English As A Second language ( ESL )

Courage
by Lilia Hervert, Northwest High School, Omaha, Nebraska

Having courage can make people change their lives. I had to have courage in my life, especially when my mom and my dad separated. When this happened I lived in Mexico and I was about 12 years old. This made me feel so upset because I saw how my mom and my older brothers had suffered. My grades at school started to go down and I just changed so much. I know that problems happen in many families and now I understand them better. When we are children we don't understand the problems well and especially if our parents divorce. As children we just want to see our family together, to have our parents together, and feel the love of our mother and father.

Two years after what happened, my mom decided to come to the U.S with all her children. She wanted us to have more opportunities to study and have good careers. My mom now works and when I finish school I want to help her very much. When we came here, my little brother and I started going to school and studying but it was hard for us because we didn't speak any English. But now I understand and speak more English. When I finish high school, go to the university, or take a good job I will remember how strong my mother is. I want my mom and my family to be proud of me. I want to be a strong person like my mother!

Lights! Camera! Fashion!
by Nyanchiew Malaul Ruot, Northwest High School, Omaha, Nebraska

Hi! My Name is Nyanchiew Malaul Ruot, and I'm writing about my dream job. I want to be a fashion designer for my home country of Africa. I would make designer clothes for my people. I want to make all types of clothing: dresses, shirts, jeans, skirts, jackets, coats, shoes, and scarves.

I would design with all of the colors of the rainbow: green, orange, yellow, purple, black, white, red, and brown, but especially pink and blue. They are my favorite colors.

I started liking fashion when I started to watch Project Runway. Then, in middle school, I designed and sewed a fuzzy, blue hat. I know I can be a famous designer if I work really hard for it. Fashion designing is my dream job.

Let's learn English
by Gilbert Niyonizigiye, Northwest High School, Omaha, Nebraska

I always wondered if I could be successful in my life. This question became very important when one day suddenly I found myself in a new country starting new life.

Would I be able to communicate with anyone? Would I make new friends?

These types of questions concerned me a lot when I just started school in America.

Now I am an ESL student who came to U.S. in 2008. I love to learn things but not knowing English language was a problem for me and in the beginning I was very upset about it.

When I started to learn English, I felt like a very big adventure came to my life.

Soon when people talked to me I could understand them. It was amazing! I hope that's how many people who are immigrants like me feel when they can speak and understand English.

Now I can make goals in my life. When I know English better that will help me to finish high school. I want to go to college and get a good job and I know that I want to do my best in the first job interview.

It is difficult to have better life in America without knowing English well. For that reason I want to study hard so I can have good future. And for every day I am trying to learn more to write, spell, read, and have strong vocabulary in English.

Dreams can come true!
by Horacio Reyes, Northwest High School, Omaha, Nebraska

When I was 8 years old I decided to do some changes in my lifestyle from the past. Coming from a family of talented musicians I always wanted to have this expensive guitar but I cried and cried because my parents had no money to buy it for me.

After some years, one day I saw this guitar in the store again and I just was looking at it and I asked a question to myself: “When will I be able to have a guitar like that?” I bend down my head with sorrow.

However, now I know that I can get what I want if I have courage to dream big.

Because after that experience I started to work hard by helping my father at his work and started to save money for the guitar. Finally I was able to buy my favorite guitar. “WOW!” I said to myself: “I did it!” Now I have this new guitar and I can play it. I write my own music and lyrics and even teach guitar classes.

Setting a goal and going for it were great moments in my life. Because it was then that I discovered that all people must have some confidence with themselves. It is how we can reach our goals!

When some people have problems in their life they don't want to deal with it and it's how people come down and lose purpose it their life.

It was one of my past experiences when I saw how setting a goal can help change people for better. It definitely helped me to become a better person.

My strong parents!
by Oscar Hernandez, Northwest High School, Omaha, Nebraska

Being separated from my dearest mother, my little sisters and my grandparents is very difficult and not easy especially when I have such a close relationship. It breaks my heart and makes tears come from my eyes because I miss them very much.

But when I remember this I also think about my goal that is to become a strong and intelligent person so I can help my parents and sisters.

My mother took good care of us when my father left Mexico to come to the U.S. I always remember when my father left to the U.S and started working in the fields. He would communicate with me each month and ask about my studies but he never talked about his problems. He asked me if I wanted to stay with him for a few years and go to school in America.

I didn't have any idea how strong my father was. He was that strong man who went to the U.S. with just one goal: to help his poor wife and children. I was so excited to see my father.

When I came to the U.S. I started school to learn English and study hard to get a better job. I really want to do well so I can also help my parents and show my sisters the importance of a better education. Because we want to be somebody in this life!

To reach my goal I realize that I have to learn English and everything about college and jobs. This will be important for my future. I know that I will never give up because my parents haven't done it either. They do difficult things and they solve their problems and show us how to solve our problems too. My parents do everything that is right. I want be like my parents and work hard because they told me if you want to be somebody in this life or if you want something you have to work hard to make your dreams come true and never give up.

The value of education
by Adriana Marquez, Northwest High School, Omaha, Nebraska

In 2005, my family decided to come to the U.S. I lived in Texas for two years. Those two years were depressing; I was always thinking about my country, my friends, my school and all the things that I left behind. So I decided to drop out from my school and not to continue with my education.

In 2008, my family moved to Omaha, NE. I don't know what really happened to me but I decided to change my mind and continue with my school. In part I made this decision so I could have bright future and make my family proud of me! I decided to continue my school and it was one of the most difficult decisions, which I made because I was afraid of many things: I was shy because I didn't speak English but I wanted to learn and speak this language fluently. When I came to U.S. I started a new life and I knew that I needed to know English to be successful here.

My next step was choosing my school and I was afraid because people told me that I would not understand anything. So I decided to go to one of the schools where there were more students that spoke my native language. I was happy only at the start of the year but in the middle of the year I made friends who influenced me to make wrong choices. Instead of studying I started skipping school and doing wrong things. I was involved in some fights too. As a result, I failed some of my classes. Finally last summer my mother made the decision to move me to another school to be away from bad influences.

Now here I am trying my best in the new school. Now I don't skip classes and always do my homework. I have changed my attitude and now I have different friends who are more positive. I have mostly good grades and like school again. At the end I learned to think about tomorrow, not only today. And mainly I learned about the value of education and how it is important for my future in America.