“It’s all going to be fine honey, I promise.” Said mom yet again as we stood in front of the uninviting brown door of the abandoned corridor.
“Good luck honey!” dad gently whispered as he and mom bent down taking me into their comforting arms.
“No it’s not going to be fine! Take me home with you please!” a voice begged in my head, but I held my tongue, this was as hard for them as it was for me. Their expressions told me everything. I had to do this. With a tight knot building up in my throat that left me speechless I slowly turned on my heels away from the secure reach of my parents and stepped into the unknown….
A blanket of silence suddenly fell over the room. A thousand owl eyes turned in my direction. Was it hot in here? My face seemed to be a source of heat radiating into the room. Yet, I took a deep breath, stood up straight, and with difficulty managed a smile as I held back what seemed like a hurricane of emotions.
“HIIIIII!” Spoke the lady at the front of the class.
“CLS DSSSS CELESTE SHHH BEEE JON AS TDAH! SHS MEXICO...” What is she saying? What should I do? And then every fear I had carried through the 10 minute drive there began to pop into my head. How would I ever learn to communicate with these people? Would I ever even get there? Learning a language, I heard took years! How could this be? Would I ever go home? Everyday all these questions jumped into my head. Every day coming home I would come as a tired, frustrated, little 5th grader defeated for the day, yet the next day I would wake up determined to keep fighting.
For my fifth grade career I was taught English by a woman who did not speak my language. Every day I battled through flashcards, pronunciation, and comprehension. I did not learn the English language in a usual setting, going through every little section, every structure, every translation, and making projects to help me remember, I had to learn quickly; I still had an elementary education to attain. Instead I learned through simple observation and sound becoming dependent on both senses to learn.
… “DA HASS” I said repeating as I heard Mrs. Hogan. She held up a vocabulary card that contained the picture of a small white house. The structure of the house was becoming more and more familiar as days passed.
“No, THE H-O-U-S-E…. THE HA-OOOSE” she said to me excessively shaking her head and enunciating every single letter.
“THE HA-OOOSE…THE HOUSE!” I finally managed smiling as Mrs. Hogan smiled and nodded at my success. I had done it! I had learned how to say house! Such a small word, yet such a victory!
Eventually, every day I would go home just a little less tired, a little less frustrated, and a little less defeated. Within five months I managed to achieve much for a 5th grader. I could now effectively communicate with my fellow classmates, I had become bilingual.
Throughout the following years I still had much to learn and to add into my vocabulary. But in just those first days, weeks, months, I got something more than the basics of a language; I also obtained knowledge of my own strengths and potential. I became able to adapt easily, to see the possibility and not the impossibility in every task, to see that long roads filled with hard work lead to desired success, to know the truth of “You can do it!”