Amelia Solis

643 W. Collin St #101

Corsicana, Texas 75110
4692859121

EC-6 Bilingual General

Autobiography
On July 22, 1985 I turned eleven years old. It was also the day I had arrived to
the United States of America. About a month later I started school. I was a sixth grader
attending a school full of English speaking students. I did not know the language. All I
could speak at the time was Spanish. I had to attend an ESL class for one hour a day.
My ESL teachers name was Mrs. Pia. She was the shortest teacher I had ever seen in
my life and someone I will never forget.
I am now married to a wonderful man named Manuel who supports me in every
way. We have a black, playful Labrador dog named Tonka. We enjoy traveling during
the summer. We have been to Florida, San Antonio, Oklahoma, and New York. We
spend most of our time with family. I have two brothers and one niece. We enjoy my
fathers cooking. My parents, my brothers and I get together on the weekends and cook
out.
The first year in the United States I struggled so much with the English
Language. Although I tried hard, it was not enough for me to learn each and every word
in the English dictionary. Because there was only one ESL class, I had to be in a
classroom with students of all ages. I had to learn from the beginning like a first grader
would. My ESL teacher always had different ways to teach us. She made sure we
understood the material. She was be very excited to see us every day. Mrs. Pia taught
me how to sound out the alphabet letters with sounds and movements. Until this day, I
still remember the shortest, most intelligent teacher I had ever met at the age of eleven.

At the age of twelve, we moved to Ennis, Texas. I was afraid to go to a middle

school. It was a new school again with new students but the same English language. I
had received my schedule and I noticed I had two ESL classes. During my first ESL
class the teacher introduced herself and asked if anyone wanted to introduce
themselves but no one did. Then she asked, Who knows the numbers in English? I
was so excited I knew the numbers all the way to one hundred in English. I raised my
hand as high as I could so the teacher would notice me. It was actually not very hard for
her to notice since I was the only one with my arm up. After counting to one hundred out
loud, I felt so confident in myself. I was so thankful that Mrs. Pia, my sixth grade ESL
teacher, had taken the time to sit me down with all of those little kids so I could learn my
numbers. I then understood why it was such a good idea for me to learn with them. It
was not until we moved to Ennis that I realized I had learned so much that first year. By
that time I was able to complete my homework all by myself.
I completed junior high and it was time to start high school. I met so many
wonderful people in that school. By that time I was reading, writing, speaking, and doing
everything that I was supposed to do at my age. Because I had all the required credits, I
graduated as a junior at the age of sixteen. I was involved in several curricular activities:
theatre arts, one act play, show choir, and French club. I was not sure if I wanted to
leave all of that yet. My counselor had given me the option to stay another year and
continue my arts or graduate and move on. One of my ESL teachers in high school
encouraged me to move up, and continue my studies. She had supported me
throughout my high school years; how was I not going to believe that I could do more
outside of high school? I took the next step and I could not have thanked her enough. I

started college right after I graduated and I now have two associate degrees. The first
degree is from Cedar Valley College and the second is from Navarro College.
I want to be a teacher because I want to be able to give back a little of what has
been given to me. I want to be like that short most creative ESL teacher, Mrs. Pia, who
taught me how to count in English, or like my high school ESL teacher that brought out
the best in me. I want to be there when a student thinks he or she cannot learn or does
not believe in themselves. I want to be that teacher my students remember.