Student Receives National Recognition
Juan Llanes' journey a long one
Lauren Blais
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Features
Along the way the bus was stopped by officials. As immigrants from Cuba, Llanes and his sisters had to get off, show their documentation and display their possessions. Then they were able to get back on the bus with their items, minus their money, which Llanes said was kept by the officials.
Though he was tired from the week-long bus ride, Llanes can still recall his excitement when he crossed the border.
"I remember the first thing I saw was a gas station. I was like 'Wow! Look at the gas station!'"
Llanes, his sisters and their father, who met them in Texas, rode a Greyhound bus to Georgia. Llanes said he fell in love with the pine trees and the cold, rainy weather that greeted him, which was so different from Cuba's tropical climate.
Llanes wasted no time. He visited schools like the University of Georgia, Georgia State College and the Georgia Institute of Technology in hopes of attending college. Despite his high school grades in Cuba, none of these schools would accept him due to his poor English. He finally tried a school that Georgia Tech pointed him to Gainesville State College.
One of the first people Llanes talked to at GSC was Guillermo Rodríguez from the Office of Minority Affairs.
"I was impressed because he was very new to the country and he was already looking for an opportunity to enroll in college," said Rodriguez.
To improve his English, Llanes enrolled in ESL classes. His instructor, ESL coordinator Tonna Harris-Bosselmann, noted his enthusiasm.
"I noticed immediately that he was special," she said. "He really wanted to understand the grammar, the structure, the way we use (English) with writing versus when we speak it .... (He was) very engaged with the subject."
Though Llanes' calendar is now filled with activities, he was initially reluctant to join many organizations on campus. He associated clubs with something one was forced to belong to and fulfill the obligations as a member.
Though he was tired from the week-long bus ride, Llanes can still recall his excitement when he crossed the border.
"I remember the first thing I saw was a gas station. I was like 'Wow! Look at the gas station!'"
Llanes, his sisters and their father, who met them in Texas, rode a Greyhound bus to Georgia. Llanes said he fell in love with the pine trees and the cold, rainy weather that greeted him, which was so different from Cuba's tropical climate.
Llanes wasted no time. He visited schools like the University of Georgia, Georgia State College and the Georgia Institute of Technology in hopes of attending college. Despite his high school grades in Cuba, none of these schools would accept him due to his poor English. He finally tried a school that Georgia Tech pointed him to Gainesville State College.
One of the first people Llanes talked to at GSC was Guillermo Rodríguez from the Office of Minority Affairs.
"I was impressed because he was very new to the country and he was already looking for an opportunity to enroll in college," said Rodriguez.
To improve his English, Llanes enrolled in ESL classes. His instructor, ESL coordinator Tonna Harris-Bosselmann, noted his enthusiasm.
"I noticed immediately that he was special," she said. "He really wanted to understand the grammar, the structure, the way we use (English) with writing versus when we speak it .... (He was) very engaged with the subject."
Though Llanes' calendar is now filled with activities, he was initially reluctant to join many organizations on campus. He associated clubs with something one was forced to belong to and fulfill the obligations as a member.
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