Ana moved from Italy to the U.S. in 2000. After arriving in her new country, she had no choice but to secure work and send money back home to her two children. Finally, Ana made a choice that would change the direction of her life: she decided it was time to go back to school to improve her English. Ana’s sister was already studying at the Carlos Rosario School and encouraged her to enroll.
In 2006 Ana started in ESL Level 2. She worked her way through the different levels until she completed ESL 7. Ana’s teacher advised her to enroll in the GED Program. She struggled to balance the many responsibilities in her life and had to eventually drop out of the program. Ana didn’t give up, and enrolled in the Culinary Arts program, graduating in 2011.
Ana’s journey with Carlos Rosario School did not stop there. In 2014, when our school opened the doors of the new Sonia Gutierrez Campus, Ana found a job as a Kitchen Assistant. This part time job would allow Ana to build her experience and to find a full-time job at the Meridian Pint Restaurant in Washington, DC, where she worked as a sous-chef for three years.
Meanwhile, Ana hadn’t given up on her dream of creating her own business. She just needed the tools and resources to follow her passion. In 2018, she returned to the Carlos Rosario School and enrolled in our Small Business and Entrepreneurship program. After learning more about how to start a business, she graduated from the program, and started Jaddi’s Catering. This life-changing step was the culmination of more than fifteen years of Ana working in different restaurants paired with the skills she learned at the Carlos Rosario School.
Currently, our proud alumna owns and operates a food truck, was a vendor at the Petworth Farmer’s Market in 2019, and recently opened a stall at the Tastemaker Commercial Kitchen in Brookland. Jaddi’s Catering specializes in Salvadorian & Latin-American Cuisine. They bake goods and make foods such as Salvadorian quesadillas, pupusas, tortillas, and more.
Always looking to the future, Ana wants to continue studying at the school. “I really would like to come back to Carlos Rosario School to finish my GED and register for the new Culinary Arts program classes because there are new things I want to learn that I didn’t with the old classes,” she said.
Ana is grateful for the Carlos Rosario School. “I really like the environment, opportunity, and support Carlos Rosario [School] creates for migrants in Washington, DC, no matter where they come from. We are lucky,” she said.
Start your life changing journey by learning more about all the programs the Carlos Rosario School has to offer by clicking HERE
Find & support other graduates of the CR School Small Business and Entrepreneurship Program in the Virtual Marketplace Portal HERE