Standing nervously at the side of the stage, she recites her Valedictorian speech in her head over and over, correcting herself on her pronunciations, so the audience won’t judge her. As the university’s Dean announces her name, she takes a deep breath, looks out into the crowd, and smiles. This is your moment, she tells herself and steps on stage in the midst of loud applause.

As she waits for the applause to die, she looks up at the stands, trying to spot her family – her parents, brothers, sisters – who has traveled all the way from her home country to attend her graduation from a prestigious university in the U.S.

“I was one of the fortunate girls,” she begins her speech, “to had been able to attend school.” As she speaks, she reflects on her childhood, waking up before dawn, and traveling 10 miles to school by various methods. She was one of ten students in her class of all girls. As an eager learner, she soaked in the teacher’s words like a sponge and stayed behind only to ask questions.

As she reads the words on the final index card, she realizes she’s done it, she’s almost done with the speech portion of the graduation ceremony, she’s about to get her college diploma, she’s about to become the first person in her family to graduate college.

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