Budding entrepreneur Jessica Bortiri is a graduating Senior at the Performance Learning Center who says her younger siblings are the reasons she is encouraged to seek success.

“I feel a sense of responsibility to them by setting an example of graduating and making something of myself. I want them to know that school is not always hard, but if you try and have the determination, you can make it.”

Jessica personifies that effort.  She’s already made plans to enroll in cosmetology school, attend Durham Technical College, and then matriculate at North Carolina Central University to major in Business.  Her business ownership plans are intertwined with her desire to make people feel better: she wants to become an aesthetician, and she also plans to study nursing.

Again, her motivation is her younger siblings, and she has continued to push herself to be the best that she can be.

“I try to do good for them so that when I graduate, they can look at me and think, even though I came from another country where I did not speak English and never having gone to school before I came to the USA, and that even with a lot of challenges,  I still manage to get good grades, and work toward graduating and doing well in school.”   

Doing well is an understatement. Jessica will graduate from high school earlier than expected, having overcome the challenges that school can bring. But trials, Jessica, says, help one to grow and prepare for adulthood.

“My confidence increased, I became determined, worked hard, and surprised myself in whom I have become in this past school year,” she said.