Photo by Carlos Marquez
After I graduated from Emory, my life changed.
Certainly, life becomes different for every student after senior year concludes. But if you had asked me during my first few months on campus in 2007 what I’d be doing the fall of 2011 after graduation, I never would have predicted that I’d end up where I did: teaching bilingual fourth grade at one of the lowest-performing elementary schools in Texas.
I always had a deep appreciation for the incredible teachers I had growing up, but I never saw myself in their shoes. During my time at Emory I took a class on community-building and social change with Professor Michael Leo Owens in the political science department and realized I wanted to give back after I graduated.
So I joined Teach For America and moved to Houston, where I began my work teaching math and science. I entered a world largely hidden from the American public, one of deep poverty, violence, hunger, illness and low expectations. Many of my students were labeled “at-risk,” meaning they were at least a grade level behind in reading and math. Often times, the other teachers at my school would suggest that I disregard many of my students as having behavior issues. Regardless of the challenges facing me, I came to work everyday with the sound of “Buenos dias Maestro!” booming from 32 smiling faces and was determined not to fail them. In an ideal world, I could state that the road was full of inspiration and touching moments. However, I will be the first to admit that there were many nights that I struggled and was pushed to my limits emotionally and mentally. In the end, those booming voices were what brought me back to my school every single day.
Throughout the year my students, their families and I worked together to come up with ways to overcome their educational barriers. I shared stories of my own father, who had come to the States as an immigrant from South America. I coached soccer for all of my students who stayed for after school tutorials. On days when my kids felt like giving up, I worked as hard as I could to show them what could be possible for their futures if they just kept going.
One of my students, Junior, had it particularly tough. By fourth grade, he had yet to pass a state exam and had been held back twice. When I handed him the results from his fourth grade test, he looked at the sheet and then burst into tears. He had passed. Almost all of my students had. I took a picture that day of all my kids wearing t-shirts emblazoned with our class slogan — “Campeones” — with huge smiles and thumbs up.
That picture sits framed on my desk, and I look at it every day as a reminder of what is possible when we dream big. My students did not have the opportunities or resources at school that they would have had at a school that children from middle or upper class families attended. This is not to say that my students were not capable of achieving at the same levels as their more affluent peers. However, they were burdened by systemic inequalities that our poorest children across this nation have been facing for far too long.
Those beaming faces and little thumbs prove that, when kids do get the opportunities they deserve, they can thrive. My years in the classroom were the most challenging of my life. It took metaphorical blood and some real sweat and tears to help them all catch up to grade level.
I’ve since moved out of Houston, but I went back last summer and took my former students to a baseball game. It was great to catch up with the kids I’d grown to love and so exciting to hear them talk about the high schools they’re applying to: private schools, top-tier magnet schools, boarding schools — the types of places that will open up opportunities that would otherwise be cut off to them.
Emory opens so many doors for its students and alumni. We have all had incredible opportunities because we got ourselves through the gates on Dowman Drive. We should use those opportunities to fulfill our dreams, for sure. But along the way, we should also use them to help the next generation find theirs.
Carlos Marquez is a 2011 Emory and Teach For America-Houston alumnus. He is currently at Duke Law School.
