My name is Elaine and I’m part of the ELI Program (English Learners Institute).

As an immigrant, I have to face different challenges which helped me to build the person that I am these days. One of my biggest challenges was my four years in high school. I’ve met a lot of people and, thanks to the ACC and their CTE programs, I found a professional field that I want to be in. However, before finding a passion, I had one of my biggest struggles, and an experience that would chase me for the rest of my life: learning English.

I came here with some knowledge of the language. Not too much, just the basics to communicate something like “Where is the restroom?”. Eventually, I enrolled at the Arlington Career Center, specifically into the ELI Program and I learned English pretty fast. In my freshman year, I jumped from Level 1 to Level 3 in just one month and by the end I even started to have classes with Arlington Tech students. I felt good in almost every class I’ve had, but there was only one class where I felt uncomfortable, and that was the PE class.

At PE, I was on my own with none of my friends, or someone I could have a conversation with. I thank the teacher for trying to make me feel included but my inner sophomore, who was shy and afraid to speak English, started to have a feeling of not belonging. Every time that I had to go to the PE class, I hesitated between going to the class or skipping it and going somewhere else with my friends. Just two times I skipped, and if I’m being honest, I never felt guilty doing it. 

There was a time where I felt so overwhelmed and I started to cry because I did not know how to communicate my ideas in an oral test. I struggled, and I felt the need to run away and never come back, but instead of doing it, I went to Ms. Trevino offices (The ELI coordinator) and then, I cried like a baby. I didn’t want to come back, at least for that day, and it was okay. 

I remember that moment was so foggy. I think it was one of my most vulnerable moments in high school and it was not easy to understand that none of those guys wanted to interact with me.

I know there are very shy teens, and others are in their own world, and I know that I could talk first, but for those who can interact easily with others, it could be very easy to approach me, and say something like “Do you want to play with us?” or something like “Hey, sit with us”. 

Even so, I remember some good things. The first days of PE class, one group of girls used to invite me to play with them but after a couple days, I started to decline because inside of me, even without knowing it, I felt uncomfortable. Even now, in my Senior year, I still have those moments of doubt but I encourage myself to keep going and to be better everyday. I have a lot of things to be thankful for, like my supportive teachers or those teens who ignored my eyes trying to look for an interaction because now, I have more confidence and now I can accept to be with my own company when I have a class with none of my friends. 

This is specially for my immigrant students. I can tell them to keep going. Going to school in a countrywhich is not yours, and without knowing the language very well is not easy at all. But there will be someone, at least one person who will approach you and will be your friend. And this is also to ask, what CAN YOU DO to make immigrant students’ experiences’ easier? What would YOU do if you were an immigrant trying to understand a language, culture and experiences that are not yours and you don’t identify with? Because most of the time, we look for real connections, while we try to survive the reality we face everyday.