studying English last summer. It is difficult, but I have had great rewards. My daughter had to write a story for school. It was about the person they most admired and why. She wrote that I was the person she most admired because I had started going to College. I will never forget this. When you believe in yourself, you can do anything.
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