From Bridge to Board

Silvia Ajanel, CLC Bridge to College graduate and newly minted Friends of the CLC board member, was born in Guatemala and came to the U.S. after high school. Though she had studied English as a foreign language, she didn’t feel confident about her speaking and listening skills when she arrived in the U.S. and was grateful to have the opportunity to join a conversation circle at a supermarket in Brighton. It was thus that Silvia took her first English class in the U.S. at the back of a Purity Supreme. 

As a single mother and busy professional, however, Silvia never thought college would be a possibility. She also thought she was too old: “I thought that going to college after thirty was hard. I couldn’t imagine that I could do it after forty.” But when her sister joined the CLC’s Bridge to College program, she inspired Silvia to do the same. 

Silvia was especially intimidated by the prospect of taking college-level English classes through Bridge. However, after a year of studying with Professor Mina Reddy, Silvia was fully prepared for her first year at Bunker Hill Community College. Indeed, her first English professor there was so impressed by Silvia’s writing, she said, “Who was your previous professor? I need to have a word with her.” 

Math, on the other hand, had always come easily to Silvia. “For me, it was always numbers.” High school students in Guatemala leave high school ready to start a profession. When Silvia was introduced to accounting in middle school, she knew that it would be her career. It was thus an easy decision to pursue an associate’s degree in Business Management, with a concentration in Accounting, at Bunker Hill, where Silvia graduated with honors in May of 2022.

Today, Silvia brings her deep knowledge of QuickBooks and Sage accounting software to a rewarding job in accounts payable for a transportation company. The Friends are thrilled that she will also bring her accounting know-how to the board. Silvia is equally excited: “It did change my life, going to the CLC. If I could give something back, the satisfaction for me would be amazing.”