When Brian Avila started high school in Mexico, he felt there really wasn’t a future for him. So, he just didn’t really care about school, and let his grades slip.
He then moved with family to Madera, entering Madera High School his sophomore year with a 1.22 grade point average. After two-plus years of hard work, Avila has grades good enough that will allow him to attend Madera Community College, with a plan to move on to Fresno State to major in civil engineering.
“I had bad grades in Mexico because I didn’t think of my future. Here, I started to be a better student and got better grades,” he said. “I have legal papers, so I came here. My parents are from Mexico. They wanted me to study here to have a better future. It was hard to come here without my parents. The first year, I missed them a lot.”