Christianne Meneses Jacobs - High School in Los Angeles (1989-1991)

High School in Los Angeles (1989-1991)

When her family left Nicaragua, they were only allowed to take $500 with them. When her family got settled, her parents worked at the Los Angeles International Airport and she attended Los Angeles High School, where she served as editor in Chief of both the Spanish and English newspapers. She described her childhood as privileged, saying "I attended private school and ballet lessons. We had domestic servants that performed several jobs:nannies, cook, chauffer, gardener, cleaning, laundry, and ironing." She was astonnished when she arrived at the amount of food wasted in the United States. She describes her time in NIcaragua, "We had a food rationing card in Nicaragua and had to pick up one pound of rice, one pound of beans, one pound of sugar, and one quart of oil per person in the household for a two week period."

Her biggest difficulty when moving here was the language barrier. She said, "The most challenging part was that I was a senior in high school in Nicaragua but I was placed in 10th grade at Los Angeles High School because I did not speak English well. It was also challenging that although I had studied English in Nicaragua I could not understand it in the U.S. That lasted for my first four months and was very frustrating." She credits her high school teachers in helping her to overcome her difficulty with the language. She said, "They encouraged me every day to rise above expectations. I will always be grateful to them for I would not be who I am now without their nurturing and encouragement.". She was inspired by Today in L.A. anchorwoman Carla Aragon. "One of my role models was anchorwoman Carla Aragon (who is now in Albuquerque with KOB). I met her in high school and established a friendship with her for several years while we lived in L.A. She once called me a 'diamond in the rough waiting to be discovered'. She was my role model for an educated, professional, and successful Latina." She would go on to become the Editor-in-Chief of both the Spanish and English school newspapers. She said of life in the U.S. that "I am glad that I moved when I was 17 years old. I had a strong educational foundation and a sense of who I was. As a result, I was not an easy target for peer pressure." She also enjoyed her new home in the U.S., saying, "As I began to understand the American way of life, I began to like the idea of meritocracy. I admired Americans that worked hard and became successful in their careers. I believe that one's dreams are possible when one had the motivation and willingness to work hard." She graduated from L.A. High when she was 20 years old.