Ms. Escalona, Spanish

This wasn’t a job, this was a joy. Every time you see that ‘aha moment’ in a kid’s eye, it makes everything worth it. It’s such a rush. I came on this profession kind of by chance; I was going to be a lawyer.I stumbled into teaching, and it was like ‘oh my god this is what I feel I was born to do because I’m so passionate about it that it was like I was guided into it somehow. It’s been fabulous… still some of my favorite memories were the trips we did to Italy and Spain…. A group of teachers, we’d get together and take the kids, and I’m still friends with some of those students years later, and we always talk and laugh about the memories we have. It was a unique experience that not many teachers have. The reason I started teaching was to share my culture, so to be able to take them to do that was fabulous. [I hope to leave behind] an appreciation of other cultures, an open mindedness to the world, and a desire to travel and to see that world and experience it firsthand.