Ana (America Ferrera) is a first generation Mexican American teenager on the verge of becoming a woman. She lives in the predominately Latino community of East Los Angeles. Freshly graduated from high school, Ana receives a full scholarship to Columbia University. Her very traditional parents (Lupe Ontiveros, Jorge Cervera Jr.) feel that Ana should help provide for the family and not attend college. Torn between her mainstream ambitions and her cultural heritage, she agrees to work with her mother at her sister's downtown LA sewing factory. When a crisis arises at the factory, it seems as if Ana's fate is unhappily sealed. But her indomitable will to reach beyond sweatshop life eventually leads her to burst through every restriction she faces.