MACON, Ga. — Graduate nurse Gabriella Taunton-Carcamo came a long way to Central Georgia so she could become a nurse.
"I moved to the United States back in 2013 beginning of the year, from Honduras and I pretty much just wanted to have a better chance at life," Carcamo said.
At 17-years-old, she left her mom in Honduras as a high school junior to move in with her dad and step-mom in Warner Robins, and it didn't start off easy.
"None of my credits transferred. They were like, 'Education back there is way different, so I'm sorry we can't take this credit.' So I had to go back to being a freshman," Carcamo said.
She knew little to no English, and went through the English classes as a second language program at Warner Robins High School. With the help of her dad and stepmom, she became fluent in six months.
"They would not let me speak in Spanish at the home, because my dad knows a little Spanish. We would also watch movies, a movie in Spanish with English subtitles then watch the same movie immediately after with the opposite language, and the opposite subtitle," she said.
Three years later, she graduated from Veterans High School with honors. In Fall of 2016, she attended Middle Georgia State.
"You have to work hard for the things that you want. It was just part of the process. Everybody was so sweet and so nice. I couldn't have gotten better instructors," Carcamo said.
Gabriella walked across the graduation stage in May, and is now working in a nursing program through Middle Georgia State and Coliseum Medical Centers.
When asked what keeps her motivated she said, "I was thinking about my mom back home."
Her dad and step-mom attended her graduation ceremony in Macon.
Her mother, along with her large family, watched the ceremony virtually from Honduras.
Gabriella says sometime down the line, she wants to team up with doctors and help people in need of health care in her home country.