Name: Allans Coello

Age: 20

Originally from: Tegucigalpa, Honduras

It was kind of hard to get Allan’s testimony because he does not enjoy being the center of a conversation. However, he agreed to talk to me about his life before Harding and how coming to study on a different country has changed his life perspective. This is what I recorded from his testimony:

“I was studying at the Universidad Nacional de Honduras before I knew about the scholarship. I was majoring in Industrial Engineering. At that moment of my life, I never thought about coming to the States with a college scholarship. Actually, I was very disappointed by the word scholarship. One of those was promised to me my whole high school life and in 2006 I realized I was not going to get it. So, I decided to go to college in Honduras and choose the most interesting major for me at that time.”

“Then, one day my mom showed me a newspaper ad about a scholarship. I was one of those ads that make you laugh because it sounds so marvelous that you know it would be impossible for you to get it. I was like if the ad said ‘we will pay you for studying.’”

“ I applied just because my mom insisted, but I was not excited at all. I did my best to get it, though. Actually, I got more excited about it towards the final part of the process because I could not believe that I was getting closer to win the scholarship.”

“When they called me to tell me that I had won it, I was so shocked that I could not believe it myself. I thanked God though at that moment for such a blessing, and I thank Him every day for all of the blessing that I have gotten while being in here.”

“I am majoring in management and international business now. Although I was studying industrial engineering in Honduras, I do not see this as if I had changed my mind. My goal in life is to be a business man but I also want to learn about the productive part of business. I see this part of my life as the chance to learn everything I can about business, especially about management, and then I plan to finish the major in industrial engineering when I get back to Honduras.”

“I want to have a big company and donate part of the profits to the causes I decide to help. I do not think that I have found my purpose in life, but I feel closer to find it. I really want to help my family, that is my big objective right now.”

“Sometimes the phrase ‘dreams come true’ sounds very cliché. But I have found that if you work hard enough, dreams do come true. The ugly part is not to do anything and let those chances to pass you by.”