The following story was written by Rhaine Dahill as part of the Journalism Foundations first semester exam. These are the first profiles these students have written.
In kindergarten, most people stressed about their first icebreakers and easing into a classroom of strangers. For freshman Ashley Gonzalez, this experience was a lot different. On top of friendship and academics, Gonzalez had to begin where her classmates did four years prior: learning English.
As a fluent Spanish speaker in a country that speaks primarily English, Gonzalez grew up facing numerous challenges.
“Seeing the amount of stuff I had to learn as a kid and seeing that some of the words were hard really brought me down from the start,” Gonzalez said. “All the bullies and self-doubt, as well.”
This extra load of learning led to daily exclusions throughout her first school years. While all her classmates were told stories, Gonzalez was in a separate classroom with an ESL translator. Simultaneously, a few of her classmates found amusement in teasing her limited understanding. However, it wasn’t until years later she became aware of the hurtful words said to her face.
“Since I was little, I didn’t have much thoughts,” Gonzalez said. “But no, I’m still grateful for my bullies. I’m grateful that I get to clock your tea whenever I see you because now, I know what you said. Love you guys.”
Besides discrimination, Gonzalez struggled with comprehending certain difficult words and concepts—some of which she still has trouble pronouncing today.
“Back then, I mostly struggled with long words and anything with ‘L,’ ‘S,’ and ‘O,’” Gonzalez said. “Now, I still have a hard time saying beautiful, sometimes anonymous, squirrel, and Worcestershire sauce.”
One word in particular has significantly affected Gonzalez’s life. Such a simple, four-letter term went from an everyday object to the subject of her friend’s hysterical conversations.
“The word ‘oven,’ has been one of the hardest words ever,” Gonzalez said. “It genuinely cannot come out the way everyone else says it. It’s simply too much.”
To overcome these setbacks, Gonzalez kept “practicing and practicing” with the encouragement of her family and instructors.
“My biggest supporter was my kindergarten teacher,” Gonzalez said. “She had a lot of patience with me, which is why I’m so grateful for her. I’m also thankful to my parents. They fully supported my journey, even though they weren’t as fluent as I was.”
When fourth grade began, she finally realized she “got English down 100%” and “understood exactly what all [her] teachers were saying.” All her instructors had become great help, both directly and indirectly.
“I felt happy that Ashley was able to learn English with the best teachers,“ mother Maria Castellanos said. “One thing that helped was how smart she was. It really helped her out a lot.”
With such a successful result, Gonzalez looks forward to beginning a journey toward a third language. The whole process surpassed what her kindergarten self believed.
“The best part was knowing that instead of just standing there looking irrelevant, I got to interact with all the other kids and communicate genuinely,” Gonzalez said. “That’s just what made it all worth it, you know?”
