Representation

Ever since I can remember I have been in love with education. My parents didn't have the opportunity to go to high school, as a matter of fact, my dad only went up to sixth grade but he was still really good with numbers so since I was little he would have me solve math problems for fun, I did enjoy this very much!

When I turned 7 years old, my parents took the decision of moving to Mexico and I begin a new journey in school in Durango, Mexico. At the age of fourteen, I decided to continue my education here in the United States and so we decided to come back. It was such a cultural shook for me. My years in Mexico I saw all of my teachers that looked the same (they were all Mexican of course) but when I got back I realized that none of my teachers where of color. I attended an all white school as an English Language Learner (ELL) and I just felt out of place and my Math classes were actually the only place that I felt safe because it was all about the numbers and things that I was able to understand even if I didn't quite got the instructions.

Time went by and I moved to Abraham Lincoln High School. This school is located in a predominantly Mexican/latino community and over 95% of its student population is considered to be of latino/hispanic background. At Lincoln I got enrolled in the Pathways To Teaching (P2T) program which focused on the social justice issues around education and promotes students of color to become teachers and come back to serve at their communities.  

This program was such and eye-opener for me and I began to notice things that I might have not taught about before, like the fact that at Lincoln our Math department had less than 30% female teachers or that out of the entire department there was only 2 teachers of color and one of them was a female. I realized that the statistics that females are underrepresented in the STEM field were true and it was also true that the teacher work force lacks teachers of color. This moment made me revive all of my dreams and made me realize that I could combine my love for Math, education, and social justice into one thing... teaching.  

And ever since, I have been working hard to achieve this dream of becoming the change that I want to see. I have been working hard to promote love for Math and for social justice. I have been working hard to represent.