CCP Student Adriana Lopez Sanchez on the Pride of Learning a New Language in a New Country

After living in the U.S. for just four years, Adriana Lopez Sanchez has made incredible progress on her goals to learn English and graduate from college. She is on track to earn her associate degree in accounting from Community College of Philadelphia this December.

“It’s been hard,” Adriana said. “It’s been really hard. Learning a new language is like a whole journey. And it’s a journey that you don’t understand until you’re really immersed into that new language.”

In 2022, she moved with her 14-year-old son to Philadelphia from their home in Mexico City. Adriana and her son—who is graduating high school next year—both wanted to learn English and felt it wasn’t going to happen unless they were surrounded by the language. Adriana had taken some English classes in Mexico, but she knew she would learn more effectively in the U.S.

“And then we had a family situation in Mexico,” Adriana said. “My mom passed away and we were trying to find something new for us. We wanted something new to feel so much better about the pain and things that were happening to us.”

When they first moved to Philly, she started studying English at Temple University. After a short while, Adriana transferred from Temple to CCP. She said the transition was smooth and she appreciated saving money at the community college while still receiving high-quality education.

Community College of Philadelphia officially received certification to admit international students in 2003, and has admitted international students long before that time. The College currently has students from 57 different countries.

“CCP, it was a really good option with great professors,” she said. “It gives you the chance to open your mind and also to give you more clarity. It gives you the option to learn and decide where you want to go. What you want to do.”

From admission to graduation, International Student Services further assists students who hold or are seeking F-1 student visa status at CCP. The International Student Services team provides support to help international students complete the application and enrollment process, as well as navigate immigration rules and regulations. They  offer workshops and assistance in international orientation, tax prep, employment eligibility, post-grad options, obtaining a driver's license, housing, status maintenance and much more.

Adriana’s journey hasn’t been without challenges. It’s never easy making friends in a new place, and balancing education with parenting makes maintaining a social life that much more of a struggle. Not to mention the added difficulty of a language barrier.

Still, Adriana said she feels like she is part of the CCP community and enjoys living in Philly (she was wearing an Eagles sweatshirt while talking.) Becoming bilingual has been exciting for her.

“It’s been really fun,” she said, “but also sometimes I feel that it’s so, so hard. It’s been really hard learning a language, new topics, new terms, new vocabulary for accounting that I didn’t even know in Spanish. It’s a lot of information. But I’ve been enjoying it a lot.”

She sometimes marvels at how her quickly her son picked up English.

“The way he learned, it was so much faster,” Adriana said. “He finished middle school here, in Philly. At the end of middle school that year, he was basically fluent.”

Looking ahead, she is still figuring out what she wants to do next. Her son is researching colleges now, some of which are out of state. She could move back to Mexico—she said she was confident she could get a good job with her degree and fluency in English—but that’s not her first choice. She wants to be near her son, if possible.

For now, she is looking forward to graduating.

“I’m really proud of finishing,” Adriana said. “I’m really, really proud. I can’t believe it. I feel like it is a dream. It’s a real journey.”

She stopped to literally pat herself on the back. “Sometimes I don’t give myself the credit that I should give. Sometimes I need to be more thoughtful with myself. I’m really proud of myself.”

Earlier this year, Telemundo62 and NBC10 interviewed Adriana in both Spanish and English about her time as an international student in the U.S.