Born to Salvadoran immigrants in Los Angeles, CA, Jessica's educational experience was unique from the start. Raised in a Spanish speaking household, Jessica's first encounter with English and mainstream American culture was in Pre-Kindergarten. Upon enrollment, Jessica's parents opted to place her in a "bilingual" program instead of a program with English only curriculum. Unfortunately, the bilingual program's curriculum had not been fully developed and Jessica, with many other children in her situation, were labeled as Sheltered Limited English Proficient (SLEP) due to the lack of English proficiency the students demonstrated. By the age of 9, Jessica did not know how to read nor write in either language. The realization of being an illiterate third grader was devastating for both parents and students. For many of Jessica's SLEP classmates, 3rd grade was the end of their dreams of graduating from high school and pursuing a college career. It was with the help of Ms. Wong, her 3rd grade teacher, that Jessica began to receive remedial academic support. Ms. Wong saw potential in her student and made it her personal goal to advocate for Jessica to join before and after school programs designed to assist students in English reading and writing. Jessica was able to catch up to her English proficient peers and graduate from high school with high honors. When choosing a college major, the only one Jessica could choose was education. It took one person to change her life completely; it was Jessica's time to do the same.