ORLANDO, Fla. — Thousands of students will be crossing a huge milestone over the weekend, graduating from the University of Central Florida.
- Amanda Leyva graduates from UCF nursing program
- Leyva immigrated from Cuba
- She hopes to inspire other immigrants
On Friday, several colleges, including the UCF College of Nursing, held a special ceremony for their students. One of the students is 24-year-old Amanda Wendy Leyva, who never thought this day would come.
"My mom and I came from Cuba with $14, and we came with just a bag, full of pictures and memories of our family back there,” Leyva said.
Fast forward 10 years and Leyva is about to graduate as a nurse at UCF, surrounded by her loved ones. It's her family who inspired her to become a nurse in the first place after taking care of her grandmother back in Cuba.
"Caring for her really fostered that nature that I have to nurture others ... when she passed away, I thought about what can I do now. Who else can I take care of? And I thought, 'nursing,'” she said.
Amanda is just one of more than 3,700 students graduating UCF Saturday. Nearly half are minorities, and Latinos like Leyva make up 25 percent of them.
Now, Leyva wants to be an inspiration to younger immigrants with big dreams.
"Sigan adelante -- you know, keep going forward, and I think you should never give up on your dreams. It's hard, it's not going to be easy, but you have to push forward, and you know, finding kindness and never giving up,” Leyva said.
This is UCF’s new president Dale Whittaker’s first commencement ceremony since taking charge of the university.