TST BOCES - Tompkins · Seneca · Tioga

When Juan Pablo Navarro and Qiaohua Liu arrived in Ithaca, they were each stepping into the unknown.

In 2022, Juan Pablo left Guadalajara, Mexico, after his wife, following years of experience at BorgWarner in Guadalajara, took the next step in her career at the company’s Ithaca location. Juan Pablo, a realtor with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and business administration, left behind a busy career for a new life in a country where he knew no one. The move promised more time with his family and new opportunities, but it also came with significant challenges.

“My biggest fear wasn’t for me, it was for my daughter,” Juan Pablo recalled. “At just eight years old, she was leaving behind everything she knew—her friends, her school, our extended family. She was stepping into a world where she didn’t fully speak the language and didn’t know anyone. I didn’t want her to feel isolated or depressed. But the way her new school welcomed her, the way she made friends so quickly—it was incredible.”

Qiaohua came to Ithaca from Fujian, China, in 2020 after her husband sponsored her visa. She arrived during the height of the pandemic, pregnant and feeling the weight of isolation due to the language barrier. “In China, we speak Mandarin. I had very little chance to speak English in China,” she said. “It was hard at first. I wanted to make friends. I wanted to connect.”

Neither spoke fluent English. Both were navigating life in a new country, far from extended family and the familiarity of home. But through the TST BOCES Adult Education ESL program—the only free ESL program in the region—they found not only the tools to thrive professionally, but also a place to belong.

“It was more than learning English,” Juan Pablo said. “You learn about the human core. You meet people from everywhere—Ukraine, Turkey, Germany—and realize we are more alike than different.” He described the program as a place where classmates support each other with everything from navigating driver’s license applications to finding the best place for buying winter coats. “I always felt like I was coming not just to class, but to see friends. That made me feel good,” he added. “It’s like a little United Nations.”



For Qiaohua, the ESL class marked a turning point in her personal and professional confidence. When she had a job interview coming up, her teacher Gavin Donohoe spent two full hours with her and the class role-playing. “We took turns asking and answering questions, just like a real interview,” she recalled. “That kind of support—peer to peer, teacher to student—made a huge difference.”

Today, both Juan Pablo and Qiaohua are full-time employees at TST BOCES in the very same Adult Education department that supported their first steps in the U.S. Juan Pablo now works as an intake specialist, guiding new students through enrollment and helping them feel at home from day one. “It’s like giving back a little of what I received,” he said. “This city embraced me and my family. Now I get to help others find their path.”

Qiaohua works as a data manager now, a role that directly connects to her academic background in statistics. She lights up when talking about numbers and her contributions behind the scenes. “I’m so grateful,” she said. “I was a student here, and now I'm a staff. It’s amazing.”


They both credit the ESL program with giving them more than job skills—it gave them friendship, confidence, and a true sense of belonging. They remember celebrating cultural holidays and learning the history behind them, international potluck lunches, and spontaneous trips to the park or out to eat on the Commons. These moments helped students share their cultures, their food, and their stories. “Through the food, the talking, the stories, you take a little piece of everyone’s culture with you,” Juan Pablo said.

And that sense of community doesn’t end in the classroom. Juan Pablo now helps organize informal events for current ESL students. “We’re thinking about game days, park picnics, simple things that bring people together, even if they don’t speak much English yet,” he said.

Both have also become informal ambassadors for the program. Qiaohua recently helped her best friend prepare a résumé to apply for a job—just as her teachers once helped her. “I tell people, don’t be afraid if you don’t speak English,” Juan Pablo added. “Nobody in the class is perfect. We all learn together. That’s the beauty of it.”

For those new to the Ithaca area, Juan Pablo and Qiaohua share the same advice: Join the ESL program.

“You’ll find a beautiful city, a supportive environment, and people who want to help you,” Juan Pablo said. “This program changed my life, gave me a new career, and created a sense of belonging.”