Like so many young people in City Heights, Hana knows the struggle, hustle, and resilient hard work of a new immigrant here. Her parents taught her the value of education, and now she is going to college and majoring in aerospace engineering.

From an Ethiopian refugee camp to being a student at Mira Costa College, Roda continues to face challenges, but she refuses to allow anything to interfere with her goals of graduating from college.

“When I meet mothers, first-time immigrants, I think of my mother… how hard it was for her, and I realized I could be a resource for immigrants and refugee families.”