Rodriguez's Latino Educator of Tomorrow friends understand what it's like to feel isolated by a language barrier. They know what it's like to be confused by culturally specific test questions. And most of them have personally made the journey from the bottom of the class to the top.

"I wasn't the best kid in junior high," said Tuare Garrido, a 17-year-old Mountain View High graduate. "I was a troublemaker and I wasn't interested in being in class."

When Garrido moved to Orem from Chile eight years ago, she didn't understand a word her teachers said and her classmates picked on her. She receded into her own world until her English teacher, who was from Colombia, took an interest in her and taught her about her own potential.

"I want to do for other students what that teacher did for me," said Garrido, who is now a freshman at UVU. "I want to change their worlds."

By combining their heritage with hard work, said Brett Breton, the assistant director of UVU's Multicultural Center, Garrido and her Latino Educator of Tomorrow classmates should be able to do just that.

"We just need a little more cultural empathy in our classrooms," he said. "If you understand the little nuances of a culture, you may be able to deal with the problems diversity presents in a more effective way."

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E-mail: estuart@desnews.com