00:00When they told us that we won that was an absolute joy. It was like a fairy tale.
00:06Right now I am looking for a red dress and I like the simplicity of it.
00:10I really like the boldness of red. It's a classic color. You could do an old Hollywood glam which is what I really aspire to be.
00:19Hello there.
00:21Hi Monty, nice to meet you finally. Oh my god.
00:26How are you?
00:27I'm amazing right now.
00:29First graduating class from Inwood Academy.
00:31Yes, so I've grown personally, academically and all that in Inwood Academy.
00:36Incredible. And your parents must be very proud of you.
00:40Oh.
00:41Yes. My parents, although they may not live with me, they still...
00:45But they don't?
00:46No.
00:47They live in the Dominican Republic. I came here when I was very young. I came with my aunt.
00:52So your aunt brought you out there?
00:53Yes.
00:54As a baby?
00:55Yes.
00:56My name is Marifer Santos and I am 17 years old. I was born in the Dominican Republic. My family had decided that in the Dominican Republic I had limited opportunities and they decided that they wanted to give me to my aunt. And now I live with my grandparents and my aunt.
01:15Yes.
01:16Yes.
01:17Yes.
01:18Yes.
01:19Yes.
01:20Well, my maternal mother did want, obviously, to be with me. She knows that she did the right
01:26choice.
01:27Yes.
01:28Yes.
01:29Yes.
01:30Yes.
01:31Yes.
01:32Yes.
01:33Yes.
01:34Yes.
01:35Yes.
01:36Yes.
01:37Yes.
01:38Yes.
01:39Yes.
01:40I feel as if I was given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because I'm the first generation of my family to graduate high school and go on to college.
01:46Yes.
01:47Yes.
01:48Yes.
01:49Yes.
01:50Yes.
01:51Yes.
01:52I am a role model to her.
01:53I want to be the generation of my family that makes a successful future.
02:00My focus is studying, making a career of myself, making a woman out of myself.
02:06And I plan to go to college and pursue a career in education.
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