Thursday morning, Sylvia Vargas celebrated the grand opening of the second location of her small business, the Learn 2 Drive Center.
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A life accomplishment she's dreamed about for about two decades.
"In 2000, I became a single parent. I had two babies, ages 6 and 9, just looking at their mom, clueless about what we were going through. The one thing I tell myself is that perseverance and pushing forward are key, not being a quitter," said Owner Sylvia Vargas.
Her children, Jessica and Jonathon, are now in their thirties and part of the growing business.
"To see this, to see that my kids have their degrees and are coming back and taking what I gave to them and instilling it back into me and the business is amazing, and we have so much to do," said Sylvia.
Their first location opened in Fresno and has helped over 2,000 people, mostly teens, to drive.
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The new center off Peach and Alluvial Avenues allows them to reach the Clovis community and their overall mission of helping shape safe drivers in the Central Valley.
"We do a really great job at interacting with the students, engaging with them and making the car a fun and safe place to be a defensive driver because without that, you are going to be a reckless driver," said Jonathon Vargas.
These lessons, Jonathon hopes, will stay with teen drivers and help reduce crashes on the road.
"Most of the students, after they are done, call us back when they pass and say, 'thank you, I feel confident driving'," said Jonathon.
Sylvia hopes to open more locations across the Central Valley in the coming years.
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