“I’m here because my wife wants to become a teacher and I want to support her. The reason I support her is because that’s her dream and because I want her to know that teachers impact the life of their students.”
When I was a little boy I immigrated to the States with my family and to me that was a part of my life that helped me grow mentally but wish that no kid goes through that in their life.
When I was 7, I was punished for actions that grown people had established in the world and to me that is not justice because I was a little boy. Then when we made it to the States, I was enrolled in school and everything was new to me: the food, kinds of classrooms, teachers’ language, and most important the colors of our skin – white, black, brown, yellow. As a boy, this was beautiful to me at first but then it all started to collapse when I realized that the grown-ups separated the colors, languages, and cultures. To me, that wasn’t justice. As a young student, I realized that it was my own teachers that maybe without them knowing were mentally damaging our soul and spirit.
I had to learn a new language and to me that was a very difficult obstacle because how can you learn math, science, history without even knowing the language. To me, school was a very scary experience because I was expected to learn the impossible. I remember I wanted to go to the restroom, and the teacher wouldn’t let me, because I needed to ask her in English, but I couldn’t, so I peed my pants. That day was a very bad day in my life that I won’t forget and days like those were very common for me during those times.
I’m very smart. I’m an inventor and have a great heart, but according to my teacher I was just a “dumb Mexican.” I know that social justice starts in school with the teacher. Teachers should understand that our society or the way society behaves is the product of the seed that was planted in all students in the education system.
“Teachers are the solution to help social justice become justice.”
That’s why I came here with my wife because I’m not the only one. There are millions of kids out there that need our help.
I’m a professional plumber now and it’s a very important job for me because I help protect the health of the Nation. I feel that teachers should take their job seriously because they protect the justice of the Nation.
Storyteller Josué Serrano is from Mexico and a plumber. He protects the health of the Nation and supports his wife who wants to be a teacher.
