After talking to Jessenia Solorio for a few minutes you quickly realize that she is an excellent example of someone who has grit – the term that describes the quality of perseverance in the face of challenge.
As a child, she moved back and forth between Mexico and California, finally settling in the Bay Area when she was 14. This was a difficult time for her because she was shy and her English was not very good. However, Jessenia says that she worked hard to adjust. At first she was placed in classes for English learners at Carlmont High School in Belmont. Through hard work and a passion for learning, Jessenia was soon placed in mainstream classes. She went on to attend Canada College for three years, then transferred to UC Santa Barbara where she graduated in 2008 with a B.S. in Economics with an emphasis in accounting.
Jessenia joined WANDA in 2016 as part of Cohort 9. She started classes just after the birth of her third child, a daughter. At the time, her younger son was 2 and her elder son was 7. Adding to the challenges of raising children without a second parent, her elder son was born with severe special needs and requires specialized care.
In joining WANDA, Jessenia was hoping to learn and connect with other women facing similar challenges. She says that she “never says no” to opportunities to learn and takes every opportunity to grow and and improve. She’s thankful to WANDA for providing an opportunity to learn and for the encouragement to keep moving forward. Despite her background in economics and accounting, WANDA classes helped her learn better personal money management skills and motivated her to save.
Jessenia quickly reached her $2000 savings goal and opted to invest her savings and WANDA match in a Roth IRA. She hopes to one day use this money toward the purchase of her own home. Once she’s accomplished that, she hopes to work toward becoming a CPA. Knowing Jessenia, she’ll make it happen!