Description: Introduction music plays while the blue OTAN logo appears on a black screen. The music continues as California Adult Education Students Succeed 2009 is shown on screen with a logo. A picture of Gloria Martinez from Baldwin Park Adult & Community Education is shown. Gloria has long brown hair. She is wearing a maroon cap and gown and is holding flowers.

Description: Gloria Martinez is a young Hispanic female. She has dark brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. She is standing in front of a classroom speaking to a large group of adult students. She is wearing a pink t-shirt beneath a black vest and blue jeans.

Gloria: My name is Gloria Martinez. I am a former ESL student. I took classes here and today I have been invited here to share with you my story on what I have been through and my desire to pursue a higher education.

Description: Gloria is interviewed in a classroom. She is sitting in front of a cart holding books and a shelf that has books displayed.

Description: While Gloria speaks a video is shown of her and her daughter looking through a book. Gloria is wearing a white blouse with a black sweater vest over it. Her daughter is wearing a yellow top and has her hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Gloria: I didn't have the support of my parents. So lacking of their support I got pregnant at a very young age, which was 14. I had my daughter when I was 15. I was very young. My husband was a little bit older but still we weren't mature and we didn't have anything to offer to our daughter, right. So that is why we decided to come to this country because we didn't have anything to offer to her, anything but love, and we said that we didn't want to have her to live the same life that we were living. Someone told me about the adult school and I said okay I want to learn English so I can find a better job.

Description: Lawrence Wadahara is wearing a blue dress shirt with a colorful tie. He has clear eyeglasses and short dark hair. He is sitting in a classroom. There is a computer on a table and bulletin boards on the walls behind him.

Description: While Lawrence speaks a video is shown of him and Gloria sitting at a table looking through a stack of plaques. They are later shown walking outside the school together and laughing.

Lawrence Wadahara, TSA/HS Diploma Instructor, Baldwin Park Adult & Community Education: You have to know Gloria from the beginning. I mean she came back and she me "oh I'm going to graduate Mt. Sac" and I said "good" and then she started telling me all the accomplishments. I go "wow you've done really good, you know, I'm going to nominate you for this and we'll see what happens." She's very good in putting words together and I think I've seen that by being there helping her with her resume and all of that. She's always, you know, kept in touch with me through the email and calling me up and telling me 'hey can I get your assistance with this or that?'

Description: Jennifer Martin has blonde hair that hangs just below her shoulders. She is wearing a purple and green floral dress, silver hoop earrings, and a silver necklace. She sits in a classroom with a row of computers behind her.

Description: While Jennifer speaks a video clip of Gloria speaking to the students is shown.

Jennifer Martin, ESL Instructor, Baldwin Park Adult & Community Education: She inspires everybody around her. She is highly motivated. She's very industrious; she's worked for many, many years. She goes to school, works, takes care of her child, and still finds time to inspire other people.

Description: Debra Jensen has shoulder-length light brown hair. She is wearing a blue top with a tan blazer over it. There is a potted purple plant on the table behind her.

Description: Another video segment of Gloria speaking to the students is shown. Gloria is laughing.

Debra Jensen, ABE Instructor, Baldwin Park Adult & Community Education: Gloria was wonderful to have in class because she was part of a group and she was not the center, as in the most verbal and vocal and leading everyone, but she was the pillar that kept them all focused; this is my goal, I'm moving ahead, come on, come with me.

Gloria: I will be transferring to Cal Poly Pomona this coming fall to get my Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting. I want not my main goal it's to become a certified public accountant.

Description: Irma Sanders has shorter brown hair. She is wearing a black and white floral top. A row of computers sit on a table behind her.

Description: A video is shown of Gloria and her daughter looking through a textbook.

Irma Sanders, TSA/CBET Teacher, Baldwin Park Adult & Community Education: Coming from a background where women were, females were not encouraged to pursue an education or not go beyond the boundaries of what was, in her culture, assigned to her. She had that determination and she had that curiosity to go outside those boundaries.

Description: Additional video is shown of Gloria speaking to the students in the classroom.

Gloria: Just thinking of how I was going to tell my husband that I was going to continue with my education. That was going to be something really big for us because in my culture we were taught that education could not be possible for women.

Description: Gloria and her daughter continue to look through the text book in a video clip while Debra speaks.

Debra: There is obstacles of money, there's obstacles of time, there's obstacles of okay I've got to be a mother, I've got be a wife, I've got to have a job and now I've got school and we have no money for school cause the money from the job goes to the family. That's pretty heavy.

Description: A video clip is shown of Gloria showing the students a plaque.

Irma: She really has tried to encourage her classmates, especially the females, to continue with their education, continue to study.

Description: Gloria is shown speaking to the students. The male and female adult students are shown sitting at tables and listening carefully to Gloria. Gloria shows them her diploma and smiles as she shows them.

Gloria: Many students come to this school, you know, just hoping to learn English. But for any reason then they stop coming to school and sometimes they never come. They thought that this was very difficult and I wanna let them know that, I mean, everything is possible it's just a matter of being committed and being constant in their education.

Description: Karen Bahena is a very young Hispanic female. She is wearing a yellow shirt. Her brown hair is pulled back in a ponytail. A purple potted plant is on the table behind her.

Description: Karen and Gloria are reviewing a textbook in a video clip briefly shown during Karen's interview.

Description: Music plays in the background during the remaining interviews.

Karen Bahena, Daughter: I'm really proud of her because she's finished her education and just because she had us it doesn't mean, like, she can stop. When I grow up I want to learn the criminal justice and my goal is to go Harvard but if I can't then I want to go to Cal Poly Pomona just like her.

Description: As Gloria's interview continues video clips are shown of her speaking to the students and also sitting at a table speaking with Lawrence.

Gloria: If it wouldn't be for this education I wouldn't make it through college, not even to university. But thanks to the, again thanks to all the support I received from the teachers, the staff from here, is that I became motivated to, you know, to set goals and try to achieve them. I will pursue them and that's how I ended up getting a college degree and now transferring to a university.

Produced by OTAN 2009; Producer – Penny Pearson; Director – Douglas Rennie