Bien Hecho: Latina Student Overcomes Mother’s Death

Two years ago 18 year-old Estefania Anaya lost her mother when she took her own life. Today, she’s the valedictorian of her private school in El Paso, Texas and recently won a full scholarship to Simpson College in Iowa.

What’s more, Anaya is a Mexican resident who had to cross the border every single day in order to attend school, and, as part of her scholarship, she would spend an hour a day cleaning classrooms after school. She plans to major in anthropology or psychology.

In short, Anaya is awesome, The El Paso Times reported:

Lydia Patterson [school] enrolls nearly 450 students — about 70 percent of whom, like Anaya, reside in Juárez. About half of those Juárez residents are U.S. citizens, although Anaya is not.

Every school day, Anaya’s father drives 15 minutes from their home to the Paso del Norte Bridge. There, Anaya waits in line, sometimes up to 90 minutes, to show Customs and Border Protection agents her student visa. Once she gets waved into the United States, she walks 10 to 15 minutes to the Segundo Barrio school…

“Many students who are U.S. citizens, I don’t think, realize how difficult it is for us to do everything we have to do to get this education that they have as a given right,” Anaya said.

Our weekly segment, “Bien Hecho,” highlights the good deeds and achievements of Latinos across the U.S. If you feel that someone you know is deserving of recognition, let us know at tips@newstaco.com.

Anaya is an amazing young woman and the full story, here, is worth a read.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD