[MUSIC PLAYING] ARGELIA RAMIERZ-CERDA: My mom has a very colorful background. She comes from Mexicali, from a very different economic situation from where we are now. 

M. MAGDALENA CERDA-BAEZ: I come to the United States with my husband and three kids for better education. I go to the Montgomery school because it's very accessible for many people. 

ADRIANA SANCHEZ-ALDANA: Magdalena represents, I think, so many of our students in that she came for one goal, and that was to improve her parenting skills. She found, with encouragement from her fellow students, that maybe she should also improve her English skills. 

MAGADALENA RAMIERZ: I always knew that learning in English was always difficult for her. And she started going to these classes because she wanted to learn English. And she wanted to be more involved with us in our lives. 

ARGELIA RAMIERZ-CERDA: She has a little bit of a dyslexia. It affects her English language ability. And that has been difficult for her, but she has been able to recognize it. She has succeeded nonetheless. 

MONTY C. LISH: Magdalena has always had a talent for organizing people and organizing events and organizing my students as well and help me often with the class. And many times, I would look to her for help in organizing people and inspiring people to do things that they wouldn't ordinarily do. It was really wonderful to see her transition from being a housewife and a student to becoming a working mother with a career that she really enjoyed, that she really like 

LETICIA AYALA: Magdalena Cerda-Baez, Nena-- as we all know her by Nena-- is one of our senior community organizers, who is now directing our board environmental justice campaign here at Environmental Health Coalition. And she's just an awesome leader. So I'm very happy to be working with her in the campaign. 

M. MAGDALENA CERDA-BAEZ: I was a community organizer because I can understand the problems for the people in the community. Many people will have the same problem like me. So the people here in Mexico need help for access to the better life, better health, and education. 

GEORGETTE GOMEZ: She does organizing, she does empowerment of residents to really support them to speak up. And she helps people, mentors people to really take action and not be sidelined. 

ALHELI BANOS-KEENER: I just see her as a very good community advocate, because she's very good at working with people, she has a very good personality, and she's very gutsy. 

And she tells it how it is. So she tells you what needs to get done. And you work with her to make sure that you're doing the right thing for the community 

LETICIA AYALA: Magdalena works with her heart. And I think that's one of the key qualities that really makes her shine. Because in every decision that she makes, she always considers everybody. 

MAGADALENA RAMIERZ: She deals a lot with community issues and working with people. And that to me has been a great example, because the element of serving your community has always been an example for me and something that I wanted to take into whatever profession I chose-- M that involves working with people and something that involves helping others. 

ARGELIA RAMIERZ-CERDA: It's a very demanding position. But it's also very rewarding for her, because as it has its challenges, she's been able to accomplish many things, I think, for her personally. And I am proud of her. 

ADRIANA SANCHEZ-ALDANA: Adult education helped her get self-confidence that she needed to be able to move on to do the things that she had kind of thought about and hoped that she might be able to do one day but didn't have the confidence to do it at that moment. 

M. MAGDALENA CERDA-BAEZ: I'm happy because the next month I make me a citizen in the United States. 

MAGADALENA RAMIERZ: In her upbringing coming from an impoverished family and coming from Mexico, she has come a long way, really far. I don't know where we'd be if she hadn't done all the stuff that she's done for herself and for us all, her kids. 

M. MAGDALENA CERDA-BAEZ: You need to go to the adult school for progress in life. 

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