My Bilingual Classroom

I am a Mexican-American, so naturally, Spanish is my first language. By the time I was three years old, I had quickly picked up the English language through watching Sesame Street and Barney & Friends religiously. Education came easy for me, partly because my mother is a teacher and from a young age, she would always have me read books. I never objected because I loved reading and learning.

In first grade, I quickly excelled in reading, so I would be taken out of my bilingual classroom and be placed in an English-speaking classroom for an hour each day. Third grade came and I was no longer in a bilingual classroom, but an all English-speaking one. I felt as if I were in limbo because my English wasn’t perfect, and at the same time, my Spanish was becoming rusty because I wasn’t immersed in it daily anymore.

Kids would laugh at me because I could not speak Spanish or English “correctly.” I obviously did not want the teasing to continue, so I subconsciously made the decision to lose my “Mexican” accent and pretend like I didn’t know how to speak Spanish very well.

Being a top student in school was extremely important to me, so throughout middle school and high school I would do my best to achieve just that. At the same time, I would see my Latino peers struggling in their English as a Second Language classes. Most of them were living in poverty or were not citizens, and would express how they would never be able to attend college, so why bother doing well.

Instead of encouraging them and showing them how we Latinos can succeed, I separated myself from the group. I didn’t want to be identified as a Latina because I didn’t want to be mistaken as an ESL student, as if that were something to be ashamed of. I wanted people to see me as a successful, bright student who had a future and would one day go to