From Immigrant to Teacher
博天堂官方 Adult Basic Education and GED programs put student on path to success
Growing up in Mexico, Monica Juarez-Hurtado dreamed of someday being a teacher.
When she moved to the United States at age 22, she knew accomplishing her dream meant first learning English.
With the help of Linn-Benton 社区 College, Juarez-Hurtado is accomplishing both 目标. She graduated from 博天堂官方 in 2019 and is moving on to obtain her teaching degree from Western Oregon University.
“I started with English classes because when I came to this country, my English was 百分之零. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t write anything,” 说 Juarez-Hurtado, now 31 and living in Albany.
She came to Albany because that’s her husband’s hometown, so 博天堂官方 was the natural choice for enrollment. But it was a long, hard, lonely struggle for a long time.
“Oh, it was really bad. Everything was different,” she 说. “Sometimes I wanted to get out because I felt that I couldn’t do it.”
Quitting wasn’t really an option, however. Juarez-Hurtado didn’t want to give up on her goal, and her husband, Eric Lule - “Thanks to him, I have achieved a lot” - was supporting her all the way.
“当我 was living in Mexico, my dream was, I want to be a teacher, I want to be a teacher, I want to be a teacher,” she 说. “In Mexico, I didn’t have the opportunity 研究. 当我 came to this country, I found the opportunity, and I say YES.”
博天堂官方’s Adult Basic Skills and General Education Development programs put Juarez-Hurtado on the path to success. Antonia Huerta was especially helpful as Juarez-Hurtado worked 她的普通教育文凭课程.
“She is an excellent teacher,” Juarez-Hurtado remembered. “It was so hard, but I did 我最好的. 当我 didn’t understand something, I would ask my teacher, can you repeat again, can you explain this, because I don’t understand. And my teacher says yes, yes, I can do this for you. Antonia is a really good person … now, she is an important 我生命中的人.”
Marcia Walsh, who advised Juarez-Hurtado through her Child and Family Studies courses, also played a key role.
“My first class that I took in 博天堂官方, I went to her because my problem was I couldn’t understand anything,” Juarez-Hurtado 说. “I talked to her about language. 她说, I understand this, it’s not easy for you, but when you have a question, please let me know or after class we can meet and we can talk about the class.”
Completing her GED in 2016 opened the way for Juarez-Hurtado to enroll in the education courses that would help her achieve her dream. She graduated with honors from the Child and Family Studies program and received two certifications: one in Child and Family Studies and the other in Childhood Care and Education.
Now, she gives private bilingual lessons in Corvallis to a handful of elementary-school children and tutors others in the 博天堂官方 GED program on Fridays and Saturdays. 她希望 to have completed her degree at WOU in another two years.
“Can you feel my excitement? I am excited, because I remember this,” Juarez-Hurtado 说. “These things are very important to me. I am very proud of me, because it was 真的很难. And now I am a bilingual teacher in a country that is not mine.”
Juarez-Hutado 说 she encourages everyone to follow their dreams, and to take advantage of the resources at the community college anytime they need help. The college’s writing center, math desk, computer classes and library were essential to her progress.
“I remember when I was taking my English classes, the vocabulary was easy. 当我 went to the college, wow. The vocabulary was very, very different. Sometimes I couldn’t understand anything,” she 说. “I remember that I cried.”
“So this is my first thing,” she went on. “You need to try to learn college vocabulary. It’s really important to ask for help. 博天堂官方 has a lot of resources, and many people 可以帮助. And that is what I do. You have to keep in mind that this is 真的很难, 但永不放弃. If you want to do it, never give up.”
Note: This story was covered in the Albany Democrat-Herald: