According to the Community College Consortium for Immigrant Education,  out of the 6.5 million students enrolled in community colleges in the U.S, 24% of the students come from immigrant backgrounds. People from developing countries are continuously migrating to developed countries in order to access a high-quality education and life. Usually, students that come from developing countries feel that the only way to succeed is through education. This cycle continues throughout generations as a tradition. At Panther Creek, tons of students come from different cultural backgrounds from across the globe.

In developing countries, the competition in secondary schools is unbearable. Students use every bone in their body to make it to the top; staying up all night reading page, after page after page, until they are able to recite all the information they memorized like a computer. Since access to education is limited in developing nations, being the top student in a high school would give the student the opportunity to receive a scholarship and study at universities abroad.

After receiving scholarships, high-scoring students enter developed countries with hopes and dreams of one day making enough money to provide for their families back home.

Haddis Abraham, a nurse practitioner, came to Canada once he received a scholarship to the University of Toronto. He left Ethiopia in 1983 after the Ethiopian Civil War broke out fearing that he might loose his life. “I felt that my only way of achieving a good life was by surpassing my peers when it came to education” states Abraham. “I push my children to take their education seriously and I work every day to make sure that happens.”

Isla Arshad, a junior at Panther Creek, came from  Pakistan. He says that education is much more competitive in his native country. “College like to see a well-rounded person. It’s not all about numbers here.”

After years of struggle, immigrants have found their true meaning and life and have finally achieved their “American Dream.”