Marissa Smith, a cost accountant for the John Day, Detroit and Big Cliff Dams. Marissa emigrated from Nicaragua to the United States in 1982. "I came to America speaking very little English," Marissa said. "I had completed some college, but started my career here at the bottom. I’m proud of all the jobs I’ve had — including one with McDonald's in the 1980s — because they made me strong and taught me to value the things I had taken for granted in the past."