WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. -- A student displaced by Hurricane Maria is using numbers as a distraction to everything she's lived through in the past couple of months.
- Paola Perez Colon moved from Puerto Rico in January
- She came to the U.S. knowing very little English
- Teachers at Winter Springs HS say she's excelled at math
Paola Perez Colon moved from Puerto Rico to Seminole County in January as things worsened on the island.
"I'm from Salinas and that town is already low in resources, so we needed to figure out another way to be able to live," Perez said in Spanish.
She never traveled to the mainland before and knew very little English before starting mid-year at Winter Springs High School.
It was in her math class that Perez excelled.
"I knew this was going to be an escape for me, I've always seen math as a game that I need to solve," she said about loving math.
Her teacher, Scott French, figured out a way to communicate with her by messaging each other through an app.
"She would just text me a message through the app and if I looked and heard a ding and it was her, then I would open up the app and translate it and then I would answer her question out in class," said French.
The staff at Winter Springs High School is extremely proud of Perez. She'll be taking Calculus next year.
They say it's not common to see a young girl like her with a big language barrier take on such a challenge.
Perez hopes to become a Forensic Investigator or doctor in the future.