Not all Teachers Are Students’ Cheerleaders

29Aug
by Mariela Renteria

My High school Sophomore teacher told our class that only half of us were going to graduate high school and go to college or a four-year university, and out of those students only half would make it through their first year. Hearing this come from an educator that is supposed to be our number one cheerleader through it all, made us all feel worthy of less. My classmates and I just giggled because we knew for a fact that college was not an option; it was something we knew we had to accomplish.  Those of us who went through tenth grade together have had the honor of accomplishing our educational goals,  something we were all capable of doing, one step at a time. So the statement our teacher made did not affect us, for we knew better.  Our siblings had taught us that we could succeed if we really wanted to.

Our high school years passed in a blink, and all my classmates from that one sophomore English class graduated. Some graduated with honors, in Honor Society, and four of my classmates gave all four student speeches, myself included. Once again, my tenth grade English teacher was proven wrong.

At this point in our lives most of us, if not all of us, are going into our third year of college. And I can say myself that it has not been easy at all, but I am lucky enough to have the greatest support system back home and at school. My family and friends are the constant reminders of why I want to keep succeeding in my education and life. Many people ask me why I want to be a teacher, and although I would like to say that it is because of the money, let’s be honest, it has nothing to do with the money. I want to be a teacher because I want to be able to cheer our students on and not crush their dreams by just stating statistics. Our students are more than any number and statistic given to them. My classmates and I are a living testimony of that.

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Mariela Renteria

Mariela Renteria

Mariela Renteria born and raised in Lynwood California, and a proud product of Lynwood schools. She has been deeply involved with her school district back when she was a student in Lynwood and now as an alumni. As a high school student she served her community by being a part of the LCFF/LCAP committee, and helped draft a new and improved mission statement for her district. Now as a Lynwood Alumni she is a part of the alumni association, and has helped coordinate college conference for our Lynwood students with other alumni. She is a current UCR student, studying Sociology, and aspires to complete her BA by the year 2019. At UCR she is involved with a couple organizations such as Students Associations of Latino Spanish Affair as an executive board member and holds the title of Treasurer, Chicano Student Program, and Trio. For now she is still thinking about what grade she wants to teach, but she knows for a fact she wants to be an educator.

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