High school can be daunting and sometimes students may feel like they wont make it to graduation for one reason or another. It’s how they learn from struggles and hardships and take those lessons, turning them into new pathways.

“There were so many points throughout my high school career where I didn’t think I’d make it,” Jordan graduate Emily Gonzalez says, “but all through my life I imagined this singular moment coming and it feels surreal knowing I’ve worked so hard to get here.”

A normally shy person, Gonzalez has forged her own path to college through the Canyons AVID, Advancement Via Individual Determination, program. AVID is a college readiness program which accelerates student learning. Gonzalez says it’s been an integral part of her education. “I became close with a small group of people and I’ve done so many great things with them, I’ve grown with them and I feel like a very big part of my academic journey was influenced by that.”

Gonzalez is also a member of the National Honor Society and has poured all of her efforts into her academics with the help of her advisors and specifically her AVID teachers. “They were really helpful in my academic journey, but also in helping me find my identity and what type of person I am. They helped me get out of my shell and me more open with people.”

Gonzalez wants to continue that trend of breaking out of her shell when she goes to study at the University of Utah. “I want to reach out and be as open as possible, join student unions, specifically ones that deal with Latino issues or issues of color, maybe a club for psychology which is what I’m really interested in.”

Psychology has piqued Gonzalez’s interest since one of her teachers began incorporating it into her everyday lessons. “Psychology reaches every single point of our world,” Gonzalez says. “We’re all humans, but it feels like none of us really know each other or know ourselves. It’s a little ironic that psychology is the study of humans, but we try to box humans into different categories. Helping them is also a really beautiful thing and I think I can do that really well through psychology.”

Gonzalez plans to get her bachelor’s degree in psychology and become the first in her family to graduate college. Her goals after college are to provide for her mother. “I want to give back to my family and help them, especially my mom. A big goal is I want to buy her a house, I want her to settle down so I can finally give back to her after she’s done so much for me.”

While Gonzalez wants to take care of her family, she also encourages the next generation of graduates to take care of themselves. “You don’t have to have the perfect family or the perfect home or the perfect grades. What really matters is you check in with yourself because it’s really easy to get lost in everything and in materialism and trying to keep up with social images. It’s more important to take care of yourself. It’s ok to make mistakes.”