July 2021 – Transpositions

By Daniela Téllez

Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to develop advances and innovations so my country can improve its services and policies for children with disabilities. I was born and raised in a small city in Mexico. I am the youngest of three siblings and one of them has intellectual disability. These two details about me, and many other experiences through my life, have influenced me in the pursuit of my ideals to thrive in order to help others.

I have resigned myself to the idea that to accomplish my goals, I must persevere to obtain a higher level of education. It was my dad’s most repeated saying, “Education is the best investment someone can make,” which made me believe in it. I believe that if I invest in my preparation, I can contribute to my city, my country, and my world.

I was eighteen years old when I first moved away from home to pursue a degree in psychology. During that time, I also performed my first study abroad in Spain, searching for specialized, scientific, and evidence-based treatments for children with developmental disorders. The experience was inexplicably amazing. I came back home with tons of new ideas, an open mind, and motivation to keep on learning.

A few months later, while I was doing research, I realized most of the updated papers were in English. At that point, I realized I needed to start my journey of learning the language. In fact, I started considering graduate school in the US. Even when the language was a challenge, I ended up choosing the US because usually the papers I was interested in were written by authors from recognized universities in this country. Learning English started to become a very interesting and convenient option for my professional development.

Finally, it took me a few months to find the perfect program I needed to boost my professional career, the Intensive English Program at Austin Community College, which is part of the ESOL program at ACC. I studied there for one year as an international student, and that was surprisingly efficient for me. Nevertheless, at the same time I faced many ups and downs such as economic and emotional instability during the pandemic of 2020. However, at the end of the day, the adversity encouraged me to keep working and finally apply for the second level: graduate school.

This period was tougher than I imagined. Having no dominance of the new language, staying away from family and friends, not having permission to work because of the F-1 visa, experiencing a different culture, not having opportunities to socialize due to the pandemic, and facing difficulties to find real Mexican tacos made life challenging. However, it was my intrinsic motivation and my support system that helped me persevere. By the end of this struggle, I finally received four acceptance letters to study for a master’s degree in a few Texan universities. Although the journey is just about to start, I’d like to mention that preparation, dedication, and determination were key to filling up my tank. It wasn’t simply a miracle that happened from one day to another.

I strongly encourage every international or foreign student who may be struggling in the journey to study a foreign language, especially English, to persist, and always keep in mind the main motivation. Allow yourself to enjoy the journey, celebrate your small achievements, and ask for help if needed.

Some family stories are so dark that it takes more than one generation for them to come to light. I must have been about 25 years old when I first told this story to somebody outside my family. In fact, I didn’t think I could talk about it until I listened to my colleague’s story about her grandmother’s survival in the death camp. Then I decided that my family story should be told too.

At the beginning of the 20th century, my family peacefully lived in Poland. During WWI, their city was conquered by the Russian Empire. In 1925 my family was exiled to a labor camp in Siberia. The name of the camp was Krasnoturansk. You did not have to do something wrong in these times to be sent to a labor camp. It was a terrible time. My great-grandparents ought to have been paying more attention to politics, but they were good, hard-working people who didn’t think they needed to be afraid. My family should have run away to Paris or something, but they couldn’t organize it quickly with 12 kids.

All their property was taken away from them. They were called “Vrag Naroda” (the enemy of the nation). They were lucky not to be killed. After that, they were transported on farmer carts to Siberia. I don’t know exactly, but after my research, I suppose what happened next: When my family arrived at the camp, it was an uninhabited place with only a wild forest around. At first, my family might have slept on the ground. My great-grandfather, Mark, was supposed to build a house from the surrounding trees. Mark was tall (6’6”) and extremely strong. He was able to raise the trunk of a huge tree alone, put it on his shoulder, and go. Not everyone survived. They were in this hell for 25 long years.

After her release, my grandmother was banned from the possibility of learning in college and living in big cities, especially near Moscow. All of the babies of my grandmother died, except my mom. She grew up as a very vulnerable child and suffered from heart disease from her childhood. My mom spent her childhood nights listening to people being shot in Siberian city Abakan. It was very dangerous for her to have kids, but she believed that she should have a daughter. I was born in Siberia. My mom was an incredibly beautiful, intelligent, and talented person. She could have been a fashion designer or rocket scientist, but she died prematurely.

I am the first in my family who learned in college. I am the first who left Russia. I got my Ph.D. when I was 22 years old. I gave birth to six kids. My kids don’t know the Russian language, but they know about the crimes against humanity that Russia has committed. It is my family’s “reverse:” I reversed the destruction of my family. Now I am 46 years old. I am sitting and writing in English (that is hard and confusing) because I am not going to give up as my great-grandparents didn’t.

Month: July 2021

From ESOL to Graduate School

One Long Story about the Family “Reverse”