Paolo and Valeria Obregon Guillermo were born and raised in Mexico. At the age of 12, the decision was made to send the sisters to the United States in order to give them more opportunities for their future.
Once on US soil, they bounced between places such as California, Alabama, and Texas before ending up in Ohio.
The sisters were at a community college in Texas before transferring to the Mount. Surprisingly, it was through the Honor Society at their community campus that they discovered the Mount. Once again, they packed up their possessions and their lives, and moved across the country. They were immediately welcomed with open arms and never looked back.
This is one of the most important things to them. They are international students and their family is still in Mexico. Coming to the Mount and being shown a welcoming home showed Paolo and Valeria that this is where they belonged.
The two sisters would like to give a shout out to Mary Mazuk. Without her help, they would have been lost financially. Mary helped them with all the international student paperwork and was a piece of their foundation at the Mount.
Another piece of the sisters’ educational foundation were all the resources and opportunities available to them at MSJ. The sisters would not have been able to finish their educational journey if it wasn’t for all the resources available. The Lion’s Cupboard, the Career Center, and the Writing Center were just a few organizations that helped them achieve their goals.
They are on track to graduate in December with a bachelor's degree in financial economics. After graduation, they hope to stay in the Cincinnati area.
The sisters have worked extremely hard to get where they are today. They would like to let others know they are “grateful for the experiences, the people, the opportunities, and the community. The Mount was always willing to help even when they really didn’t know how. It meant a lot when they (the people at the Mount such as friends, faculty, etc.) believed in us even when we did not believe in ourselves. And there was always someone willing to listen.”
In photo: Valeria and Paolo Obregon Guillermo