My name is Alexandra Gabriela Gossett, I am 32 years old, happily married, and mother to the most wonderful two-year-old boy.  I am from La Mosquitia, Honduras, Central America. I was born in a city called Tela, Atlántida (a small touristic Bay in Honduras.) As a child I moved to a small village of La Mosquitia called Barra Patuca, where I was raised by my grandmother Erlinda Lopez Pich. My mother had to work on one of the touristic islands called Utila, Roatan to provide for me and my grandmother. Growing up with no father figure, I was around many strong leaders and hardworking women such as my grandmother and her friends, who served the church and the community. I did not have toys, books, school shoes, nor extra money but I had strong women around me, with great work ethics, full of life experience and extremely wise women. 

Being around such women, I grew up a little faster than I should have perhaps. These women made sure I knew how far I can go in life despite the circumstances I was in. I was taught to work hard for my dreams, they gave me words of encouragement. Such as “You are different, and you have a bright future ahead of you. No matter how hard life gets,remember to keep your eyes on the Lord and keep your head up and keep going.” You see, I didn’t have any parent figure, yet I had a whole village taking care of me. My grandmother helped to take care of my physical needs. The other women in the community helped to care for my mental and emotional needs, and some of their husbands became great father figures. They gave me the most valuable pieces of advice a daughter could receive from a father. 

I lacked proper meals, school uniform, school shoes, books, notebooks, and pencils, yet I had everything I needed, and I was the happiest little girl around town who loved school and learning more than anything else. 

Even though I lacked school supplies, I never missed a day of school because I always knew that one day education was going to take me far in life. The only problem was that my town was extremely limited when it came to education. My town only offered kindergarten through ninth grade, which meant that I had to move to the mainland for further education. After I finished eighth grade, I was sent to Tela without knowing the language spoken by everyone, which is Spanish. I grew up with my native dialect called Miskito, it is creole English language influenced by indigenous and European people. I grew up around my elders, therefore I did not have the opportunity to learn Spanish until I moved back to the city where I was born to attend ninth grade. In Tela, I learned Spanish by listening to others, practicing, and with the help of my classmates. I finished high school in Tela while staying at my grandmother’s sister’s house.

My mother did not have enough money to put me through high school, so I stayed at my aunt’s house and helped her with chores and cooked for her family until I finished high school. After I finished high school, my mother was very honest with me about not being able to further my education because we had no money. Regardless of our circumstances I was confident and hopeful that somehow, I was going to attend college. Little did I know, God had bigger plans for my future and He opened an opportunity through a family friend who works for Americans in Puerto Lempira, La Mosquitia. They were looking for six young women who were in need and were interested in applying for scholarships to attend a non-profit American community college in the mountains of Honduras. 

I remember saying, “How about me?” and they said, “are you ok with not seeing your family for up to three years if necessary? Also, if you try and get into this college , you will have to learn how to speak English in order for you to attend classes” I said, “I have done it before and I have always wanted to learn English so YES,  however I am afraid it is short notice and I do not have enough time to collect transportation money to travel to the mainland for the interview.” The American family replied, “you seem very interested in this opportunity; therefore, we will make sure you will make it to the interview on time.” This day was one of the happiest days of my life.

Around January of 2011, I made it to the city of Zambrano, Comayagua, Honduras for the interview and application of the scholarship. To my surprise, there were around 36 candidates, all applying for the same six scholarships! I thought, “There is no way I will make it to this school, look at all these brilliant young women and they clearly have a higher education than I do, but I am here so I will do my best.” Two long days passed and all of us were exhausted from the long interviews and written exams, yet we were all very eager to see the results and meet the luckiest six young women who would make it to the American women’s school and learn English as a new language. I was shocked when they called my name, I simply could not believe it. I was beyond grateful for the new opportunity to further continue my studies. 

My grandmother only speaks a dialect, did not attend school, and raised seven children as a single mother. My mother attended kindergarten to fourth grade and raised me with the help of her mother, so to me this new opportunity meant everything. I started school at Leadership Mission International (LMI) in February of 2011, learning the basics of English in six months as a third language and completing the three-year program in April of 2014. I was the only and first one from their first group of students to finish the three-year program at the time. A few months before I completed the program, LMI received a letter from the states requesting my information, this was from a couple of who had visited and served as volunteers for couple of weeks at Leadership Mission International during the preview’s years.

They remembered me as I used to be the translator for many volunteers that visited and served at LMI. They particularly remembered my love and enthusiasm for education, so as LMI was preparing to hold its first graduation ceremony this couple reached out to me through my teachers. Everything happened so fast, it is still a blur if I am honest!

I came to the United States in fall of 2014 as an international student, I attended South Georgia Technical College and completed my associate’s degree in marketing management in spring of 2017. In my free time, I often tutored young Hispanic students who did not speak or have any kind of interactions with their peers and teachers. When I often had one on one interaction with young students who had difficulty communicating in a classroom, I sympathized with them deeply since I went through the same situation. I always wished I had the help I needed to better understand in school and enjoy being in a classroom more. This has been the top motivation of my future career.

I strongly believe that many school systems need ESL or Spanish speaking educators to minimize the language barriers among students and parents who do not speak English well. As someone who struggled with language barriers from a young age, I want to help students improve their English and be able to better communicate with their peers and teachers. Becoming an educator is important to me because I believe that as a teacher it is important to be able to communicate with a student that has been introduced to a different language and environment. I want to become the type of teacher that is always there for students that need help to understand their school well and communicate with their peers.

My resilience, strong work ethic, life experience, values, and faith continue to guide me as I pursue my calling as an educator. I hope to be part of meaningful change in schools that serve primarily Spanish-speaking students, helping bridge language gaps so children feel seen, understood, and capable. At the same time, I remain deeply connected to Honduras. I currently serve on the advisory board of Mi Prójimo, a child-serving nonprofit founded by a fellow LMI alumna, and I advocate for Leadership Mission International within my community here in Georgia. It has been incredibly meaningful to see others inspired by my journey and willing to join me in leading change—proof that when one opportunity is given, its impact can reach far beyond a single life.