New World Awaits Manassas Park Student After Graduation

Editor's Note: This is part three in this week's five-part series on Manassas Park High School seniors who will graduate on June 11.

Xenia Chirinos Corrales was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but she is, perhaps, the American dream personified.

She is the daughter of a young mother who left her behind in Honduras while she traveled to the United States to make a better life for her.   

“I guess she came here to help me out, to give me a better opportunity,” Corrales said. “She had me when she was like, really young, and she didn’t want that for me.”

Corrales was raised by family in Honduras until the first grade, when she was sent to the United States to live with an aunt in Manassas and then with her mother in Manassas Park.

“I was forced to moved with my mom, I guess it was really strange because I didn’t really know her. I grew up with my grandparents,” she said. “Now she trusts me and I trust her, but sometimes I miss my grandparents.”

Corrales said she remembers  the difficulties associated with leaving her home country and coming to Virginia. “I felt like everything was weird. I didn’t know anybody, I barely knew any English, so I stayed quiet and just listened,” she said. “It’s a challenge, but it motivates you to learn and get on the same page as everyone.”

The quiet Honduran girl grew into an outgoing Manassas Park High School tri-athlete, bound for Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond in the fall.

School is no longer “weird.” Corrales said she loves every minute of it. “I don’t know why people complain. I do not mind school. I do not mind school at all,” she said. “ I feel like it’s really chill, like it’s more laid back.

Though she enjoyed school, the pressure was on early in the school year when it was time to get the college applications out before deadline.

“I felt like it was like taking another class in addition to school,” she said. “And I played sports the entire time. Managing all that and then college and then school, it was hectic. I was really worried at the beginning of senior year. I really wanted to go to college, but my family doesn’t have that kind of money.”

Corrales essentially landed a full ride to VCU. She got several thousand dollars in grants and a few loans, she said.

Corrales, who works at Taco Bell as a cashier, said she wants to get another job this summer to save up so she can continue taking care of herself.

“I’m really independent. I won’t ask my mom for money. I feel like I should be working for it,” she said.

Her father, who lives in California, really wants her to go to college and do well, she said.

“I don’t want anything to stop me from going to college. I’m really excited about what lies ahead. I know there is going to be good and bad, but that’s OK, because that’s how you go forward. You know?” she said.

And she’ll be in good company. Several of her classmates are attending VCU next year along with her.

The fact that graduation less than two weeks away is still very surreal to Corrales.

“It really hasn’t hit me yet,” she said. “At the same time, I’m nervous because after graduation it’s a new beginning.  You’ve finished one phase in your life and you are on your own with the rest.”