Page 31 - 45th Anniversary Alumni Success Stories

When I was 12 years old, my parents brought me to the
US because they wanted to protect me from the violence
and killings happening in my hometown in Mexico.
I knew no English and spent the first year learning to
communicate. After high school, I worked at a restaurant
for two years where I was treated very poorly and paid
less than minimum wage because they knew I was an
immigrant. I met a wonderful man who became my
husband, and we spent the next two years and all our
money fixing my legal status.

One day I saw a commercial for PMI and it made me
want to show my parents that what we did was worth it.
My love for animals drew me to sign up for the Veterinary
Assistant program. My English still wasn’t great, but my
instructors offered extra help and encouragement, and
although it was difficult, my classmates and I set up study
groups to help each other. When I went for my interview
for my externship program at the Humane Society, they
were so impressed by me they offered me a position.
I recently completed my Veterinary Technician program
and continue to work at the Humane Society Surgery
Center.

My family had so little at the beginning and we all lived
in a tiny apartment. My goal is to buy a house and to
help my parents get their legal status to let them know
I’m thankful for what they did for me. I am the only
graduate from both my immediate and extended family.
I’m so thankful for PMI!

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