Hello, my name is Sofia Martinez.  I am a sixth grade sophomore at KIPP Austin College Prep. I was born in Honduras where I lived with my dad and two older brothers.  Life in Honduras was both sad and happy.  It was sad because my mom wasn't there; she immigrated to the U.S. when I was only two years old. It was happy because my brothers and dad loved me a lot: they helped me with my homework, we did things together, and we knew all of our neighbors.

But my dad knew that if we stayed in Honduras we were not going to have a good life.  When I was 8 years old I saw babies who were dying at home because their families did not have the money to take them to the doctor.  My friend's brother was three when he died.  He got sick, but his family could not pay to help him.  He started to bleed, and he died.  Ever since then, the only dream I had was to become a doctor.  One day my father asked me if I wanted to go to the United States and told me to get ready to leave the very next day.  When we were coming to the United States, we walked a lot.  We didn't have much food to eat and my father gave me his food.  He would stay up all night because he said that he didn't want anything bad to happen to me.  When we got the U.S. the police got us.  They took my father to one place and me to another place.  The last time I saw my father was through a window - he was sent back to Honduras and I waited at the border for my mom.  It would be the first time I had seen her since I was a little girl.  My mom came down to get me at the border.  She had to fight so I could stay in the U.S.  At first getting used to life in my new country was hard, but after a while I was happy that I was here.

One of the reasons that my new life in the United States was hard was because the first school I went to didn't teach me English.  They didn't have a teacher who could take care of the students who didn't know English.  But the biggest reason I didn't learn English was because the other kids in the class would laugh at me whenever I spoke.  The teachers didn't seem to care.  After being at this new school I thought that my dream of becoming a doctor wouldn't come true because I didn't know English, and to be a doctor, I had to know English.

Luckily, we found out about a new school:  KIPP!  I love it at KIPP because I learn more and I feel better about what I do at the school.  Now I raise my hand and I'm able to talk to other people in English.  I'm not afraid to speak in front of the class.  At KIPP the teachers really care about their students.  They will work on Saturday and Sunday if they have to help their students.  Every night I work hard on my homework for almost three hours to make sure it is done with quality.  I want to do quality work because I want good grades.  It's really important to help me, my family and my country.  With a good education, you can help others get a good education like you have. Education makes life easier and better.  My mom only went to school to the sixth grade. Now she has to work harder because she did not study in school.  She doesn't want that for me, and I don't want it either.  I want to achieve everything I can. Before coming to KIPP, I never passed a TAKS benchmark test, but because I'm raising my hand in class and the teachers, like Mr. Newman, are making sure I understand, I passed my very first benchmark test last month.  For the first time in my life, I am really learning!  My father was always looking for a better future for me. And now, I feel like it IS possible. Because of KIPP, I am sure I can make my dream come true and become a doctor someday. 

Sofia Martinez

                                                           7th grade student