Gloria Villegas: From an ESL Student to an ESL Teacher

I am Gloria Villegas. I came to the United States in 1980. I am from Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico. I immigrated to this country because most of my extended family had already lived here. For many years, my family had been trying to bring us to this country. My grandfather and uncles on my mother’s side used to come and work here, but they never stayed. It was my father’s side of the family that stayed and wanted us to come. My father used to come to this country and work since he was very young. He never wanted to settle in here, so almost all my sisters and brothers were born in Mexico. Only two were born here. One day my father lost his job and went back to Mexico. Then, he decided to come to this country legally. It took ten long years to come as a family and to reunite with my two sisters who had been waiting for us here. By then, I had already turned eighteen years old.

When I moved to the United States, I was in tenth grade in Mexico. My parents decided that I was too old to continue high school here and that I needed to help them support a family of ten. I learned to drive, started working as a machine operator, and worked for three years. Later, I worked for another company in San Marcos inspecting sports clothes. It was in the first company that I was informed that there was a college where I could learn English. And it was in 1982 that I started attending the non-credit ESL classes at Palomar College. At that time the classes were at the corner of Rancho Santa Fe and Mission Road in San Marcos. It was very challenging for me to keep on going because there were many needs in my family. Every day, early in the morning and late in the afternoon, I had to transport my father and sometimes my brothers back and forth between fields and a ranch. I did this for many years until everybody adapted to this country. I kept working full time until all my brothers and sisters completed high school. Then, it was my turn to become a full-time student and to complete my advanced ESL classes, and so I did that.

In Mexico, I always wanted to study. However, I was poor and I was a woman. These characteristics always worked against me. When I came to this country, I didn’t think that it would be possible for me to get an education. Again, I was a woman, poor, not young, unable to speak English, and not well-informed. By then, however, I had learned that persistence was another one of my characteristics. I kept taking all the ESL classes, and then the non-credit program moved to the main campus. This was an advantage to all the students, especially to me because I became more informed about the different opportunities that were available for students who completed the advanced ESL courses. When I finished ESL, I decide to take regular classes. It was difficult at the beginning and very discouraging at times. However, I found very good teachers, counselors, and fellow students, who in many ways helped me to succeed. I graduated from Palomar College in 1991, transferred to Cal Sate San Marcos, and graduated from there with a teaching degree in1994.

Now, I am working as an ESL teacher at Vista Adult Education and at Palomar College’s Escondido Center, where I teach a non-credit class. This is such a pleasure for me, and it also keeps me motivated all the time because learning a second language is a life-long journey.