As if nineteen-year-old Reynaldo Jose Zarate Zeas’s graduation from high school last spring wasn’t a big enough deal in his family, he’s outdoing himself by attending two colleges now, as well.

Erlon Jiron

Twenty-three-year-old Erlon Jiron explains quite simply and in slow, practiced English why he quit school at age 17: “I didn’t continue my studies because I am very poor.” It’s a common story in Nicaragua. But for Erlon, it wasn’t the end of the story.