My first memories are going to my grandad’s farm in Tolima surrounded by nature, the mountains, animals. I had a wonderful childhood filled with many happy memories; I remember our trips out of Bogota every weekend to go to a fancy restaurant out of the city, driving and seeing the mountains. Being spoilt by everyone, as my sister and I were the youngest in the family.
From my mother I’ve inherited compasion and wanting to help others. She would do anything to see her daughters happy and succeed. She came to England without knowning English and she didn’t stop until she became a qualified teacher here. She told me ‘never give up, things happen for a reason, even if you don’t agree with it at the time.’
I came to the UK when I was a baby. Then moved back to Colombia. My dad was here in the UK working so we would come and visit him. Then we came back to London finally when I was 11, I went into year 6.
I always felt different. I looked different to all the other girls, I spoke differently. There were no other Latinas at school, just me and my sister. I remember being looked at differently when we spoke Spanish, being treated differently because we weren’t British. The food I ate at home was completely differernt to that of my my friends, but they loved it, it was so different to anything they had ever tried before. I’ve always liked Latin music, which would make me stand out even more at school, I would listen to Guayando and Proyecto Uno while all the others girls would listen to English music. Latin music wasn’t popular back then not how it is now. I had to put up with constant jokes about Colombian drug dealers. I remember once storming out of a lesson as I was speaking about my grandads farm and the teacher started asking questions such as What did he grow on the farm? And everyone laughing. I hated the speech lessons at school, which I had to do because I had a strong accent. I would try to get out of them whenever possible, but I am now glad that my parents made me take them. They didn’t want me to be looked down upon because of the way I spoke, this now helps me as a English as a foreign language teacher, as I have students who make the same mistakes that I did with pronunciation.
I chose this career because I don't want any student to feel how I felt back then, which was not very clever, having teachers say to my mum, who also had limited English, that I was a day dreamer, not taking into account that it was just that I didn't understand what was being taught.
My students are my main inspiration, for them to succeed in life in whatever they want to do. That being an immigrant, bilingual, learning a language from scratch does not mean that they cannot achive their dreams. Seeing them succeed and happy is what makes my job worthwhile.
I have been through the same feelings as my students, of being far away, adapting, the langauge barrier, then as a teen the struggles with the two cultures, that feeling of wanting to go back, missing my family. I can relate to many parents and students, which is why I am so pansionate in everything that I do.
I feel happy with my life and so pleased with all the oportunities that I have been given. To see my daughter as a bilingual teenager almost an adult, and that she too is pround of her roots and where she comes from. I am happy that I can use my culture, background and experinces to help others.
Working in education is relentless. It’s not enough to love working with children. You will need to have a drive in you that refuses to let your students down. You in turn need to be relentless in cultivating an environment that makes you seek the best version of every student that crosses your path.
Once a man started shouting at my students when we were on a bus, because they were speaking in spanish. We were going to see a West End show for their English GCSE, He screamed about us about being foreigners etc. I have experienced things like this before, but my heart broke for my students who were all very well behaved, not causing a scene, I just thought they’re so young and already having to go through this.
It is easy to get caught up in the negativity and drama that surrounds education. You must stay focused on the goal: your students. Whatever it takes to make them focus is your job. They deserve the best version of you. That version does not let outside noise interfere in their education.
Children make mistakes this is part of their growth. You need to make every day a new day. When they have made a mistake, work towards equipping them with the drive to improve and grow. The next day... FORGET! Start each day with excitement and love. Some days will be harder than others.
My culture and traditions are deeply rooted and imbedded in who I am, and I am proud of how much my heritage has to offer. I love being bilingual and being able to switch from Spanish to English, I am also consious of how this has opened many doors for me. Latinas are known for being passionate, this sums me up I am driven, ambitious and passionate about everything I do and making things happen.
I’ve learned to love London. The oportunities that you have as a women, immigrant, it doesn’t matter where you come from or how you started out in life. This is something that is not as easy back in south america, their it’s about who you know.
I would tell my younger self…Listen to your parents more, the UK isn’t so bad, if it wasn’t for my parents taking that leap, I wouldn’t be where I am today. My favourite word is amazing, I always use this with my students they are all amazing. The word I most dislike is differentiate, I need to use it a lot in my job, and I still struggle to pronounce it!
