Guillermo
Moreno
(Autobiography)

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I was born in Mexico City in 1956. My family, at
that time,
was moving from the lower class toward being established into the
middle class.
Our religious beliefs were catholic at that time. The first years of my
education took place in a catholic private school in a suburban area
called “El
Parque” in Mexico City, where I learned nice religious songs for
Christmas
(villancicos) that I still remember clearly. It was a beautiful period
of my
Elementary School grades 1st and 2nd. I remember
exactly
my music teacher, a tall and elegant woman almost always wearing a
black skirt
with a white blouse and a black jersey. She used a baton, indicating to
us the
high and the low tones when we were singing as a choir, and she made us
feel
very talented and appreciated. She also used to play the piano and she
played
very well; it seemed that the whole old building echoed, enjoying her
music. It
was the first time that I had contact with music and I liked to observe
my
music teacher with detail. I think my teacher was so perfect, she
entirely felt
the music, moving her head with the rhythm and transmitting this
musical effect
in us. I remember every song with the feelings that she made us have
with the
music coming from her piano.
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After this period of time my family wanted to save a little
bit of money, so they changed my sister and me to a public school. It
was a
very big contrast. I started to deal with older kids and other kids
with
emotional impairments that harassed kids like me, who were much
younger, and
who were wearing nice clothes or a nice uniform. My mother always took
care of
my everyday school uniform, washing it very often and ironing it; my
white shirt
was always washed with starch and ironed. So those bad kids were always
hiding
my backpack, stealing my lunch, pencils, color pencils, etc. This
period of
time was a shock for me. I remember my 3rd grade teacher by
his
nickname “the camel”, because he was very tall and old so that his
posture made
him look like a hunchback. This professor used to categorize the
students by
something negative such as “Champion of…” we had the champion of
dirtiness,
lousiness, sleepiness, fighting, etc. He mentioned my title as “the
champion
nervousness (el calambres)”, because I was always afraid and nervous of
that
kind of environment, where I needed to watch my personal belongings
every
second, or someone would take them or someone would beat me for any
reason.
Fortunately I just stayed there (Yugoslavia Republic Elementary School)
for one
year.
I think that the problem with that school was, because we
moved to a newly constructed neighborhood, “Jardin Balbuena”, without
all of
the city services, this school was the only one available, with a huge
student
population. We registered late, so we couldn’t find a space during the
morning
session and we were stuck with the afternoon session in which older
kids were
mixed with kids rejected from other schools for their bad behavior. But
anyway,
we were really lucky when the new school, one block from my house was
finally
finished being built and opened its doors.
I started a new period of academic activities in
my life. My
generation was the first one to debut in this school. It was a new
school, with
new chairs, desks, blackboards, windows, doors, etc. It had very nice
basketball courts and some mini soccer fields. Teachers also looked
very nice
and young. The last part of my Elementary School 4th, 5th,
and 6th grades were very comfortable, I obtained very good
grades, I
was at the head of my class and competed for a National Academic Prize
for
Elementary Schools called “La Ruta Hidalgo”, everyone felt proud of me:
my
teacher, classmates, etc. My mother was helping me to prepare for the
contest,
with her patience, dedication and knowledge. We obtained, my team of
students
and I, a very good position, representing my school district. My
principal,
after the results, had a big school celebration for us.
When I passed to Middle School, things were not very similar
to my last experience, but I was still placing first in my group and
also in my
generation (9 to 12 class groups). The only problem was the location of
the
school (Francisco Javier Clavijero). It was located in a very low class
neighborhood. My mother wanted to have me close to my father’s car
repair shop,
so that he could watch me closely every day. My father’s business was
situated
close to a large trucking area where trucks transported fruits and
vegetables
to the city from the countryside. I can recognize that the school
system was
good; the principal was a stout woman, strong physically, and with a
strong
temper. She didn’t allow any kind of bad behavior inside the school,
but the
problem was outside, where homeless, drug addicts and gangs, daily
harassed the
students who were leaving the school, asking for money or any
valuables, like
watches, rings, necklaces, etc. I remember that, many times, the staff
of the
school, along with policemen, surrounded the school as protection for
us.
I tried to do the best I could. In this school,
during those
three years, I learned a lot, especially in my electronic workshop,
which I
really enjoyed. I learned how to build
radios (both, made by bulbs and transistors), amplificatory devices,
interphones, battery chargers, etc. My teacher was a mature man, a
veteran of
WWII. He was a volunteer in the Mexican battalion 201 that fought
against the
Japanese in the Philippines in 1944. He was one of the few survivors.
My
teacher was a very nice person that delighted us with his stories of
combat. He
was also a good technician that had plenty of knowledge of electronic
devices. He was very patient with every
one, and if some of the students didn’t have enough money to buy the
materials
for the class, he used to give them the materials for free.
The funny experience that I can tell about this school, is
that since I was close to my father’s workshop, every day I had to pass
by his
business and say hello to him, asking him if he needed something that I
could
help him with. Sometimes I had to wait for a while when he was busy
talking to
his customers, just to say “Hi” and then go home. I remember one time,
I think
it was in 1970, when the world Cup took place in Mexico, everyone at
the school
wanted to watch the game between Mexico vs. Belgium, and it was exactly
during
the class time, so the students formulated a plan to escape from the
school.
The authorities of the school figured out our conspiracy and tried to
stop us
from doing that. I remember, it was chaos, there were students running
all over
the place outside and inside the school.
Janitors, professors, the principal and more, were running too,
trying
to catch us. I went really quickly to see my father. I was running too,
to let
him know that I was leaving the school, and say goodbye. It was the
only time
that I didn’t wait so long to see him, because of the persecution. I
still do
not know if he knew what was happening there. I guess not, because he
could
have probably punished me immediately in the same afternoon for not
attending
classes.
My father was a very dedicated
worker. He
used to work from 8:00 a.m. till 8:00 p.m.
every day from Monday to Friday, Saturdays he closed earlier 4:00 p.m.
But
sometimes, I remember, because I used to work with him as a helper
during this
period of time, if there was a broken truck that needed to be repaired
for the
weekend, he stayed longer that Saturday and sometimes the following
Sunday. I
think that my father was a good example for me in being responsible and
constant in any activity. He was very meticulous with his job, a
perfectionist
- almost an artist, he never left any job without finishing it. I can
remember
the front part of the radiators that had screens like a bee panel; he
always
fixed the parallel layers with his pliers, like an artist looking for a
perfect
ending.
The only fun that my father used to have was going
to
Acapulco, the closest beach resort to Mexico City. Since my mother was
always
busy with her own business, my father used to take me with him to
Acapulco. I
really enjoyed this vacation, it was the most exciting thing that I had
done at
that time. There was delicious sea- food, beautiful beaches with every
afternoon sunset and the beautiful blue colors of the ocean. The gold
colored
sand, the constant waves of the sea that massaged me and sometimes
threw me
away with a strong movement was a paradise for me during the period of
my
infancy, sharing with my father, these wonderful moments.
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My mother’s business consisted of a small
entrepreneurship
of home made tortillas with a limited production. She had success with
her
business; lots of people were in line, waiting to get the warm and
tasty
tortillas during the lunchtime. Because this kind of business required
lots of
effort; getting up very early in the morning to obtain the corn mass
from the
mill and finishing usually very late to maintain the tortilla machine
in a good
mechanical condition, my mother decided to sell her business. She sold
her
“tortilleria” at a very good price for the business’ prestige in that
zone. She got enough money to initiate a
prosperous goods importation business. Then, by the early 70’s, with
the new
government’s policies “Luis Echeverria” in power, restrictions on
imported
products increased; this president tried to give more support to
national
products, so my mother changed her trade for a mini supermarket. |
After my three years of Middle School, I tried to get into
the Physics and Mathematics High School, the exam was extremely
difficult, because
of the huge population of candidates and the high academic expectancy
of these
schools, but I passed the test. I remember the time that I received the
notification envelope, I ran immediately to my mother’s business to let
her
know that I was ready for my new school. Close to her was Mrs.
Altamirano, the
owner of a Jewelry store contiguous to my mother’s; she was so happy
too. Mrs.
Altamirano was kind of an interesting woman; very aristocratic. She
came from a
bourgeois family; actually her family last name is “Borges”, her grand
father
Mr. Borges, was part of the “Venustiano Carranza” cabinet, after the
Mexican
Revolution.
The excitement within myself was uncontrollable because I
got the right high school of Science and Mathematics according to my
dreams; I
felt a part of the Polytechnic Institute, which is in contrast with my
sisters’
Arts and Humanities Preparatory that belongs to the National University
of
Mexico. My sister Gloria received the blue and gold representative
colors with
the emblem of the ferocious puma, which was the big rival of the white
donkey
that represents my school. But not everything was a party and a
celebration.
This High school was very academically demanding. I remember that I
used to get
up before 6:00 a. m. in order to catch the public bus and get to school
by 7
o’clock. My classes were very concentrated in Science and technology, I
had a
break from 2 to 3 and then I had a workshop of Architecture and
Remodeling from
3 to 6:00 p. m. Basically I lived in that school; it was very tough,
but still,
I loved it.
I remember that during the Foot Ball season, we used to go
to the stadium in our own school bus. We were singing the school
anthem, and
some cheer songs to animate our team. We used to enjoy more the student
environment with the band, cheerleaders, and the satisfaction of being
there
than merely the game. During this period of time, I also belonged to
the school
swimming team and then, because of my abilities in the water, I formed
part of
the National Polytechnic Water Polo team. I had enormous satisfactions
in this
part of my life; I participated in many swimming competitions as an
individual
and as a team, representing the white and cherry colors of my school. I
remember the first time when I received my team uniform; I spent a
considerable
amount of time looking at myself in front of the mirror at my cherry
colored
pants and jacket with white stripes and a white t-shirt with the emblem
of my
school. I felt like I was in a dream. That showed how much I loved my
school.
The transition from High school to College was a very easy
step. At least the first year; it was nothing stressful. As a matter of
fact,
it was the other way around, because High school was very disciplinary
with
intensive academic goals. College on the other hand was like open
student
decision-making. Students chose their schedules; selected their
teachers and so
on. Colleges during these times had a very popular “Student Committee”
that
facilitated any kind of student convenience. I remember by the time
that I
entered College; the student association board was promoting the return
of the
money that we paid for registration fees, advocating that the public
education
in Mexico must be free, according to our constitution. Well, they gave
me my
money back at that time, but the funny thing is that when I graduated
from
College, they charged me all of the fees that I owed, year-by-year. But
anyway,
it was still fairly inexpensive, probably no more than one thousand
dollars for
all the five years that I was there, and nevertheless, it is not
comparable
with the tremendous knowledge and academic experiences that I received
from
that institution.
After the first year at College, things became more serious;
students were more focused, the teachers more professional, and the
situation
at the school more academic. My major at the Polytechnic Institute was
Geological Engineering; that is the study and the use of natural
sciences like
geology and the application of this knowledge in Civil constructions
like high
ways, bridges, reservoirs, large human developments, etc. These studies
are
also applicable to the exploration and prospecting of natural resources
like
underground water, oil deposits, precious metals, commercial metals,
strategic
minerals, etc. I think that my major was very extensive; now I can
understand
how demanding and intense my academic program was. I accomplished this
subject
with a total of 172.50 credits hours.
The academic environment of my school at this level was full
of excitement. We made many fields
trips, among them, I remember the one that we made to Chiapas, South of
Mexico,
where recently were discovered important hydrocarbon deposits. We met
with our
president Luis Echeverria, almost at the end of his administration, and
four
more Latin-American presidents, among others, Andres Perez from
Venezuela. We
called the place: “The five presidents oil field”, I think that our
third world
leaders were making arrangements to be integrated into the OPEC, and
commercialize better prices for our oil. But this venture was never
realized,
probably because of political and economic pressure from the U. S.
Another trip
that we made was to Veracruz, (La Isla del Medium) at the Golf of
Mexico
platform of rifts, marine life and gradually sedimentation that feeds
all sea
mini-creatures called plankton. It was just gorgeous, thousands of
different
species of fish, wonderful buildings of corals, starfishes, octopus,
sharks,
etc. By the way, the course I took there was Biogeology.
By the middle of my College career, I knew almost all of the
teachers. In general, they were very helpful and professional; most of
them
were related with the work forces, like oil companies, energetic
companies,
mining, and natural resources. These companies were run either by
government or
by private sector. In my case, I was tempted to explore these new
challenges of
geology jobs, so I asked my professor of Sedimentology and
Stratigraphy, Dr.
Charleston, if he could help me to look for a part time geology
assistant
position. He answered me that he would. The next class, he checked my
qualifications and said to me that he had just opened a consulting
company, and
he could probably need my help. Because of my lack of experience in the
field,
the salary was not really attractive, but anyway I was excited with my
new job,
and the geological experience that I could get from it. Dr. Charleston
was a
full time professor, who got his Ph. D. at University of Michigan. At
that
time; he started a small consultant firm that made exploration projects
for
carbon and oil deposits.

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Almost at the end of my College
education (1980), I was
somewhat sentimental at the time to say goodbye to my school, teachers
and
classmates. It was such a beautiful environment; very nice and
considerate
people that some teardrops came from my eyes. I hugged almost all of my
classmates and desired them very good luck with their future lives.
Some
students had to deal with the change from school to a workplace. In my
case, I
already obtained valuable experience on my job. When I graduated, my
boss asked
me if I wanted to continue with his company. And I said yes. He
welcomed me
again and obviously changed my earnings, this time to a professional
salary. It
was really interesting to continue with my job. I knew the work
methods. I knew
very well my workmates, with whom I felt confident, and the most
important
thing, I was promoted to do my own work, as head of some projects.
Obviously the student life is not the same as the
professional life, and I was really missing my school, and by that time
there
was a popular song, entitled “Amor the studiante”, which means the love
of the
student. That song really made me cry, because of the content of its
words that
refers to your first love; “your school”. I couldn’t wait to come back
to school,
but it was not very easy to do that. I intended, one time, to work on
my master
degree at the University of Mexico, but I didn’t succeed because of my
responsibilities in the countryside. As you know, geologists work like
peasants, always in the field, surrounded by mountains, exuberant
jungles or
arid deserts. The offer to go back to school came after fifteen years
when some
Puerto Rican students from the University of Michigan came to my
parent’s house
accompanied by my brother, Alex, who was studying in this university
working on
his Ph. D. in Political Science. |
By that time it was a political turmoil in Mexico; the
assassination of the presidential candidate of the ruling political
party
(PRI). It also was an economic crisis with the change of government,
the
collapse of our currency, high inflationary index, the plunge of the
Mexican
Stock Market, the uncertain speculations of the privatization of
Mexico’s
largest oil company “Pemex”. The outcomes of NAFTA, that gave, in
consequence,
the deterioration of many small Mexican entrepreneurs that couldn’t
compete
against transnational companies. The intermission of British-American
oil
companies in prospecting national soil for governmental contracts that
left
small companies apparently without main activity, like the one that I
was
working with. All of these issues gave to the most Mexican people a
very bad
taste of this miserable situation and state of unemployment. Friends of
my
brother Alex brought me some hopes, when they proposed to help me in my
plans
of getting a post degree in my field, while the Country straightened
out its
situation. I liked the idea; everyone wants to come to the United
States for
many reasons; the green money, the adventure, visiting the most
successful
country in the world, visiting all those beautiful places that
Hollywood shows
us in the movies, the American dream, etc.
In my case, I wanted to finish a master degree in the U. S.
and come back to Mexico with a better education and to be more
competitive and
updated in my field. But things are not always that simple. I went to
the
Geological department at U of M, and they were sincere with me. They
didn’t
have enough of a budget for scholarships or student projects. The head
of this
department was explicit and let me know that in order to get there I
needed
available economic support of up to four thousand dollars a semester.
And for
the first time, I understood and appreciated the educational privileges
that I
have back in my country in contrast with the expensive college fees of
the
United States. But I didn’t want to go back to my country without
having
accomplished any of my studies, so I decided to at least take an
English
course.
I studied English at Stone School in an ESL program that the
Ann Arbor Public School offers for foreign students, in order to
improve our
English skills. I met very nice teachers, always accessible, smiling,
in a good
mood, very helpful. I noticed that they enjoyed teaching so much; they
used to
prepare international events where every student would show something
interesting that represents his/her country. It was a real experience
to taste
different kinds of food from Japan, Korea, China, Middle East, South
America,
Puerto Rico, etc. I had a very good time learning English and learning
from other
cultures in real life with wonderful classmates. It took me about six
months to
study English. Nevertheless, I was not quite well prepared yet, but my
visa was
about to expire, so I started preparing for my trip to Mexico. I had
started to
say goodbye to my friends. It was really curious that at the last
moment of my
sojourn, I met my wife in a coincidental moment.
A few days away from my trip, I went to say goodbye to my
friend Miledis, a classmate from the Dominican Republic, who was always
nice,
humble, and friendly. By that time, she was living with Pat, a friend
of hers,
who shared her house with her and her nieces. That afternoon I came to
Miledis’
house and I saw Pat. I must say that I was impressed with her,
especially
because Miledis used to refer to her as “la senora”, that means “the
Mrs.”, so
I was picturing her as an old lady, but my imagination was wrong,
because Pat
was very young, beautiful and elegant. We started having a nice
conversation.
Obviously, I felt a little bit embarrassed because of my bad English,
but I
noticed that she was okay listening to me. I figured out later that she
found
me an interesting person, and I shared the same opinion about her. I
was
fascinated listening to her; I could have probably stayed hours and
hours listening
to her at the same time admiring her as a beautiful person with a
lovely voice.
We had such a wonderful time that we decided to see to each other
again.
The last week before my trip, it was inexplicable like a
dream. I saw Pat almost every day, two or three times in the same day.
We
talked, we shared time together. We went to many parks, we
danced, etc. We enjoyed our time
together so that we became crazy and obsessed with each other, and we
felt like
we belonged to each other. The momentum was terrific; I wanted to stop
time and
extend that week for a century. But time is time. It never stops, so I
went
back to Mexico with the hot and fervent idea of coming back to the
United
States of America as soon as possible, this time not for a postgraduate
school
program -this time just to love my American woman.
Pat is originally from Berlin, Germany; she came to the
United States when she was seven years old. She went to nursing school
at EMU
and graduated with a BSN. At the present time she works at the U of M
Hospital.
The same as me, she was married before, but not divorced, as was my
case. She had lost her husband as a result
of a
freeway car accident. She spent her time as a nurse and as a wife
during the
last part of Joe’s life. In my case, I got divorced in 1985, and since
that
time I was not really looking for a second love. I was more interested
in
giving myself more time for education and self-improvement issues.
After
meeting Pat, things changed from my perspective. I wanted to get
married again
with a very strong feeling and live with my wife all of the time, every
minute,
every second. Since that time that I flew to Mexico, I’ve never been
separated
from Pat and obviously from this wonderful country, living in love and
harmony.
After I obtained my immigration status, I did work different
jobs; as a food server, in construction, painting, etc. and I had a
very happy
life close to my wife. But I always felt like there was an empty spot
inside of
me, and I knew that something was wrong with my self-achievement. One
time I
talked to myself seriously; “Guillermo, you need to do something
quickly, you
are not going to work your whole life as a waiter or something like
that. You
are still young and you need to continue your education.” I talked to
my wife
about that and we agreed to make the sacrifice of coming back to
school. I
continued working during the day and in the afternoons I started my
Second
Bachelor program in Computer Science at EMU. After my first semester in
the
school, I found a better job opportunity, it was teaching Spanish in
private
schools, with a better salary and a more prestigious position of an
instructor.
This job really gave me a nice taste of being a teacher and I found
myself very
enthusiastic and comfortable with this role.
When I started attending classes at EMU, I became aware of
many issues that completely surprised me; how in a first world country
we can
have schools with some instructors that have very low academic
achievement. I
always thought that the U. S. would have the most prestigious
universities in
the world, with the highest-level educated teachers. But after my first
semester, I understood that I was wrong and at the same time felt very
sorry
for wasting opportunities to do my master degree in my own country with
well-prepared teachers who had plenty of experience.
I had a terrible experience with one professor from India,
Chaudhuri who taught some of the computers courses. My first bad
impression of
him was in the lab. He never stayed in the lab helping students; he
used to go
back to his office and left a student helper that is from his same
country,
India, to help us with the programming assignments. The academic
preparation of
this student was not adequate to answer our questions, so I decided to
go to
Chaudhuri’s office and ask how to run my programs. I remember his face;
he was
very disappointed. He started asking me questions about my background,
and
telling me that I am very deficient, and finally he recommended me to
drop the
course and change my major because I would not be able to pass the
subsequent
higher level courses. All of these bad and nasty recommendations helped
me to
study much stronger every single day, sometimes for more than 8 hours,
until
2:00 a.m. and demonstrated to this professor that not only people from
India
can understand computers.
It took me the first two and a half years to comprehend the
basic computer architecture, some computer programs and algorithms to
be ready
for the next challenge; the 300 level courses. Feeling fairly strong in
my
major, I went to my Computer Science Department to ask for some hours
to work
as a lab assistant during the afternoon, in order to get a little
experience
and obviously earn extra money. The lab person in charge told me that
professor
Chaudhuri had requested a student assistant for his lower level classes
and
lab. The next day I saw professor Chaudhuri in the hall way, so I asked
him
about being his student assistant, telling him that I already had my
100 and
200 level courses completed with good grades.
He looked at me with the same disappointed expression, and said
to me:
“I don’t think that you would be able to help me.” and turned around
and
continued walking. He really made me mad and made me feel like he
didn’t trust
me even though I could prove my B grades. I didn’t want to think more
about him
and his negative personality, so I let it go and focused on the new
courses
that I was going to take.
During this time that I was taking some courses at the 300
levels, I met very helpful, well- prepared and up-to-date teachers,
such as
Matthew Evett. He is one of my favorite teachers. He used to receive me
in his
office very enthusiastically; for him there were no stupid questions.
He was
very patient and I think that I learned a lot with him; I owed him the
return
of my self-esteem. Thanks to Evett, I started on the right foot with
the
appassionato and useful language of Java. This professor was very tough
but
updated. He was always using computer
textbooks not older than 2 years, and he always brought his laptop to
show us
on the classroom screen how to run the programs. He was always
available for
any question or academic petition. I remember when I used to go to the
computer
meetings; he always participated, encouraging students and professors
to meet
for new releases of high-tech and bringing in speakers, personally
related with
the blue chip companies. Evett, during his classes, pointed out that we
needed
to be innovative, that computer technology changes almost every two
years, so
we need to renovate ourselves too and be updated.
At the 400 levels, I also had other very good teachers like
Elsa Valeroso, a Network professor of Philippine descendent, who gave
us the
most sophisticated studies of an Internet, Ethernet, PPP, and more
protocols.
Because of the difficulties of this subject, she used to have many
students in
her office. I was among them, and she always explained to us with great
detail.
Sometimes we were with her, solving the problems, for more time than
her available
offices hours. She never told us that she had to go; just in the case
that she
had another class. Elsa was another professor who was very up-to-date,
using
the most recent textbooks, and the most recent communication
networks.
I could probably mention too, that I took some basic courses
at Washtenaw Community College, where the fee is three times less
expensive and
the level of teaching is probably, for the basic courses, the same
level of
EMU, and sometimes even better. WCC presents very prepared instructors
that are
very conscious of helping students. This college has a very nice
updated
installation and I could mention that for my field, computers, and
computer
labs are much better than EMU.
Now that I finished my major, and I have the chance to compare
all of my teachers and evaluate, in general, the academic level of
students and
teachers, I could probably say that it was in very good standing. I
think that
I learned a lot and I also think that my instructors were on a very
competitive
level. I had wonderful teachers especially at the second half of my
major:
Evett, Valeroso, Maniccam, Sterzik, McMillan, Zeiger, Hoogerbeets,
Hoft, etc.
Thanks to all of them for their time and consideration, which made it
possible
for me to finish my education. I could also understand that the
Computer
Science Department is founded on very high academic expectations of the
students and that it is a very competitive department.
For this and other reasons, it encouraged me
to study constantly effectively and profoundly, and I am glad of this
because I
know that I am also a competitive professional.
I could probably understand too, after having passed through
the whole Computer Science program, that the bad impression that I had
of
Professor Chaudheri, made me conclude that he was one of few
instructors that
was not quite prepared for the level of classes that he was teaching,
using
textbooks and material from the early 80’s.
His narrow knowledge of the computer field made him appear
unconfident
and afraid of students’ questions. For
this reason, he was always hiding in his office, expressing his
negative mood
and being reluctant to help and clarify student’s doubts. I could also
understand that with an inefficient teacher, students reflect that lack
of
knowledge and can end up with poor grades, as in my case, the
unpleasant “D”
that I still have on my transcripts and which doesn’t disappear, even
though I
repeated the course and subsequently obtained a “B”.
By the last semester of my program, I applied at the Ann Arbor
Public Schools for a position of substitute teacher. They accepted my
application in a positive way and facilitated me to become a teacher.
It was an
extraordinary experience for me. As I started my new job, I could
recognize
that it was not easy at the beginning, being in front of a crowded
class of 30
to 35 students. But I think that I did well; I never forgot to give a
sincere
smile to my students, be respectful, act with courtesy and the most
important
issue was to always be helpful with the student’s necessities. Any time
that
someone raised the hand, I immediately responded with interest and
attention; I
was very careful to not hurt someone’s feelings by being apathetic,
indifferent, or reluctant. Sometimes I could recognize that I didn’t
have the
complete knowledge for answering the question, but I acted sincerely
and, at
the same time confident, and helpful, saying that I would investigate
in my
book for a couple minutes and then I would bring the answer back to
them.
I felt really successful in this teaching job, that I came
to discover that I have great aptitudes for teaching, and this inspired
me to
go back to school in order to get more knowledge, from professional
educators
and become an effective teacher, while getting my teaching certificate.
The
environment of the School of Education was much more human than the
Computer
Science Department. Now I feel different; I feel as a person that can
interact
verbally with another person, not just a piece of software trying to be
implemented by my computer instructor, which is how I sometimes I felt.
I also
found very important topics and materials that could be very helpful in
my
classroom. I am learning, at this time, how we need to transmit our
knowledge
and implement it for different student’s responses. I am learning how
to adapt
my academic material according to my student’s necessities and manage
my
classroom in an effective way where everyone can learn. I am learning
how to
identify those students with impairments or learning disabilities in
order to
help them on time with the appropriate interventions.
In addition, I can say that the school of education is
giving me the necessary tools to have success in the classroom, besides
using
my experiences through the years of being a student, worker,
researcher, and
now an educator. I am looking toward to bringing the best of myself to
my daily
classes; my patience, my talent, my positive sense of humor, my
sincerity, my
positive expectations, my knowledge, my respect, my attention, my
fervent
interest in my students, my constant training, etc.
Thank you very much.
Guillermo Moreno
Go back to curriculum
Email: gmamoreno@yahoo.com