Mexico native overcomes language barrier to graduate

An inspiring story about a high school graduate with a 3.65 grade point average, who learned English from her high school classmates. DP

By BEVERLY CORBELL The Daily Sentinel

gjsentinel.com: DELTA — Many Delta High School seniors overcame “great difficulties” to graduate Sunday night, said principal Delaine Hudson, and among them is Lucero Montes, who barely spoke a word of English when she began her high school career.

Lucero, 17, not only overcame her language barriers, but also graduated with a 3.65 grade point average while simultaneously finishing a two-year curriculum in cosmetology at the Delta-Montrose Technical College.

She moved here at age 12 from Chihuahua, Mexico with her three sisters and her parents, Maria and Eduardo Montes, who speak no English, Lucero said. It wasn’t easy for her at first.

When she first came to America, her other classmates treated her badly, she said, especially other girls from Mexico who already spoke English.

“Then I started making friends in the ninth grade and they started putting me in classes with more white people to learn more,” she said.

“I only took two classes in English as a Second Language.”

But that’s ultimately what Lucero wants to do: teach English to kids like herself.

“I was accepted at Metropolitan State College of Denver and I would like to major in education and teach English as a second language,” she said.

Getting through college won’t be any easier than mastering high school, because it’s expensive, she said, but Lucero plans to work as a cosmetologist to put herself through college.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.