Everyone’s family is unique in their own way. Everyone has their own transitions and practices, but when you have a family that is from another country and speaks a whole other language, it is a more specific kind of uniqueness.
Amaya Barron is a senior at FHN and her family is from Michoacan, Mexico. Andrea Corvalan is an ESOL (English Speakers of Other Languages) teacher at FHN who works one-on-one with FHN students where English isn’t their first language. Corvalan’s family is from Mendoza, Argentina. They both have a lot of unique experiences with their family, friends, and students who aren’t from the United States.
Barron is grateful for her unique family and relationships with her family members.
“I say the families of color are more united than American families,” Barron said.
Barron was raised speaking Spanish and English, something a lot of people don’t experience in the United States.
“I express myself better in Spanish,” Barron said. “I don’t know, I just have a deep comfort in that language.”
Although moving to a new country with many great opportunities can be exciting, it can also be very frustrating, especially when learning a new language.
“It’s very hard because if you’re funny you can’t use your humor and if you’re a good student you can’t be as good of a student,” Corvalan said. “You can’t express everything you want to express. You’re stuck.”
A lot of people are aware of the challenges of moving to a new country and having to learn so many different things and having to adapt very quickly.
“Teachers at FHN are great,” Corvalan said. “They figure out how to modify students and want them to succeed. Kids here really just want to do their best.”
Some people are not so understanding of the struggles or the situations people may be coming from.
“Just remember that people of color are people too and any negative feelings don’t have to be expressed violently or at all,” Barron said.
