MANCHESTER — More than 500 Nashua High School North seniors and their families filled the Verizon Wireless Arena Sunday to celebrate their graduation.

“If we can survive Nashua North, we can survive anything,” Valedictorian Serguei Balanovich joked.

For Balanovich, graduation is about about taking the next step into the future. For Debora De Lima, graduating is about achieving your dreams.

De Lima started at the high school three years ago, after moving to the United States from Brazil. She knew two words in English when she started at Nashua North, “Hi,” and “Bye.”

“I was so nervous and afraid,” she said.

Her first day she accidentally went into the men's room because she did not understand the signs on the door, she said.

She struggled learning math, English, History, Science and all the normal high school classes in a foreign language. Sunday, though, she was accepting her diploma and looking forward to attending college.

“If it is challenging and difficult, you just have to work harder,” she said.

De Lima credits not just the many teachers and staff members who helped her, but also the students who befriended her along the way.

That spirit of helping is ingrained in the Nashua High School North culture, said Principal David Ryan.

“Many schools say they are a family – Titans live it,” he said.

Ryan spent time this year speaking to the students for whom school is difficult, some of whom did not make it to the graduation.

Some of them come from difficult home lives, others struggle with the material and need extra help, but they all continue to go to school, he said. When asked why they kept coming to school despite the hardships, almost all of them had the same answer, Ryan said.

“People here care about me,” he said.

That caring eventually might help all Nashua North students reach their goals, he said.

“We believe every child deserves help in achieving their dreams,” he said.

For De Lima, her dreams are to get an education.

“No one can take it from you,” she said.

Going forward, she's learned what she can do as she strives for her college degree.

“My dreams will come true if I work hard,” she said.