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[upbeat music]

Jagroop Kaur: I was a high school teacher back in India. I gave up my job for the family, sacrificed everything. And then I was completely housewife. [jagroop kaur, esl instructor and distance learning team leader, elk grove adult and community education] Then I came on visa for one year. I said, OK, you're going to America only just to see America because you always wanted to.

Diane Villanueva: Her previous education had all been in English. [diane villanueva, retired teacher, elk grove adult and community education] So her English was really very, very good. And she just needed to acclimate to English accents, American accents.

Jagroop Kaur: I was so embarrassed that I was a high school teacher back home. My education was in English. How come I couldn't understand a single word? Now I'm here, and now I can achieve anything. But I can't because of this huge language barrier. It was a culture shock.

Callie Hutchison: She'd been a teacher in India. And so that was clearly her passion. [callie hutchison, data accountability and evaluation team leader, elk grove adult and community education] She had a dream that she could learn the English and move in that direction.

Priscela Perez: Jag liked to ask a lot of questions. [priscela perez, admissions representative, elk grove adult and community education] She wanted to learn fast so that she can get a job. And she wanted to be able to bring her family over from India, to bring her children over.

Diane Villanueva: She came up to me and said I need to get a job, can you help me get a job? And I was kind of surprised, taken aback. And I said, well, sure, we'll work on that.

Karen Malkiewicz: As time went on, she began working in the office. [karen malkiewicz, principal, elk grove adult and community education] And she became one of our stellar staff support technicians.

Priscela Perez: She was also going to school at the same time so that she can take her CBEST in order to be a teacher. So she would have help from the resource teachers. She was always asking questions to the other teachers.

Jagroop Kaur: The staff, my friends, my colleagues, they were awesome. My director, she was awesome. Every single person in the school have impacted and have touched and have played an important role to nurture me. So luckily I found those people here. They saw the potential, they saw the capabilities in me. And then they helped me. So that is the platform that I needed.

Callie Hutchison: We need teachers a lot, and particularly teachers that have the kind of experience that Jag has, where she has herself had to be a student and had to learn a new language and be in a new country.

Karen Malkiewicz: Jag began to express interest in teaching, because she had been a teacher prior to moving to the United States. And she began teaching a class, Beginning Low ESL class part time. And so while she was still working full time as a staff services technician, she also began teaching part time. And students love her. They learn, and she's very involved in her students. She was able to do both jobs extremely well.

Jagroop Kaur: I was working full time classified, and I was working part time certified. So I was the happiest person on this earth.

Karen Malkiewicz: Jagroop is excellent in terms of motivating students and encouraging students and supporting them and helping them make that transition to the next level.

Priscela Perez: We like that we can use her as an example with our students. Our current students, just because they moved from another country doesn't mean that their career has ended. They can keep going. And the students see it in her, and it makes them want to achieve more also.

Jagroop Kaur: My friends, they celebrated here when I became citizen. They had this big, huge American flag cake for me and we all celebrated. So I wanted to be a complete part of this country.

Karen Malkiewicz: She's very proud of that, that she has worked her way from a student learning English to a professional teaching English. And she's just an excellent role model in terms of our students seeing what is possible.

Jagroop Kaur: This is now my job. I always tell my students that, the place you are sitting now, I was there 10 years ago. And now I'm here, this side of the table. I say anybody can achieve anything. Do not underestimate yourself.

[upbeat music]