Biiftu Duresso recently graduated from Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School in Rochester, New York and had a very special person to thank in her speech.

Biiftu spoke about people who inspired her to succeed, specifically her parents who immigrated from Ethiopia in 1983 with no education or job.

"They had the audacity to imagine something better for me and my siblings,” Biiftu said.

Jamal Abdullahi is Biiftu's father works as a custodian at the school and is extremely proud of his daughter.

“When children are achieving, it is a beautiful thing,” Abdullahi said.

Abdullahi was uneducated when he first came to the U.S. but has since gotten an Associates degree and a Bachelor's degree.

Biiftu plans to attend Barnard College next year.

H/T Yahoo Parenting