Jeffrey Lowman/Arizona Republic

Anel Arriola shares her story at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.

KJZZ partners with the Arizona Republic to bring you the Arizona Storytellers series. We record the live events and share them with you on the radio. In Phoenix, the storytellers sometimes share stories about our community or the life events that have shaped them in general. Megan Finnerty is the creator of the series.

Anel Arriola is a Mexican immigrant. Her parents brought her to the United States when she was 10 years old and enrolled her in a predominantly English-speaking school. Her first day of school she was so nervous about not being able to communicate with her teachers.

Anel Arriola is a mentor to first-generation college students at ASU and a research assistant at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.

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