Karen Zambrano

As a native of Ecuador, I didn’t give much thought to the fact that competence leads to confidence. After I arrived in America, I learned that not being able do something well inevitably leads to feeling alone and alienated. While coming from a Third World country to the world’s most powerful nation certainly seemed like a fairy tale to me, there was also a dark side. My family remained in Ecuador and I felt very alone. Since I didn’t speak or write English well, I often felt like an outsider – just as a person without a country might feel.

 One of the first things I decided to do was to improve my English, so I enrolled in the ESL classes at Citrus College. That decision was the beginning of a major transition in my life that didn’t just improve my fluency in the language, but more importantly helped me gain confidence in my thinking and my writing.

 Along with the other professors, Toby Guebert provided encouragement and help along the way. From those first ESL classes to the honors courses in which I later excelled, his guidance was crucial. Looking back, joining the Honors Program was an important step for me because it was there that I first discovered what would become my career dream.

I have since graduated with honors, and I’m attending UCLA where I hope to obtain a bachelor's degree in French and linguistics -- as well as a minor in Arabic. Beyond that, my ultimate goal is to attend medical school and become a cardiothoracic surgeon.

 I will always remember how the wonderful people at Citrus College helped me succeed.

  Tell us your story at www.citruscollege.edu/MyCitrusStory.com