Full time faculty librarian, Circulation & Reserves Coordinator, member of various committees, instructor, adviser for the Library Club, and now an author, Paula

Pereira is always seen helping students at the reference desk or in the classroom.

Whether giving advice on career paths, explaining how to utilize the services and resources within the library and advising Library Club members.

“I earned my B.A. in Psychology at CSULB and I was already working at the [Cerritos College] library helping students; motivating them to move forward in their education,” she said.

After nine years working in the Cerritos College library, she obtained her master’s degree in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University.

Pereira is currently a librarian and teaches students the services and resources in the library that will help them be successful in their academic and personal pursuits.

Paula Pereira was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At the age of 19, she and her family moved to the United States and lived in Los Angeles, California from 2000-2010.

Pereira studied English for nine years in Brazil, but when she immigrated she realized that she needed to learn a lot more.

She took English as a second language class at the ABC Adult School and at Cerritos Community College.

Pereira expresses that “Everything in life is a challenge. Learning English was a hurdle. It was not easy as I thought. Learning another language has obstacles; interactions – a big challenge itself.”

Pereira began to write her book, “How I Learned English: The Story of a Brave Mexican Girl,” when she started to instruct English learners at El Centro College in Dallas, Texas from 2010-2012.

The story is written using basic English grammar. Prior to writing, she told the story to her students and each student fully and truly resonated with the main character whose name is Claudia Sanchez.

“They (the students) would tell me ‘I will do what Claudia did’ or ‘I am like Claudia too,’” Pereira recalls.

The story describes the challenges that a young woman faces when she immigrates to the United States.

Her experiences are similar to those of many others who leave their countries hoping to live the American dream.

English major Pamela Rodriguez says she can relate to the story. She and her family moved to Los Angeles, California from Mexico City, Mexico when she was 12-years-old.

“There is one part in particular where Claudia is nervous to answer the phone and I can relate to her because when I started volunteering at the [Cerritos College] library I was nervous too,” Rodriguez said.

As a former ESL Student, Rodriguez expresses how different she felt as an ESL student and how the new environment is much different compared to her home country.

“I was already used to my language. Everything here is like in a certain way; the culture is more diverse here too,” she said.

Pereira: An Artist & Self-Publisher

Pereira moved back to Los Angeles, California in 2012 and continued to read and help students. However, her next big challenge was she did not know how to paint.

The illustrations in her book, which were acrylic paintings at first, took three to four years to compose before they were printed. The illustrations help facilitate reading comprehension.

A concern many authors have is to have their work(s) published by a publisher, but for Pereira it was of no concern.

“I wanted full control of the book and it is self-published. I wanted to do it all and that was a big challenge. When I went to my mailbox and saw the final result of my book – I cried and was very emotional because now I know that I can help all over the world,” she remarks.

Pereira’s book, How I Learned English: The Story of a Brave Mexican Girl, encompasses major topics ranging from immigration, study skills, culture shock, higher education and perseverance.

It is a pedagogical picture book for an audience of nine years of age and older that aims to motivate English learners to become proficient in the language.

Her goal is to continue to write and illustrate books that portray the life of immigrants in the United States.

“I truly hope to continue because I feel like I am on fire. I hope it won’t take too much time,” she said.

“How I Learned English: The Story of a Brave Mexican Girl” is available for purchase at the campus bookstore.