Esperansa's story: “All I wanted to do was finish”

Esperansa wasn’t far from graduation.

But with just a few credits to go, she moved away from her family’s home and into an apartment in the next town.

“There weren’t any issues with me and my family,” she said. “I just felt like it was time to be more independent.”

That decision cost her dearly. Because she was not yet 18 — and because her family’s address of record was in a different district — school leaders wouldn’t permit Esperansa to transfer into the high school closest to her new home.

Locked into a lease and unable to get across town to attend her old school, Esperansa felt trapped. “I’d been a good student,” she says. “All I wanted to do was finish up at a different school. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal until they told me I couldn’t do it. And then I realized it was a big deal — because basically that turned me into a dropout.”

As graduation approached for her peers from her old school, Esperansa became restless. “I’d always wanted to graduate,” she said. “I was going to be the first one in my family to finish high school — and I knew that if I didn’t do that, it would have been very disappointing to a lot of people.”

Once she turned 18 she was able to make the transfer legitimate — but by that time she had been out of school for six months. “I felt like everything had passed me by,” she said.

Then a friend told her about NoDropouts, which had partnered with her new district to help dropouts get their diplomas.

“I started working right away,” she said. “And I did as much as I could, as fast as I could. I didn’t have to waste any time getting to and from school and I didn’t have to stop working at the end of the day. I just kept going and going until I was done.”

She completed her remaining classes in less than four months.

“Now I’m a graduate — just like I always thought I would be,” she said. “It was a round-about way to get there, but I got there.”

Is there an Esperansa in your community? We can help you help her. Call us at 855-NO-DROPOUTS or send an e-mail to info@nodropouts.com