A graduating senior in the Rochester City School District hopes her story will inspire others to chase their dreams.

“I can`t wait to see my mom’s face and all my family on graduation day,” said Edison Tech High School senior Pyar Mo.

Mo, 18, will graduate from Edison Tech High School on Saturday.

She is graduating with a 4.65 GPA and has been named this year`s salutatorian.

Pyar was born in a refugee camp and her parents were forced to leave their home in Myanmar because of an ongoing civil war. 

“It`s been happening for six decades and no one heard about us and no one is doing anything about it and I want to share my story to give a voice to my people,” said Mo.

The 18-year-old came to the U.S. from Thailand when she was 12 years old.

“My family decided to come here because in the camps we couldn’t go outside the camps and even though we had school, we didn’t have higher education like in America,” said Mo.

Despite learning a new language, adjusting to a new country, and losing her father, Pyar says she is determined to be successful. Her story has been captured in her own documentary called the ‘Long Way Home’. It will be featured at the Rochester Teen Film Festival in August.

“There`s so much adversity that our students face here but there is a structure at this school of support that these students get on a daily basis that they are able to make those accomplishments, and Pyar Mo`s one of them,” said Edison Tech`s Digital Media Teacher, Laura Barstow.

“I want to inspire people to not give up, to believe in themselves and their dreams. No matter the obstacle, you have so much potential in you, you can do anything,” said Mo.

Pyar will be the first person in her family to go to college. She plans to study biology at RIT.