Maria"I am luckier than most people; my mom says there are always people who need things more than you do."


Maria was born in Zamora Michoacan, Mexico; her mother was a migrant worker in the strawberry fields when she first arrived in the United States. Although her family moved to this country so that she and her sisters could have better lives, after arriving in the United States and following years of domestic conflict, her parents separated, leaving her mother alone with four children. Now, Maria works part-time to pay her senior fees; when she has extra money she contributes to household expenses.

Maria has dedicated herself to her own education, placing academics above all other pursuits to ensure that she will someday have options that her mother never had. Every morning, Maria wakes up at 5:00 a.m. and takes two Dallas city buses to get to North Dallas High School. Although her sister attends Lincoln High School and has daily school transportation available, Maria chose to stay at North Dallas because of the EIF Dallas program.

During her summer internship in the legal department at Blockbuster, Inc., she became interested in the field of law. As such, pre-law is one of the majors she is considering when she enters college next fall. Maria relied upon EIF Dallas staff to work through apprehensions about potentially leaving Dallas to attend college and to navigate the college application process. Her EIF Dallas Higher Education Advisor at North Dallas High School has expressed great admiration of Maria’s growing confidence and independence.

Maria has already received three college acceptance letters, early admission to Texas Woman’s University, and admission to the University of Texas at Arlington and Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi) before deciding on a school. After she finishes her undergraduate degree, she plans to attend law school at Southern Methodist University.