Leonor Najeras (Leo)
I live close to the school with my mother and sister, her children, and my one daughter, Jarys Raquel who is 10 years old.
I was the youngest of five children. My mother is a single parent and has raised me since I was born and has been both mother and father to me. She is a wonderful woman who is very industrious and wanted all of us to study even though she did not have the opportunity to study. I stopped studying in the second year of high-school so that I could go to work and help my mother and make money. She did not really want me to stop my studies and this was a disappointment to her.
I began working in a preschool in our neighborhood and earned $20 per month. This preschool was for children who came from poor families and would not have been able to attend regular school. Even though we were not certified teachers, we came from the same neighborhood and so we knew what these children needed to learn. We shared with them whatever we had learned in school. I have worked at this same preschool for 17 years and have been able to help children and adults (through the adult literacy program) get an education.
One day in a meeting of the teachers with two volunteers who help in funding the school, the idea of the teachers returning to school to get our high-school degrees was raised. I was very surprised and had to ask myself if I thought I could succeed if I returned to school. I decided that I could succeed and that it would be a great example for my daughter and for the students at our school.
Receiving the scholarship has changed my life. I finished my high school degree and even got good grades! Going back to school has enriched my understanding of the world and has made me a better teacher with my students.
I am now in the first year of a course in primary education which I will complete in 2013. I then want to go to university and get a university degree because I know that the more I study, the more I am able to help my society and to teach others. This is my dream and is a priority in my life. I know I will not be able to do this without the continued support of the Teachers Scholarship Fund.
I am so thankful to the people who have had faith in me and believed that I could do it. I really want to reach my goal of university degree and diploma in primary education. I am so grateful to those who raise money and those who give the funds to support the Scholarship Fund.
Dreams to Reality Scholarship Fund
Leo
