By Bella Ghile
How has Wuilmer done it all, from immigrating to America from Honduras in 2017, to graduating Herndon High School with a 4.0 GPA? In this interview, I had the pleasure of getting to know Wuilmer Hernandez. Through his years of Herndon High School, Wuilmer has dealt with many hardships, but has never given up.
Wuilmer arrived in the States in 2017 to fulfill his dreams and goals, wide-eyed and curious towards the new environment. Many consider America as the “land of opportunities.” Millions of people immigrate to the U.S. to accomplish the American Dream, but what is often overlooked is that coming to America isn’t because immigrants want to, but rather they must, in order to live their life freely.
In 2015, Wuilmer had lost his mother. This caused him to come to America, as he was unable to finish his studies. Wuilmer has always kept the love of his mother close, “All the things I am doing are always for her.”
Choosing to stay back one year for high school ended up being the right decision for Wuilmer. Many students would choose the other option, to leave high school rather than stay another year, because you’re set back, however this diminishes the positive benefits of staying an additional year. Wuilmer had been taking an academy course offered by the school, and had chosen to stay another year to receive the certificate. Wuilmer joyously says, “Right now, I’m so happy...I have my certificate.”
It doesn’t mean it was easy though, Wuilmer recalls that during the second quarter of his senior year, he was at his breaking point, “I was thinking I wasn’t going to continue because I was so tired.” Through dealing with the struggles of scholarship applications and the endless list of blank spaces to fill in. Wuilmer at times, “didn’t know what to do,” and reminisced about late night application sessions, “It’s 2 a.m., and I was doing the scholarships.” He couldn’t have done it without his teacher’s help. With every step forward, his teacher was right behind him, cheering for him on the sidelines. He remembered she would always say, “Wuilmer don’t give up, you’re almost there.” Through the hard times at school, Wuilmer always felt the support of his teachers and will never forget them. When I asked, “What are you going to miss most about Herndon?” without hesitation he responded, “I’m going to miss my teachers.”
“In the fall, I’m going to start at NOVA,” Wuilmer said, and “This summer, I’m going to take two classes at NOVA.” Everything Wuilmer had worked towards finally paid off and Wuilmer rejoiced, “I’m so excited...we’re going to meet new people and we are going to move on to the next stage.” He maintains his passion for wanting to help people. In school, “I was helping out in the office and [with] the students,” and “when I see a lot of kids like me and they don’t know English, I like to help them.” He plans to choose a major that has to do with helping people: “I’m thinking about education or medical.”
In Wuilmer’s parting words with the Stinger, he says, “That no matter where we come from, what color we are, we can all go forward, as long as we are doing the right thing! And do not be scared because we all started like this. And that all that we are sowing right now will be the fruits of tomorrow.”
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