Meet Melissa Perez

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Jessica Ruby

Prevoditelj: Sanda L Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

My name is Melissa Perez.

Zovem se Melissa Perez.

I was born and raised in the Bronx, New York City,

Rođena sam i odrasla u Bronxu u New Yorku,

but my parents are Mexican.

ali moji roditelji su Meksikanci.

Two years ago, graduating high school

Prije dvije godine

nisam uopće planirala maturirati.

was not even in my plans.

I was doing horribly in school.

Bila sam vrlo loša učenica.

Going to a school that has metal detectors is stressful.

Stresno je ići u školu koja ima detektore metala.

You have to stand in line 25 minutes to an hour.

Morate stajati u redu 25 min. do sat vremena.

I would only go in third period

Išla bih samo na treći sat

and come out fourth.

i izlazila na četvrtom.

I went third period

Išla bih na treći sat

because I knew they didn't take attendance first and second.

jer sam znala da ne bilježe prisutnost na prva dva sata.

So, basically, if you were going third period,

Dakle, ako ste prisutni na trećem satu,

they would mark you present for the whole day.

pisalo bi se kao da ste u školi cijeli dan.

I just wasn't interested in school.

Jednostavno, škola me nije zanimala.

Then, when I was 17,

A onda, sa 17 godina

I gave birth to my daughter, Madeline.

rodila sam kćer Madeline.

Getting pregnant changed my approach tremendously.

Trudnoća me jako promijenila.

I thought, "I'm pregnant, I don't have a diploma.

Pomislila sam: "Trudna sam i nemam diplomu.

So what I am I going to be working the rest of my life?

Što ću raditi do kraja života?

$7.25 an hour?

Za 7,25 dolara na sat?

No! I have to graduate and go to college."

Ne! Moram diplomirati i upisati fakultet.

Being a mom, still going to high school is, ummm,

Biti mama koja još uvijek ide u srednju školu je

overwhelming, I would say, at the beginning,

na početku, previše za mene, rekla bih,

but I had this math teacher who encouraged me

ali imala sam nastavnicu matematike koja me ohrabrila

to go on with school.

da nastavim školovanje.

She always said that she saw something in me.

Uvijek bi mi govorila da vidi nešto u meni.

She was like, "I know there's something inside you there

"Znam da ima nešto u tebi

that wants to fight for it."

što se želi boriti."

She always pushes me,

Ona me uvijek gura,

she always gives me the hard questions

daje mi teška pitanja,

because she knows that my favorite subject is math.

jer zna da je matematika moj omiljeni predmet.

She's always like, "Melissa, figure this out.

"Melissa, riješi ovo.

Melissa, figure that out."

Melissa, riješi ono."

And I'm like, "Okay, okay."

A ja: "U redu, u redu."

I like that about her

Sviđa mi se to kod nje,

because she always tends to push me.

jer me uvijek gura.

Thelma is the first teacher

Thelma je prva nastavnica

that has treated me,

koja se prema meni odnosi,

you know,

znate,

I guess, special.

kao da sam posebna.

After I had my baby, I got my head into the game

Nakon što sam postala majka, posvetila sam se školi

and I passed my classes.

i položila svoje predmete.

Being a mom at a young age

Biti majka u ranoj mladosti,

either makes you or breaks you,

ili te ojača ili te slomi,

but, in my case, it made me.

u mom slučaju, ojačalo me.

It made me have a total different visual for my future.

Zbog toga imam potpuno drugačiju viziju svoje budućnosti.

I am the first person in my family

Prva sam u svojoj obitelji

to graduate from high school.

koja je završila srednju školu.