Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this interview.
Among the many students heading back to school this fall is Itzel Amacalli Tejeda, a U.S. citizen who she lives in Juarez, Mexico and went to school there through high school.
In 2013, Tejada began studying at El Paso Community College (EPCC), enduring a daily commute across the border to make it on time. She did so well she became a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholar.
And now, in order to begin her next educational journey, she's transferred all her EPCC credits to the University of Texas in El Paso. That's a four year institution — a "real college," as she calls it.
Itzel credits her mentors at El Paso Community College — one of five schools The Takeaway profiled in our "Community College Challenge" series — who helped her learn English and succeed. Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear Itzel's full story.
