She had to learn English the hard way

“I’m originally from Querétaro, Mexico. When my family moved out here in 1989, I was around 4 years old. At the time, I was speaking just Spanish at home. But I was trying to learn the English language.

“I remember attending kindergarten at Yeager Elementary in Houston, and it was rough. I was trying to learn my ABCs, but I wasn’t learning fast enough for the teacher. So for my punishment, she would hit me on my palms with a ruler.

“My mom tells me how I didn’t want to go to school. I would wake up every morning with a different excuse like, ‘I have a headache’ or ‘My stomach hurts.’ Finally, she realized that something must be going on at school. So she set up a meeting with a counselor and the teacher. Of course, the teacher denied it.

“After that, my dad got a job here and we moved to Baytown. Things were a lot different and much better. Still, I guess you could say that I learned English the hard way.”