She cleaned houses with her mom and tutored other
students in Spanish. All of that helped, but it was not enough. By her
junior year, Marissa's family had little money left, and she nearly had
to drop out. Then DACA went into effect, and Marissa was able to secure Federal
student loans and graduate summa cum laude from Fort Lewis College in
Durango. Determined to give back, Marissa spent 2 years teaching in my
old school district, in the Denver Public Schools. She did not have any
background in education, but she wanted to pay it forward by helping
other kids achieve.