Cerritos College Faculty Librarian Paula Pereira and Professor of creative writing at UCR Sara Borjas were invited to speak at Hear My Story, Know My World literature celebration.
The event took place on Friday, September 9 at the Student Center.
“I decided to talk about my book and encourage [students] to talk about their life stories as well hear my own. I was an ESL student myself when I first got here to Cerritos College, that inspired me because I couldn’t find many books that would be appropriate for adults.
“I decided I needed to do something about it,” Pereira explained about the choice to write, illustrate, and self-publish her book, “How I Learned English: The Story of a Brave Mexican Girl.”
During the portion of the event which was allotted to her workshop, she told the attendees her story and led them through a brainstorming session to set them well on their way toward telling their own story of struggle and success.
The faculty librarian came to the United States from Brazil without fully knowing English, as a result of the language barrier she lived through many experiences common to Latino immigrants in Cerritos’s ESL classes today.
Paula Pereia continued, “I was working in a library in Texas at the time I wrote the book. There were a lot of ESL students but I noticed they were not being motivated, so I wanted to motivate them. I wrote it and illustrated it too, it took me three years to learn how to draw and paint.”
The book is a short paper back book about a woman who immigrates to Texas from her family’s ranch in Mexico.
She finds a job in a Mexican market where she makes friends with people who share her culture and then pushes herself to learn English and get an education.
“My book is to inspire people who are learning English. I have students from middle and high schools and colleges across the country reading it; I have received a lot of feedback from ESL students [as well as] instructors who use it in their classes as part of their curriculum.
“The students love it, it resonated with them because the main character goes to college and achieves the American dream.”
Borjas also had a talk; the talk revolved around the value of making the choice to college, especially as a Latina who grew up in a dysfunctional home, and the need for solidarity amidst Latinos ,especially ones who write.
After he talk she stated, “I really strive to be a part of the community and to strengthen the community; not only the writing community, but Latino writers, people who don’t see themselves in literature often until they take a Chicano studies class or a Latino literature class.
“I’m trying to maintain [Latino visibility in literature] but also be a part of it by speaking about it and by reaching out and helping people that look like me.”
Natalia Valdez, a communications major and public relations coordinator for MEChA was in attendance to represent her club.
She commented on the unlikely things she had gained by going to the literature celebration, “In the past I felt like I have always had to settle because I’m limited… and there are other students who think they can’t pursue their dreams. She went to community college and I’m in community college[…]I think I found peace of mind.”
