Today we’d like to introduce you to Abigail Molina.
Hi Abigail, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My name is Abigail Molina; I am from El Salvador, I came to this country when I was 17 years old. I did not speak any English; this is an important part of my story because one of my biggest dreams was to be able to finish my higher education, and this did not look possible at the time because of many factors one of them was not speaking English. I am a determined person, and I do not give up easily. Many people close to me told me that people like me did not go to college (immigrants) and that I should quit and just focus on working and making money. However, I believe that you should fight for your dreams. I attended and graduated High School in 7 months. This was one of the hardest things I have ever done because it was a whole new experience and hard to adapt to in such a short amount of time. During my time in High School, I dedicated all my spare time to learn English and practicing with my classmates. Once I graduated, I felt that my English was not good enough for college, and I decided to take ESL classes at my local community college. During my time learning English, I was always researching how to pay for college, scholarships, etc… I talked to multiple people in my community most told me that it was going to be hard for me to take regular college classes because I did not qualify for most scholarships and college is expensive. This was a hard time because being told that thing you want the most is not going to be possible hurts, again, I did not give up. Many doors were closed to me, but I opened more for myself. I also noticed that there is not much help for immigrants, or at least there is not much information available for us when it comes to higher education. This inspired me to start posting on Tik Tok about college information for immigrants. After I felt confident about my English, I started attending regular college classes, I felt insecure about my performance in classes, but I after my first semester, I noticed that my effort was paying off I got straight A’s my first semester. This was a big accomplishment because I thought I was never going to be in that position. I pay for my classes with my hard work it is hard to have a full-time job while being a full-time student. I got some scholarships in my last semester. I graduated from community college with a 4.0 GPA this last fall semester, and I transfer to a 4-year university to finish my bachelor’s degree.
I am a Latina content creator who likes to share my experience as an immigrant in the United States, I want to motivate my community and other communities to fight for their dreams and to tell them that is possible to take space in places that might not seem are for us. My Tik Tok is also a space to share my personal interest like beauty, fashion, and others. My message is to not give up.
TikTok Abybibym
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road; one of the main struggles is to overcome my impostor syndrome, sometimes, I feel that I don’t belong in some places, but I have to remind myself that when other people see you there, they can also see themselves there. This is why I started to create content for social media to let other people like me know that they can pursue higher education. That is possible to learn English and be anything they want to be.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a small content creator for Tik Tok, and I love to share about my life on Tik Tok, especially about my experience at a university. I have a unique journey with my college experience; it was not easy for me to be where I am at today. I like to share that because I like to inform and inspire others to do the same to take space and share the struggles of being an immigrant in the U.S. I went from not speaking any English to having a 4.0 GPA on college, all of this in 4 years. I think my story can inspire others to not give up. I also like to create content about fashion and beauty, and this has opened doors to collaborating with brands and companies and having some income from content creation.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Determination, hard work, and positivity. No matter how many times I have been told “no,” I always try something else or something new, but I never give up.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abybmolina/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@abybibym
Image Credits
Eduardo Maldonado
