Julia left high school in her home country of Cameroon because her father didn’t have the money to send all of his eight children, and she wanted to be sure her brothers continued their education. She completed a healthcare training program knowing that the certificate was a quick way to a job where she could start earning money and helping out with the family finances. She never thought about going back to school, but knew she loved helping people.

In 2010 Julia’s husband Germain who was working in Cameroon as an electrical engineer, won the green card lottery and the couple moved to the U.S. looking for a better life. It was a fortuitous meeting of a stranger at a metro bus stop that led the couple to the Carlos Rosario School to look for English for her husband. Julia went along to help translate, but ended up enrolling as well. After a few weeks in class her teacher advised Julia to take the GED prep class so she could get her high school diploma.

Six months later Julia earned her GED and started working as a home health aide. She is currently working full time and studying at Trinity University to be a Registered Nurse. Germain has gotten a good job with a construction company that is paying for him to go back to school to study engineering. Today they continue to encourage each other to keep going with their studies and to pursue their dreams.
Julia says, “Educating someone is the most important thing you can do… Carlos Rosario gave me my education; you can’t forget your base.”