Torriente 1 Liliarlet Torriente Megan Keaton ENC 1102-07 03 February 2014 Educational Exploration KINDERGARTEN: Today I woke to the

familiar smell of caf con leche, freshly baked bread, sizzling fried eggs and my mothers calm voice telling me to wake up. I can tell from looking out of the living room window that its bright and early. Time for school. The vendors are already out selling their merchandise, the workers are walking to catch the bus, and everyone offers each other a warm, casual greeting as they walk by one another, Buenos Dias, Maria!, Buenos Dias, Roberto! Torriente, Cuba is such a small town that everyone here knows each other. I think thats why my mom feels safe letting me walk the couple blocks to school alone. Besides, she can always stand on the side walk and watch me until I get there. I enter Pepito Tey Elementary and immediately see all my friends but thats also because I am friends with everyone. School is so fun to me. I love nap time, playtime, and story time. I especially love volunteering to read in front of the class. I heard my teacher, Maria tell my mom that I was one of the best readers in the class one day and so now I read every chance I get Im not good with writing though, I mean my handwriting is awful. Mom always yells at me saying that pretty girls like me are not supposed to have so ugly handwriting. At least I get good grades! FIRST GRADE:

Torriente 2 Its my first day as a first grader and I am so excited because I finally get to wear a paoleta! Now all of the kids in kindergarten will be jealous like I was last year. This year my classroom is in the big courtyard and my teachers name is Minerba. Shes sweet but she never wants to let me go to the bathroom because she thinks Im only going to socialize. The other day I heard my mom say we might be moving to America. I must be really lucky because everyone else wants to go to America too but I guess their parents didnt win a visa.
A MOTHERS REFLECTION:

Maana mi hija y yo nos iremos a los Estados Unidos. Dejare atras a toda mi familia, pero ellos entienden que mi hija merece un future mejor. Aqui en Cuba no tiene esperanza. Cuba esta esta en muy malas condiciones. Tengo miedo de estar en un lugar extrao y extranjero con mi niita de solo siete aos pero por ella hago cualquier cosa. Soy capaz de alcanzarle una estrella si algun dia le hace falta. Mi hija es mi tesoro y mi razon de vivir. Yo la he criado sola sin la ayuda de su padre y esa sera en los Estados Unidos, igual. Estoy un poco preocupada por el idioma pero Lili es inteligente. Ella estara bien. Tomorrow my daughter and I are going to the United States. I will leave behind all my family, but they understand that my daughter deserves a better future. Here in Cuba she has no hope. Cuba is in very poor condition. I'm afraid of being in a strange and foreign place with my little girl of only seven years but for her I'd do anything. I am capable of reaching for a star if someday she needs it. My daughter is my treasure and my reason to live. I've raised her alone without the help of her father and that's

Torriente 3 how it will be in the United States too. I'm a little concerned about the language, but Lili is smart. She'll be fine.
LOOSING FAMILIARITY:

Today is my first day in the second grade. Waking up this morning was not familiar at all. It was strange. I live with strangers in a new and strange place where the neighbors arent as friendly and my mom didnt wake me up with her usual calm voice today, instead she sounded nervous and clearly in a hurry... Im nervous too. I wonder what language American kids speak? Wait, thats stupid. Everyone in the world speaks Spanish, right? I just got to South Olive Elementary and was I wrong. I cant understand a word these people are saying. Its a different language; my mom says its called English. Hm, weird. COMING OF AGE IN ALL THE WRONG WAYS: It was in middle school when my education took a wrong turn. I suddenly decided that I was too cool for school and hanging out with my friends was way more important. Although this was made difficult by mom who kept me on a tight leash and didnt let me go out much. We all know that every kid entering their teenage years just wants to fit in. That was definitely me. I did things I hadnt done in my whole life! Talk back to my teachers, use my cell phone in class, not do my homework, skip classes, the whole nine yards. It was incredible, really. Looking back on it, Im like Are you serious? Its funny for me to think about the things that seemed important to me in middle school. Like boys and being aloud to go to the movies alone. I often think that had my mom not moved out of the Keys, I would have ended up like many of my then peers: pregnant, drop outs, druggies, in jail. You name it. When I was in middle school, I took an AP class and got a 2 on the AP exam imagine that. I simply could not be bothered with an education.

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A REGULAR DAY:

The date is March 6th, 2013. Its a regular day here at Mariner High School. Im sitting out in the courtyards round table having lunch with a bunch of other Cubans. Were laughing and joking, making the best of these forty five minutes before we all have to go back to our classes. I have AP Spanish next. I hate my Spanish teacher with a passion. Mrs. Fleming really knows how to bring me down. I swear my day will be going perfect until I get to her class. I just called out for my friend Daniela and waved her over cause I saw here walking out of the cafeteria. Daniela is the girl who has made my last year in high school bearable. Shes super smart and so she makes a good study buddy. Daniela and I have a lot in common. She wants to go FIU, I want to go to FSU. Were both waiting to hear from our dream schools on our acceptance. We literally talk about it everyday. We both took the SAT/ACT like four times trying to get the score we wanted and we studied together every time. Hey, whats up? says Daniela as she greets me with a kiss on the cheek, Nothing, chilling, I respond. She sits next to me with her tray of food and proceeds to eat her beefaroni. I have nothing to say except to comment on how much Im dreading going to my next class, so I check my email instead. I have mail and its from Florida State. I open the email in anticipation only to see, Congratulations right there in black and white tiny letters NO WAY. I just reread this email like four times to make sure theres no mistake and then it hit me: IM GOING TO FLORIDA STATE!!!