Vivian

Vivian recently came back to visit Mayatan, where her sister is in 9th grade, and remarked how much things have changed. She only studied at our current location for one year, and she spent most of her time at the campuses near the ruins and where Casa Villamil lies today.

Vivian remembers that her cohort of 6 girls and 2 boys was all friends. She also remembers 5th grade teacher Ann Winship, who was very special. Miss Ann lived in one of Vivian's classmate's homes. After school, Vivian would go there to play with her friend and her teacher. It was also a good way to get help with homework.

After Mayatan, Vivian went to Santa Rosa to study computers at a public school there. The programs she used, like C++, FoxPro, and PASCAL were all written in and based on English, so her language skills gave her a leg up.  She's always been curious about computers and the jobs of the future, but Vivian also likes taking on new challenges, and she decided to study industrial engineering.

Now Vivian is also interested in business. In March, 2011, she finished university. When she came to Mayatan she was in the middle of a three month internship at PriceSmart, which exposed her to many parts of the job: HR, membership, maintenance, and telemarketing.

She is back in Copán today and looking to start her career. Vivian sees herself as a leader, and she thinks she might like to work at a food company or another large business.

As for her career at Mayatan, Vivian says "I loved studying," that this is the best school she has ever been in, and that it is "special." She remembers that teachers are also willing to help in ways that they don't or can't in public school and university.

We know from experience that Vivian will do a good job, whatever her field: she actually worked at Mayatan between finishing 9th grade and waiting for her high school year to start. (Mayatan follows a U.S. school calendar and her high school followed a Honduran calendar.) She got to help out in the 2nd grade class where her sister, Marissela, was a student, which was a nice way to make Mayatan feel like a family.