Although she arrived determined to face the challenge of learning English, Tesfaye described starting school at Anne Sullivan Communication Center in the Longfellow area as one of her hardest experiences.
“I felt as though I came from an entirely different world,” she told the City Hall audience. When she switched from English Language Learner classes to a mainstream classroom, attending summer school as well, her progress accelerated.
“I knew I needed to be fluent fast,” she said. She was a valedictorian by the time she graduated from eighth grade.
Shifting to nearby South High School, she found the College and Career Center established by Achieve!Mpls, a nonprofit supporting Minneapolis students. She attended resume workshops, researched job and scholarship opportunities and polished her essays for them under the tutelage of Anne Erickson, the center’s coordinator.
“She went beyond her job to help students,” Tesfaye said.
“I probably saw her at least once a day, every single day,” Erickson said. “She was so motivated. She wanted to make sure she took advantage of every opportunity she had.”
That included applying through a city program for summer internships also run by Achieve!Mpls. She landed first at Ameriprise Financial, a little intimidated and wondering what a teen could offer a financial giant. She left with new job skills and a hankering for personnel work.
That led to another internship last summer in human resources with the Minnesota Twins. “It was one of the most interesting experiences I ever had,” she said, and it cemented her decision to major in human resources development.
She’s just completed her first semester at the university, although she’s well beyond that academically due to college credit earned at South. She’s attending on scholarships including the school’s Founders Free Tuition program for low-income students, another element of the Minneapolis Promise. She’s also worked all through high school, including evenings after her daytime internships, as a hospital nutritional aide, the same work her mother does.
Tesfaye’s journey is a feel-good story that previous generations of Hmong, Ukrainians, Scandinavians and countless other ethic groups can relate to. Highlighting the city’s role in providing that opportunity is also smart politics for a mayor competing for the DFL endorsement for governor.
Tesfaye’s full first name is Addisalem, which means “new world” in her native tongue. She’s taken that new world by storm.