“I accomplished my dream – I graduated from high school.”

By Sara Bautista

When I was a child, I had a terrible experience attending school. My math teacher used to hit my hand with a ruler because I did not get my math quickly. It happened every single day for six years. I was really terrified to go to school. I made it out of elementary school but after that I decided to stop attending. I was really afraid of the word “school.’

As I got older, I decided to go back to school and accomplish my dream: getting my high school diploma. I was still struggling with math. I went through bad experiences looking for help. There was a point in my life when I said, “I don’t think there is any more hope for me.” All these negative thoughts came into my mind. “Who’s going to help me? I’m older, I have my kids, I have a lot of things to do at home.” But the other side of my mind was saying, “You have to keep going, you can do it.” But I was struggling finding help to support me. One day, I said, “I think this is going to be the last day I’m going to come to school.” But then, I see a piece of paper attached to the wall with information about [BPIE]. I did not think twice about getting involved in the program.

I got enrolled and, over time, I was feeling more confident, participating more in class. In other words, this amazing program helped me to accomplish my dream. It gave me the confidence to participate in class; it gave me the confidence to speak to all of you; it gave me the confidence to improve my grades. I accomplished my dream – I graduated from high school thanks to this program.

“One day, I said, ‘I think this is going to be the last day I’m going to come to school.’ But then, I see a piece of paper attached to the wall with information about [BPIE]. I did not think twice about getting involved in the program.” – Sara Bautista

Not only that, as a parent I’m extremely happy with the program, too.

My son was struggling with his grades as well. It was hard for him to keep going, especially with math. He was depressed. He was telling me, “I’m having a hard time with this subject, I can’t handle this.” His teacher said, if you don’t do anything, your son will fail this school year because his grades are low. I said, “If I can make it, my son can make it.” He felt the same way I felt. I said, “Wait a minute, I think I have the solution! If this program worked for me, it can work for him too.”

We enrolled my son, and thanks to the program, my son is very, very confident to speak up in classes now, to participate in his classroom. He’s very confident to say, ‘Hi’ to you, especially after COVID – it was hard [for him] to approach somebody. Thanks to the program he is very confident to speak in front of the screen, to show his face [on Zoom]. His teachers are very happy. They called me and said, “Congratulations! What are you doing? Your son is improving his grades. We are so proud of him.”

Thanks to the program, his grades have improved a lot – so much that he was selected to apply for a scholarship for college. And he was selected to apply to the top exam schools in Boston. All thanks to this program.

I am very thankful for the program. I am very thankful for the mentors and all the tutors because they shared their knowledge with us. If there are any parents out there, or if you are a parent attending school, do not struggle. Don’t let your kids struggle. I’m here to say this program really works. This program is really good, it’s here to support you. I really, really recommend it. Here I am, I got a high school diploma, I got a better job, and I’m pretty sure my son will be successful as well.