As a future graduate of PVAMU, what are some of the "peaks and valleys" that one might come across as a first year teacher?

I am Cynthia Zamora, a Mexican American student at Prairie View A&M University, seeking a Bachelor's degree in Education.  I am a determined individual and a strong advocate for children's education.

Growing up I encountered many hardships and difficult experiences in my life.  At the age of 2, I had to say goodbye to my mother so that she could travel to the USA and seek a better life for her two young children.  I was raised by my grandparents until the death of my beloved grandfather in 1988.  At only 6 years old, I had to deal with the loss, insecurity, and emotional distress that his death brought to me.  After only 6 months of grieving, I was forced to leave my country of origin to come to a country that I couldn't communicate in. With all of this on my plate, it seemed that my  life was going nowhere.

Afraid, insecure, and emotionally distraught, I enrolled at Hempstead Elementary in November of 1989.  It was a class full of kids that spoke a language that I could not understand.  The color of their skin was different.  Their hair, and their attitudes all presented a problem to me.  After a few weeks of attending, I began to get bullied.  My language was not good enough and because of this, I could not effectively communicate with my teacher about the problem.  Nonetheless, I remained calm and decided to declare war on education.  You might think that this was extreme or negative, but this was not exactly the kind of war that you are accustomed to.  I decided I was going to conquer the English language before the school year was over and I was going to excel in every aspect of education that was presented to me and so my journey in education began.

I began the long journey through the peaks and valleys of education.  Throughout the rest of the school year, I worked twice as hard as the other students and was also placed on the English as a Second Language (ESL) program.  It was a difficult year, but listening to Principal Radeker call out my name for an A honor roll student made it all worth it.  As I stood there in front of the entire elementary school, parents, and faculty I smiled and proudly held my certificate in front of me.  I recall being pulled aside by my ESL teacher and listening to her words of encouragement.  She hugged me and I realized then that I wanted to someday be like her.  Her devotion, dedication, and love for her job created successful students and that was exactly what I wanted to do.  Never again would I allow anyone to put me down because I couldn't effectively communicate or understand their words.  I sought out to be that role model that bilingual students needed.

After elementary, I continued on through middle school, junior high school, and then high school in the same manner I did in elementary.  As an overachiever, I maintained my name in the A honor roll lists every year.  Once in high school, my desire to succeed was even greater.  I aspired to become part of the top ten percent and graduate with honors.  Although I became pregnant while in my junior year, I managed to achieve my goals.  Soon graduation came and even though I wanted to go on to college and become a successful electrical engineer, I opted to be a full time support for my children and husband and only work part time in the surrounding schools as a substitute teacher.

Ten years later, I decided to finally begin working on my degree and enrolled at Prairie View A&M University.  Once more, I found myself afraid and insecure.  I began my engineering degree in January 2010 but soon realized that after subbing for almost 8 years and remembering the great examples I had growing up, my mission was to teach English Language Learners (ELL).  I switched my career over to elementary education and have been working diligently since then.

Last semester, the education department at PVAMU asked us to read Peaks and Valleys by Spencer Johnson.  I have to admit that before then I had not seen life in that particular way.  Johnson discusses how people dwell on the valleys and don't savor the peaks of our lives.  I guess I should add that until this book, I saw life as constant battle against society and nature.  In all reality, the only battle I should be fighting is trying to remain on the peaks longer than sinking down to the valleys.

With that said, let me ask, do you ever ask yourself why you feel so low? are you discouraged? Well, if only everyone would find the peak of every single one of their valleys than you would be more positive to take on the challenge.  As I reflected on my life, I could see how I was able to take my valley, my all time low of not knowing how to speak English to communicate effectively, and turn it into my all time high.

I do hope that this has enlightened you a bit and that you understand that we are makers of our own destiny.

Until next time...

Cynthia