“I realized pretty early in life that I am motivated by protecting people, and helping people, because that’s what I was expected to do by my other siblings when we were growing up in a bad environment. And, then when I was growing up a teacher helped pull me out of depression which was caused by my home situation. So, my job now and my mission now is a ‘permanent pay it forward’ sort of thing.” – Joan Smith, College Success Arizona Scholar, from Yuma, now working in Tucson as a Social Worker.