Latino teen lives her dream

By Chip Womick -- Staff Writer
Posted: 08/31/08 - 09:03:03 pm CDT

http://www.courier-tribune.com/articles ... ws/fn1.txt (and comment if you like)

[quote] ASHEBORO — When she was in the sixth grade, Brenda Lopez used to come home from school and cry.

Accustomed to being tops in her class in her native Mexico, Lopez was struggling with studies in the United States — and for good reason: She could neither speak nor understand English.

By the time she graduated from Southwestern Randolph High School in 2007 , Lopez had made up a lot of ground, posting a 4.25 gradepoint average and rising to rank among the top 30 or so students in her class.

Today, she speaks elegant, accented English and attends Randolph Community College, where she is one of four RCC Foundation ambassadors — students selected to represent RCC on campus, in the community and on visits to area schools. She plans to transfer to a university to earn a bachelor’s degree and then to apply for dental school.

Lopez is living the American dream, the possibilities of her future seemingly limited by nothing but a willingness to work for what she wants.

Such potential stands in stark contrast to what her life might be like. She returned to Mexico for three weeks this summer, where she saw relatives, friends, the old hometown where she grew up, and the realities of her homeland. Her mother and two younger sisters went, too.

“I told my mother, ‘Thank you for taking me to the United States because if I had been here, I would probably be married or I would not be in school,’â€