Diversity Magazine
T Madrigal, Mexico, ESOL Writing IV
- Category: This I Believe
Shaping Diamonds
It has been almost ten years since I became a mom of three sweet kids. How adorable it has been cuddling my babies and taking care of them. However, challenging times have come as they have been growing up. Sometimes, I have felt defeated parenting my children. Nevertheless, in seeking to improve as a mom, I have found that listening carefully to my children has helped me nurture them in a positive way.
Thuy Phan, Vietnam, ESOL Writing IV
- Category: This I Believe
Duty of Life
Loving people is my desire. It makes me feel I have some meaning in life. I always help children that do not have a family because they lack good conditions in their life, such as food, clothes, education, and love. I believed that my duty in this life is loving other people.
The first reason I believe that loving people is my duty is because everyone has the right to be loved. For example, I did not have love from people around me at the beginning when I came to the US. Every day, I walked two miles to school in the winter. I had my cousin who lived with me, but he did not help me get my driver’s license. He did not understand how badly the weather affected my health. Because of that experience, I understand people need love, regardless of their background. Children who are abandoned by their family need someone to provide them with a good environment for their healthy development. People who are often ostracized from society -- such as pregnant teens, people with HIV, or prisoners -- get abandoned by their families. To come back to life, they need someone to grow the seed of love in their mind again. I want to give all of them love; it is my duty in life.
Ana Azocar, Venezuela, ESOL Writing IV
- Category: This I Believe
How Learning Other Languages Develops Children’s Brains
I believe in teaching another language to children to develop their minds. Learning languages helps children’s brains to evolve and acquire skills which permit children to succeed in school.
When I arrived in the United States, I found a barrier: A different language. I had never thought that it was important to learn to speak another language until I had to live in a country where people speak a distinct language. From that moment, I decided my children needed to learn to speak English when they were born. I became obsessed with that. When my oldest son was two years old, he attended an English school in Venezuela. He watched shows in English. He just had English-speaking toys. When we moved to the United States, he was diagnosed with ADHD and he had a speech test which showed his first language was English. That was a surprise for me. In that moment, I had to change my mind. Now, my challenge was strengthening the Spanish, which was supposed to be his mother tongue.
Andreina Fuenmayor, Venezuela, ESOL Writing IV
- Category: This I Believe
Do People See You as a Tree or as Land?
When you meet new people, during the first conversations some of the questions that come up are designed to get to know you. What do you do for living? What other activities do you enjoy? Who is your family and what do they do? After this first conversation, you can often determine who just wants to get something from you and who truly cares about your feelings, your health, or your goals in life. I believe there are only two ways in which people look at you: One is as a tree to pluck your fruits and other as land to cultivate.
Trang Doan, Vietnam, ESOL Writing IV
- Category: This I Believe
Is Your Fate in Your Hands?
In my opinion, fate is the way of life. Someone enjoys happiness or suffers from misery, is healthy or sickly, has a long or short life, gains success or failure in their career… it is all their fate. Some people think fate comes from a supernatural power, but others think fate is what they make. When I was young, I used to think God gives us a fate; we just follow and accept our fate. But after some problems happened in my life and to people around me, I changed my mind. Excluding birth and death, I believe our character determines our fate.
Julia Dias, Brazil, ESOL Writing IV
- Category: This I Believe
Is Freedom Hope or a Rope?
I believe that freedom is the absence of fear. When people are asked to define freedom, it is often said, “Freedom is the liberty to say what I want,” or “Freedom is to go wherever I want to go.” In my opinion, those statements are examples of having permission from someone or from the laws of the country, but not actual freedom. To comprehend the concept of freedom, we need to determine if we limit our actions due to fear of what other people may do about it, or what they may think afterwards.
Santiago Tzoc, Guatemala, ESOL Writing III
- Category: My Favorite Holiday/Celebration
Holy Week
In Guatemala, Holy Week is more than a religious holiday. There are many traditions according to the area and family to which you belong. One of those beautiful traditions is Holy Saturday. On that day, the family reunion is important. Kids haven’t seen grandparents for months or even years, and this holiday helps families get together. The smell of flowers and fruits is unique. We have the breakfast meal as Jesus had it the week before Palm Sunday. After breakfast, the mother and grandmother make a delicious dessert beverage that contains peaches, honey, cinnamon, papayas, plantains, green mangos, and pineapple.
Joseline Quiroz, Mexico, ESOL Writing III
- Category: My Favorite Holiday/Celebration
Christmas
Christmas is my favorite holiday because we spend a wonderful time together during the whole preparation. Everything starts in October when we discuss if the dinner will be tamales, glazed ham, or turkey. Throughout the next weeks, we call all the cousins and relatives who live out of state and our closest friends, to check if they are coming. When the guest list is done, we have to decide between our house, which is small and new, or my grandmother’s house, which is big and comfortable, to celebrate the holiday.
Fernanda Plaza, Bolivia, ESOL Writing III
- Category: My Favorite Holiday/Celebration
Siesta
In my country of Bolivia, we have a tradition of taking a siesta after eating lunch, which means taking a nap for an hour or two. My mother would nap before going back to work, and my sisters and I before doing homework. I preferably chose the sofa as it was very comfortable. Taking a nap always helped us to feel better and regain motivation and energy. In fact, when my sister Sahsha didn’t have her nap, she would become very grumpy, and I was always too sleepy to do anything.
Gabriel Palacios, Venezuela, ESOL Writing III
- Category: My Favorite Holiday/Celebration
Christmas
Every year my family and I used to spend time together in my country in December. My aunts, my mother, and my grandmother made a special Christmas food called hallacas. They are like big tamales, but with a lot of meat inside and made with much love. We danced and sang a traditional kind of music called Gaitas. The Venezuelan Gaita is traditional music, but I liked it because the words were really beautiful, about how Christmas was before and everything about families.