Our recently graduated MLC student, Giovanna, moved to the United States from Chile around seven years ago. She wanted to improve her English skills to be able to communicate with different American companies to gain multicultural experiences. Even after having a foundation in English through her university studies, Giovanna wanted to increase her fluency to be able to participate in meetings more easily and share experiences. Before moving here, she worked as a web developer and marketing assistant in Chile, using her computer engineering and graphic design degree to support her career.
Upon her arrival to the US, she studied in an ESL program for one year, and afterwards, enrolled in a Computer Information System associate’s degree program. Henry Ford College allowed Giovanna to operate under an Optional Practical Training (OPT), which allowed her to work during the year. She also completed a cybersecurity specialization program in her time at Henry Ford College, where she graduated with honors.
This was in the year 2020. During this time, everything changed course with the pandemic. “It was so difficult for me to find a job,” especially during all of the business shutdowns and remote work, she said. In response to this, Giovanna created a business, her very own LLC, during the pandemic; it focused on IT and marketing solutions, utilizing her background in computer science and graphic design to propel her on her journey.
Living in Detroit, Giovanna was very accustomed to speaking in her native language, Spanish, with her family and the people around her. This is what pushed her to find new environments where she would be encouraged to practice her English more. “When you are studying in the IT field, it’s crucial to know English, especially to communicate,” she said. She found MLC and has since studied here for six sessions. “My goal at MLC was to speak and lose my fear of making mistakes. I want to try, without anyone judging my accent or my poor pronunciation,” she remarks.
Giovanna certainly found her community within MLC. “I feel I am free here” “It’s like an escape because I can talk with people [from] new cultures.” She emphasizes the fact that the people are very nice at MLC and she can be herself around them. “They also improve my professional vocabulary,” which she highlighted as being different from her other English learning experiences that focused more on grammar than interpersonal communication.
In her free time, she likes to spend time with her family, especially her daughter. “She is like a ‘mini-me’,” Giovanna said. “Everything changed when I was studying here because my focus changed for her,” she said. Her daughter has been a motivation throughout Giovanna’s education and her career in the US. They enjoy listening to music, singing, and playing video games together. “She helps me a lot in my pronunciation, too.”
Giovanna recently graduated from MLC this past session and plans to pursue a Master’s degree in computer science and work in the IT field– taking along all of her past educational knowledge while gaining new, inspiring experiences.
