What does Marguerito realize as she pursues her goal of becoming a streetcar conductorette

Maya decides that she has to get a job; she decides she can probably get a job on the streetcars, and becomes obsessed with the idea. Maya visits the streetcar company's office frequently, over a number of weeks, most times facing the same racist refusal. Maya however learns to be tenacious; finally, she is hired as the first black streetcar conductor in San Francisco. The job helps her to feel independent, and when she does go back to school, she can't relate to the other pupils; she has seen and done too much to have anything in common with them.