June was a big month for Los Angeles teen Pilar Diaz Bombino — she became a U.S. citizen on the 8th, and the next day delivered a celebratory commencement address honoring the Class of 2021.
Bombino, 18, immigrated to the United States from Cuba in 2006 with her mom, Nancy, and brother Daniel. They first moved to Florida, but settled in L.A.'s Watts neighborhood in 2014, where Nancy became a certified nurse assistant. Bombino told the Los Angeles Times that while she got good grades, she wasn't thinking about college when she started high school — but her mom got her motivated. "She told me it's very important to stay focused and do it," she said. "So I don't have to struggle in life the way she did."
Bombino studied hard, kept focused, and maintained a GPA of nearly 4.0, all while working at Smart & Final and AutoZone. When Bombino found out she got into UCLA, one of her three dream schools, "I really didn't have any words," she told the Times. "I was just in shock." She turned her attention to studying for her U.S. citizenship test, and ended up acing it, getting every question right.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
During her graduation speech the next day, Bombino said she was "thrilled" to announce she is now a citizen, and after thanking her brother, teachers, and friends, she praised her mom for showing her how "to hold on even when it seems impossible to do so." To her classmates at Jordan High School, Bombino said while their "senior year was stripped from us ... our power to change the world will forever be in our hands."
-
'That message may seem unimpeachable'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
How is Chili's saving casual dining? Could others follow?Today's Big Question Value and TikTok virality bring in the diners
-
NASA is abandoning the climateThe Explainer Climate missions could be going dark
-
Penn wipes trans swimmer records in deal with Trumpspeed read The University of Pennsylvania will bar transgender students from its women's sports teams and retroactively strip a trans female swimmer of her titles
-
Supreme Court may bless church-run charter schoolsSpeed Read The case is 'one of the biggest on church and state in a generation'
-
Harvard sues Trump over frozen grant moneySpeed Read The Trump administration withheld $2.2 billion in federal grants and contracts after Harvard rejected its demands
-
Harvard loses $2.3B after rejecting Trump demandsspeed read The university denied the Trump administration's request for oversight and internal policy changes
-
USC under fire for canceling valedictorian speechSpeed Read Citing safety concerns, the university canceled a pro-Palestinian student's speech
-
Florida teachers can 'say gay' under settlementspeed read The state reached a settlement with challengers of the 2022 "Don't Say Gay" education law
-
Biden administration to forgive $39B in student loan debt for 800K borrowersSpeed Read
-
Advocacy groups challenge Harvard's legacy admissions policySpeed Read
