I was born
in Venezuela and came to this country on a December 24th, we had a white
Christmas that year and I remember everything looked beautiful. I was
9-years-old and I didn't quite understood the fact that we were coming to live
here. I was in the middle of 5th grade and after Christmas pasted and all the
fun was over, I was enrolled in school. It wasn't really until I started school
here that I fully understood what coming to this country to live was all about.
I was in a new school, a new country, with no friends. I was terrified; there
was no going back. I didn't understand the fact that I wasn't going to go back
to my country, my school, and my friends. I was here with my family and that
made me feel a little better but things just got worst when I was faced with
the fact that I had to learn a new language, a new culture, I was forced to
have a new life; I had no other choice.
I remember
being in school, my teacher spoke Spanish to all the class since I was enrolled
in the bilingual program. That was very nice actually, it helped me feel better
about being in a different world; at least my teacher and my class mates spoke
my language but I still had to learn the English language. Things were so frustrating
that even the smallest things made me feel terrible. I remember being in my
math class with my Spanish speaking teacher and during that time she was
teaching us how to divide. Is all numbers right? How hard could it be? Well, at
that moment I realized that it was actually different. What I mean by that is
that in the United States they divide backwards; when you are solving a
division problem manually you have to draw a line, plug in the numbers and then
you subtract and eventually solve the division problem. Well, in Venezuela they
draw the line backwards, there is no subtraction written and eventually you get
the answer.
So, picture
me, I am sitting in class and this impacted me so much that I can see myself
setting in that classroom like it was yesterday. My teacher says to me not to
worry and to just solve the division problem the way they do it in my country
and that with time I’ll get the hang of how it is done here. So, I am sitting
there, starring at the numbers because guess what? I was in the middle of the
school year and I didn't know how to do it the way they do it in my country
either. I felt horrible, stock and I didn't know how to tell my teacher in
front of everybody that I didn't know how to solve a division problem. So I wasn't only struggling with English, but with Math as well. Eventually I got
the hang of solving that way they do it here, it was actually easier, I guess.
Besides this craziness I was faced with having to learn inches, feet and miles
instead of centimeters, meters, and kilometers; what a crazy country! I
thought. It was like even the smallest things were different and I had to learn
everything. It took me a long time to get the hang of things, and I always felt
behind. You would think kids learn faster or pick things up pretty quickly but
it wasn't the case with me. I was very shy and intimidated by all these changes
so I was moving forward very slowly. I stayed in the bilingual program for a
long time, from the middle of 5th grade all the way up to senior year in high
school; that’s more than average I would think. I stayed for that long because
I refused to put into practice what I was learning in English, I was in the
bilingual program after all so I thought I could just stayed there forever. My
teachers and class mates spoke Spanish so I thought I could get away with it.
After so long I learned regardless, I understood a lot of what people would
speak around me but I was so afraid of speaking. I refused to speak or make an
effort because I was so intimidated by the, what if I don’t pronounce something
correctly or what if I say the wrong thing. I never felt completely comfortable
to let myself go all the way and just practice to get better at it. Every time
I would start to get comfortable my family would move so every certain amount
of time I had to go to a new school, be afraid all over again and have to get
adjusted to a whole new environment.
So that you
can keep track with how many times I moved, I’ll break it down for you. First,
I came to this country when I had been in the same school in Venezuela since I
was in kinder garden. My lifetime friends were there. Then we came to this
country and I was in one school from mid-year of 5th grade until mid-year of
7th grade. Then, we moved so I changed schools and attended there from mid-year
7th grade until I graduated 8th grade. Then I was off to high school, I had to
change schools anyway. So I was there for three and a half years then I had to
move again. So after all my high school memories with friends I had finally
made I had to start all new again. In the month of January, I continued my
senior year and graduated in a brand new school. I didn't attended prom because
I didn't really know anybody that I could go with me; I was introduced by a
couple of people but they weren't my friends really so I decided not to go. I didn't appeared in the year book because I came too late in the school year and
I appeared on my prior high school’s
year book but I was unable to buy it.
So, going
back a little I want to mention that by about sophomore year in high school I
was willing to speak English only when I had to, like to some teachers,
personnel in the cafeteria or if anybody needed help translating. But I still didn't feel all that comfortable. All my friends spoke Spanish and I spoke
Spanish at home so there was no big need to put into practice what I had
learned. When senior year started they transfer me to regular classes, meaning
I was no longer in the bilingual program; all the classes were taught in
English, the teachers didn't speak Spanish. So my class mates weren't the same
anymore. A couple of the kids from the bilingual program were transferred to
regular class as well so I at least knew some people.
So since I
was transferred to a new school in January even worst during my senior year, I didn't get a chance to make new memories. I made two friends there whom I can’t really
remember how we started talking since I was a senior and they were a junior and
a freshman. They were so nice to me though and they introduce me to a couple of
more people but they were all in lower grades than me and we weren't friends.
One special person was introduced to me back then though, and that is my
current boyfriend, yes that’s how we met. We weren't really close then, and
even though we were both seniors and we started to like each other a little it
wasn’t enough to go to prom together…
So after all
the craziness of moving from one place to another and being in new
environments, I eventually felt like there was a reason for me to have moved
all the way here and even to transfer schools in the middle of my senior year.
I am very
glad I met my boyfriend, it probably would've never happened if I would've not
changed schools. We have been together in many adventures and we continue to
make new memories. We have great plans for our future including getting married
and forming a family. I don’t know if it was so bad to have had to come to this
country after all. I’m in love, I’m now an English major-Writing Option. I’m in
a happy stage of my life. I now understand that what you go through only makes
you stronger even if you are frustrate it. I understand that God has a perfect
plan for my life even when I think things don’t make sense.
Who would've thought that I was going to
become an English Major after not even wanting to speak the language? I love
the fact that I am able to speak two languages and help those who are still in
the process of learning the language.
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