With “Success starts here” being Northeast Community College’s slogan, it is no surprise that many students thrive on campus and when they leave after graduation.  The college is known for the diversity of students, who are all perusing their own career paths. For some, attending college happens a little bit later in life. Many people have different goals in mind when they come back, however few do it without a high school diploma or when it’s not in their native language.

Thanks to the English as a Second Language (ESL) classes offered through the college’s Adult Education Department, Yolanda Mendez began her very own success story.

It all started just seven years ago, when Mendez came to Norfolk, Nebraska with her three children to join her husband who had already been living in there for fifteen years. Knowing little English, she immediately enrolled in the ESL classes provided by the college. Not long after, she received her General Education Diploma (GED), an administrative assistant diploma, and now she is a college degree seeking student who plans on graduating in 2018. Once she received the diploma, she was hired by the college as an administrative assistant for the adult education department.

Yolanda says she loves working at Northeast Community College because she’s surrounded by role models who are exactly what she wants to become. But little does she know, she’s a role model, as well.