Where did the year go? Everyone always says the older you get the faster the time goes. This year was no exception. The time is flying. I thought senior year went by fast, then again that is expected when your only awake for a third of it, but this year went by in a blink. It seems like yesterday I was sitting in SeaTac airport and now we are ready to set sail on our cruise through the Greek isles before returning to the real world.
I have learned more about myself and other invaluable life lessons from my year abroad than I ever could have anticipated. I never could have imagined how much I would grow and mature just by working in a bilingual high school in Huelva, Spain. In all honestly, I thought this year would be nothing more than a time delayer full of fun and traveling. However, working as a teacher this year clearly illustrated, more than college ever did, just how important an education really is. Estuaria (name of my school) opened my mind to so many things I never realized or given thought to. Growing up on an Island where almost everyone’s fathers name is followed by MD, PhD, MBA, JD, or DDS I always thought everyone went to prestigious colleges and then onto professional schools and had high paying careers. And then I came to Huelva.
If you are a new reader and haven't read previous posts let me be the first to tell you that it is in fact possible to live below the poverty line. I receive a grand total of, brace yourself, 700 Euros a month to live off of. I didn't think it was possible either and then I gave up food and found out it was indeed doable to support yourself on a few pennies a month. Thankfully there is no charge for oxygen so I can scrape by every month and with any luck I find a few pennies on the streets and spring for a stick of gum. Despite my perception, people in Huelva repeatdly tell me that this is a great salary. Do the math, 700 times 12 is under 8,000 Euros a year after taxes. How can anyone say that is a good paying job? Well, when you don't have an education nor a good job than I guess any amount of money is a good salary. Of everyone I have met this year, I can count on one hand the number of doctors, lawyers, dentist, ect. I have met. On the other hand, I have met more factory workers than I ever knew existed.
I wasn't too eager to start Law School right after college. In fact, I looked into every possible post-graduate scholarship program to avoid the inevitable, more schooling, and luckily found this program, which allowed me to become fluent in Spanish and travel through Europe. It was like finding the last pair of jimmy choos at Nordstrom in your size and on sale! However, I wasn't expecting to get as much out of this year as I have. With every day I am in the classroom with my students and see their pathetic lack of effort I think of their bleak future that awaits them. That is, if you are in agreement with me that flipping burgers at McDonalds for 5.25/hour is bleak. The fact that they cannot speak a word of English, despite having eight years of English classes is miniscule in comparison to their apathetic mentality towards education. I often find myself very frusterated by their lack of compassion for learning. I continually ask them if they even care and they spout the same sad responde day after day "me da igual," which means "I don't care." How can you teach someone who doesn't even want to learn? Some of them don't even bother bringing school supplies with them to school unless you count cigarettes and/or marijuana as substitutes for pens and paper. It's truly tragic. I wonder when the value of education was lost on them. The sad reality is, I doubt the importance of having a college degree was even instilled in them. I look at my BA like a high school diploma.... how can you NOT have one?
I remember senior year and being scared by my lack of a job but worse yet lack of a definite plan for my future. Sure, I knew I had options for the immediate future...Teach for America or my current job in Spain, but they were both just temporary options before I started working towards what I really wanted to do. I had always known myself as a tennis player. Since 4 years old that is who I was. I woke up every morning and played tennis. Rather than go home after school and open my book bag to study, I was at the country club opening my locker getting my rackets for a few hours of tennis practice. Every single vacation was to some Podunk town in the United States for national tournaments. Three out of the four weekends a month were spent driving up and down the west coast playing and winning, I might add, junior tournaments. Junior tennis was all I knew growing up. I occasionally went to school when the principal called and said I was in danger of being kicked out for truancy. No joke. Sad thing is, I still managed to graduate from Mercer Island with 3.9 GPA.... just goes to show what they call "one of the best high schools." Pretty sure Wilson would pass MIHS with flying colors, just as long as there weren't in Bulldogs to intimidate him. In college, things were no different. I was on full scholarship for tennis and identified myself as an athlete before a student. Ironic, huh? Of course I was in college to get a degree but my mindset was about improving my tennis game and winning matches. Fortunately for me, the program fell apart when there was a coaching change after my freshman year. With a team that couldn't beat a triple A high school team I finally gained some perspective on life after tennis. I thought about what most ex-tennis players do (teach tennis) and finally realized that you are nothing without an education. I knew once I graduated I a transcript with high grades would do a lot for me than memories of insignificant matches won. Because no one really cares who won, its the honest truth. Who won the Super Bowl in 2004? You don't remember do you? No one, besides you cares about the outcome of a sports game/match once the outcome is three days old. I didn't fancy being amongts one of the many an ex-athlete losers and shifted my focus from tennis strategies to political theories.
With only two weeks left of employment I have never thought about my future as much as I have these past couple of weeks. After looking into the vacant eyes of my students for a year where not a care was given to their education I couldn't help but wonder what their futures held for them after high school graduation. College certainly wasn't in the cards. I never thought they could teach me anything but they proved me wrong. When I ask my students what their favorite city in Spain in and I'm always shocked when I find out most of them haven't even left Huelva. How is that possible I ask? Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid are only an hour away on a plane. I have only been in Spain for a year and already seen the above plus Santander, San Sebastian, Santiago, Seville, Cadiz, Cordoba, Malaga, Granada, Bilbao,...etc. And then I'm reminded their parents don’t have an education nor job, which could provide for the luxury of traveling.
I never could have predicted that my students would serve as motivators for me given they are the least inspirational people you could imagine. Nonetheless, after imaging the painful monotony awaiting them in mind numbing boring jobs such as busing tables, folding clothes or packaging in a factory, I am more motivated then ever to pursue a graduate degree after working in a highschool where the gradution rate is less than 50%.
Besos
Ally
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