I didn't feel empowered in the beginning, because I didn't want to let anyone at the school know what a hard time I was having, balancing school and my family responsibilities. I did my best to stay focused, and the professors really saw me and reached out to me. They empowered me with knowledge. I could talk to them about life or my goals for the future, and they were always encouraging; they also shared any opportunity they came across. I remember specifically my English teacher pulling me aside to tell me he thought I was a great writer. He would say, “You could be an author; you should apply to Columbia University.” I was just focused on obtaining my associate degree first.

What is your career now, and how did you end up in your current position?

When I first came to Hostos, I enrolled in the early childhood education program because as a young mother, that was what I knew. I had young kids, whom I wanted to receive a good education, so naturally, I wanted to be a teacher. It was one of my political science professors who explained to me that I can take liberal arts, and then he explained in detail what liberal arts meant and the diverse opportunities within that degree path.

When I graduated from Hostos, I had a part time position in an after-school program. I moved up the ladder from a part time position to supervisor, then to coordinator, and, ultimately, deputy director of that program. With the skills that I had gained through academics and my work experience, I decided to go back to pursue my graduate studies. This year I transitioned to being an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher here in the Bronx with the New York City Department of Education. I like to combine social services and with teaching and education, and I think I got that from the professors at Hostos because they let us be human first. You can know all the taxonomy and all the technical aspects of education, but to really teach, we still must nurture everyone.