Guzman 1

Giovanni Guzman
Professor Adler
STACC ENG 100
30 September 2015
Mothers Words, Never Wrong
Growing up, English was never difficult for me; I was able to pick it up rather
quickly. I had always wondered how I learned English since I grew up in a household of
immigrant parents who only spoke Spanish. Surprisingly, I never went out to discover
how I learned the language but it was because I never thought of it or really had an
interest. It wasnt until later that I wanted to know more about my background and how I
learned English. What I found out was rather interesting, it was my brother who taught
me English. This connection should have been easy for me to make especially since he is
six years older than me and it would only be logical for him being the one that taught me
English rather than my Spanish-speaking parents. It was hard for me to visualize him
teaching me basic English because I could only picture the brother that made me put a
pillow over my face whenever he played videogames because I was a curse, but behind
that mean exterior was someone who really cared about me, someone who he didnt want
to see go through the same hardships he faced when he was growing up.
My brother went through some challenges when he was growing up. When he
started school he didnt know any English and had to take special classes so he could
catch up with the other students. Being the first born in an immigrant family was a
difficult challenge for my brother because he did not have anyone to teach any English;
when my mother first moved to the United States from Mexico her Father forbade her

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from taking any English classes. He believed it was a waste of time to learn the language
because he specifically told them that they were there to work. What he failed to realize
was how limited their chances were of being successful without having the ability to
communicate with people in the U.S. My grandfathers actions not only affected my
mother and her siblings but also every single first born in our family because of the lack
of English they would be exposed to. My brother had a difficult time making friends
because of his inability to talk to people and even when he finally learned English, people
made fun of him due to his accent. Due to all the bullying he knew how important
language was and once I was born he made it his mission to teach me English so I would
not have to be bullied the way he was growing up.
Thanks to my sibling, I did not have trouble in school nor did I have trouble
making friends. I had no noticeable accent that could hinder my ability to communicate
with my fellow students and teachers. I felt unique growing up because instead of just
knowing either Spanish or English I knew both and so I felt I was a person of two
languages. At home I spoke Spanish to my mother and English to my brother; at school I
had the opportunity to develop even more language skills. I had a thirst for knowledge
and everything seemed so simple from learning how to use periods in Kindergarten to
learning grammar in the first grade. I felt like I had a growth-mindset in my first couple
of years, always wanting to find new challenges to help me improve in English. The
growth-mindset concept comes from The Perils and Promises of Praise, by Carol S.
Dweck. A growth-mindset person looks to gain more knowledge and they care about
learning (pg2). This type of mindset was something I was striving for because I didnt

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want my brother efforts of teaching me English go in vain. I had no excuse not to do well
in school.
I was a student with a growth-mindset the first couple of years I was in school but
something changed once I hit the third grade. In the third grade I was no longer feeling
like I was on top of the world; I no longer had the same thirst for knowledge I once had
when I was barely starting school. I was placed into the ELD program, which stands for
English Language Development. The ELD program is meant to help students reach the
State standards in English. I was confused; I didnt want to be placed in this program
because I believed I had mastered the language. I was further confused when I asked my
third grade teacher why I was put into ELD and she said, Well since Spanish is spoken
at home we believe that you and along with the other ELD students would thrive even
more in school if it was Spanish based. I just could not believe that assumption; first of
all, even though Spanish was spoken at home, I only talked to my mom in Spanish. My
Spanish is noticeably weaker than my English and so I knew that if I went to a school
where the primary school was Spanish I would not do so well. The ELD class was with a
different teacher and took place during regular class time. The ELD program turned out
to be helpful, though I didnt see it at the time because all I could think about was, Why
am I in this program, I shouldnt be with these people. I refused to do the homework
they assigned me and I gave excuses as to why I didnt do the homework ranging from,
my dog ate my homework to someone stole my homework when I wasnt looking. It
was obvious those where lies, now that I look back on them but at the time my third
grade brain thought they were genius. My attitude towards ELD was changed when my
mother found out that I wasnt doing my homework for the class. I expected her to get

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mad and start yelling at me at the top of her lungs, but surprisingly that isnt what
happened. Instead she took a different approach and sat me down and talked to me. She
reminded as to why school was important and my response to was, I know school is
important mom but I just dont think ELD is useful and it isnt helping me at all. My
mom then countered with, How is it going to help you when you wont allow it to.
Look, I know youre good with English, and I know you dont like being in ELD but
maybe you could look at it in a different light. Thats when it clicked; I was too busy
thinking of ELD as a place for people who struggled with English instead of a place
where students can master their skills with the help of this program. With a new attitude I
enjoyed the class and I realized that I did needed some help. I was blinded by my own
pride because I didnt allow it to help, as my mother pointed out. I was able to look at my
writing and realize the many flaws that I actually had. They werent major flaws but it
could be the difference between receiving a C to a B and receiving a B or an A. The ELD
teacher helped me a lot from grammar usage to subjects and predicates. I learned how to
take notes and summarize passages effectively which I needed to learn to be able to use
them in my writing. I was a third grader back then; I wasnt aware that all the rules were
necessary to my speaking and writing. The whole time I was stubborn because I felt I was
literate in the English language. I failed to realize that I was put in there for a reason and
if I were truly fully literate I wouldnt have been placed there.
As I look back now I can see that my attitude was similar if not identical with
most of the students in the Freedom Writers novel. The students in the book were placed
in a remedial freshman English class and most of them were like me; they didnt think
they belonged there or they simply didnt have an interest in the English language.

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Luckily for them they had a caring teacher like Ms. Gruwell to help them find their
purpose in writing. One student in diary entry number 23 expresses how Ms. Gruwell
changed her, So one day when Ms. Gruwell pointed out my 0.5 GPAMs. Gruwell told
me something that would change my life forever. She told me she believed in me. Ms.
Gruwell made sure this student did not give up even if the student did not see much
potential in himself or herself; Ms. Gruwell saw the potential in her. Even though I had an
ELD teacher that did care for us, it wasnt until my mom sat down and talked to me when
I actually listened. She wanted something better for me, especially since she wasnt
allowed to know the language when she first moved here. If I hadnt listened to her then I
was heading to a dangerous place, I was in danger of having a fixed mindset. The fixed
mindset, like the growth mindset, is a concept introduced in Carol Dwecks article and it
states that people with fixed mindsets, care first and foremost about how theyll be
judged: smart or not smart (Dweck pg2). I was refusing to allow myself to get help and
without realizing I was doing more harm then good. I was limiting myself and I was
being close-minded instead of open-minded.
Even though ELD really helped me going forward in English both in reading and
writing, and I made the best of it because of some encouraging words from my mom; I
still felt I didnt need to be there. I was making strives and was getting good grades in
reading and writing; I was one of the top students in my class so I pondered why I was
even there. This whole debacle reminded me of Sofia Gomezs, Mother Goose in
Monterey. Sofia Gomez learned English in a small town and she was far more literate in
English then most people thought. This was showcased when her parents decided to
move to the big Mexican City of Monterey and her parents found a good school to enroll

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Sofia Gomez in but all the School saw was the name of her small Catholic School, and
turned them down (Gomez pg40). I was able to relate to this because the bigger name
school assumed that Sofia Gomez didnt get the necessary education to catch up with the
rest of students in the bilingual school and I felt my school just saw that my parents only
spoke Spanish and automatically assumed I struggled in English. I have come to terms
with this and realized that it was probably the best for me because I truly did learn a lot in
that extra class.
The types of advantages that I had growing up really helped me going forward in
my academic career. Even though I didnt get to go to some big name College or
University as I had planned to; I am comfortable with my position in life right now. In
high school I took various AP and Honors courses and continued to challenge myself. I
did well in all advanced courses and believed I was a shoo in to get into a UC but I was
brought back down to earth when I was rejected to all of them. As I saw all my best
friends get their acceptance letters I didnt what I was going to do with my life. I hadnt
pictured community college but now it became a reality and I couldnt accept it. I was
returning back to a fixed mindset but then I remembered what my mom talked to me
about all those years ago, that I worked hard and that I was literate. I decided to make the
best of it and success would find my way. Amy Chuas What Drives Success? sums it up
perfectly when she says kids felt motivated to achieve because of an acute sense of
obligation to redeem their parent sacrifices (Pg3). This is why I felt like there was an
obligation for me to go to a big name University but I now realize with my time in ELD
and the talks Ive had with my mother in Spanish that I was destined to come here before
making the leap of a lifetime to a big name college.

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