Ms. Millan went on to explain that she arrived in this country in 1988 from Mexico with four children, two boys and two girls. Her oldest was twelve and the youngest was only 18 months. Shortly thereafter, without legal documents and unable to speak English, she was abandoned by her husband. Alone, scared, unemployed and with no idea of how to help her children, she heard about the PIQE program. Parent Classes were being offered at her son’s school, Lowell Elementary (now Perkins). She immediately enrolled in the PIQE program and began attending the classes. She proudly asserted that she went through the PIQE classes three times, when her children were in elementary, middle and high school.

Ms. Millan remembered her PIQE instructor Ms. Patricia Mayer or “Teacher Paty,” as they affectionately called her. “She and the program changed my life,” said Ms. Millan, “and one of the most important lessons I learned is, to always keep knocking on doors; when one door closes, another will open. I’ve been knocking on doors ever since. In fact, after several years of knocking on doors, I was able to secure legal citizenship status for my family. PIQE taught me many valuable lessons. I also learned that it was important for us keep our culture, our pride and pass our heritage on to our children, and that’s exactly what I did. I remember how much emphasis the instructor put on having dinner together as a family and not to allow television to come between us.”

She recalled “Teacher Paty” made her understand that poverty was no excuse to remain uneducated. “In one of our classes, we all brought tin cans and made them into piggy banks with our children’s name on each can. We labeled the cans ‘College Fund’ and I put them on the mantel in our small living room. Every month on payday, I would deposit a little money in each can. My children watched me do that for many years and they knew then that they were going to college.” In an emotional tone, she added, “my son, Juan Jose, bought his first semester books with that money. God was good to us!”

Ms. Millan continued to describe her situation, “My family and I experienced many obstacles. I worked long hours and couldn’t go to school to learn English, but I learned from PIQE how to manage and use translators to get my point across. As I mentioned before, we were very poor and when my eldest son was finally admitted to the university, we went to a meeting for parents and I felt so out of place. Here I was, dressed very poorly (but clean!) in the middle of all these important people. Then I remembered what PIQE had taught me; I was also important and my child had a right to this university education. That made me feel very proud and I didn’t care any more how humble my dress looked.”

Ms. Millan’s family grew-up in Barrio Logan and when people ask her how she managed to keep her children away from drugs and gangs, she responds, “I tell my children to be proud of who they are and to keep their traditions. I always kept them close to me! PIQE taught me how important communication is with my children and that’s what I have done. I talk with them, I listen to them and I kept them motivated in their education. I go to my children’s school whenever I can, and when teachers see me there, they pay more attention to my children. The first time I went to their school was because of an assignment from the PIQE classes.”

Ms. Millan went on to convey that PIQE also taught her that counselors in Middle School and High School were people, too, and “I needed to be their friend—I went and asked a lot of questions. It worked; my son got a College Fund Scholarship for $500 in Middle School and another $1000 when he got to High School---this kept him very focused on his studies.” Her eldest son, Juan Jose, graduated from San Diego State University (SDSU) as a Physicist and he starts his doctoral studies in September 2001 at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). He recently attended a seminar at a prestigious university in Sao Paulo, Brazil and he was offered a full scholarship.

Ms. Millan shared that her other three children were also doing very well in school. Her other son, because of his high grades, was recruited and attends La Jolla Country Day, a private school. He is following in his brother’s footsteps! Her daughter Karla is attending San Diego City College and will be transferring this fall to Cal State San Marcos to study engineering. Her second daughter has a learning disability but she proudly noted, “PIQE taught me that having a learning disability didn’t mean her child couldn’t learn—they just learn in a very different way than most people. I have been very close to my daughter’s teachers, monitoring her progress and I feel very proud to say that she is doing great. She will graduate shortly from Point Loma High School and plans to attend a community college and become a nurse.”

Ms. Millan closed by humbly saying, “If I hadn’t had the fortune of attending those PIQE classes 12 years ago, I don’t know where I or my family would be today. Those classes opened my eyes, encouraged me, and motivated me to never give up on my children. It was like a light bulb going on inside my head! But more than anything, being in classes with other parents made me feel that I wasn’t alone. We, as parents, cared for our children and we learned that we could make the difference in their future!” GRACIAS PIQE!