Micaela Cervantes was born in Guanajuato, Mexico and moved to Bryan, Texas 23 years ago. Life in Mexico was good for Micaela since she was always surrounded by loved ones, although she felt like there were not a lot of opportunities to grow there. With that in mind, she made the choice of completely changing her life by moving to the United States. 

From the start, Micaela had a hard time adjusting to a new country with completely different traditions and customs than she was used to. Arriving in Bryan and seeing houses and buildings completely different than in Mexico was the first realization Micaela had. She has expressed the everyday nostalgia she feels of Mexico since all of her family and friends live there, but has also come to the conclusion that living in the United States has opened up a lot of new doors and is thankful for the opportunities she has received. Although some days she still struggles to adapt, she pushes herself to keep going and remember all the effort she put to be where she is at today. 

Micaela joined the classes at BIIN about a year ago since she finds that speaking English is a lot harder than she expected, and has expressed the effort and hard work she has put into learning it. When it comes to the teachers and volunteers, Micaela has found it extremely helpful that most of the staff is bilingual since it is a lot easier to fully comprehend everything translated. She appreciates the patience and dedication everyone puts into making the students not only learn, but really engage and enjoy what each class has to offer. She feels like she has made progress and is excited to keep learning and mastering the language. 

After being here for over twenty years, Micaela has found the positive aspects of living in the United States and hopes that she can transmit the positivity and inspire others to follow in her footsteps.