Budding author explores cultures
Howell middle school pupil sets her sights on a productive future
BY MIGUEL JUAREZ
Staff Writer

MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Maria Vilchis, 15, a student at Howell Middle School North, tries to bridge the gap between her native Mexican culture and American society.

‘My name is Maria Vilchis and I’m 15 years old. I speak English and I think in Spanish,” says the eighth-grade student at Howell Middle School North with her noticeable New Jersey accent. “I also speak Spanish and think in English.”

Maria is one of approximately 360 Hispanic students registered in the Howell K-8 school district, which educates more than 7,200 students. She wants to be an author in both languages so she can express herself to the world. At the age of 14, she had already written her autobiography.

Maria’s prose is profound and honest. With the shyness of a person her age, she agreed to talk about the ups and downs of being a bilingual student in a typical American school and her struggles to prepare herself in the era of the Global Village and preventive wars.

“I started elementary school when I was 7 years old in Freehold, where my family lived for 11 years,” she said.

Seated in her English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom, and speaking in that language, she continued, “I liked Freehold very much. I made many friends there. One of my best years was when I was 10 years old; that’s when I began to play soccer. I like to play a lot, especially on teams with boys because girls play too gently.

“At the end of fifth grade my parents decided to move to another town, Howell, basically because we needed more space. I have two brothers and two sisters and, also, all together we have nine pets.

“When I entered Howell Middle School North, the first day of classes was very confusing to me. At one point my face was very red like a tomato, because I didn’t know which was going to be my classroom. Nevertheless, in one of the hallways I met up with my friend Iris and I couldn’t contain myself, and I gave her an enormous hug! The best was when I met up with my teacher, Mrs. (Stephanie) Abelson, who used to teach in Freehold and was going to be my ESL teacher during the sixth, seventh and eighth grades.”

Seated at her teacher’s desk, surrounded by Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban and American flags drawn by the students, and by a world map, Maria smiled sincerely and added, “My dad always says that the only way to excel in life is by studying.”

At this moment, Maria is an exemplary student. She has been named two times as Student of the Month in Howell Middle School North; the first time was January 2004 and the second time was October 2005.

“To be Student of the Month is not only having your name read over the school announcements,” Abelson said, “it means that the majority of her teachers agreed in choosing her, because she had aptitude and successes more than the average student, which, in this arena, is very competitive.”

“My life at this school has made an impression on me and has been a lot of fun since the first day, when I felt that I was in the lowest level, at the back of the room. But I found friends in a sea of American kids,” says Maria, and continues, “During seventh grade I felt very happy most of the time. It was a little extra work to learn certain subjects like science and social studies. Also, I had problems with Spanish because I could not read and write it, but today I can do that.”

Maria is kind and intelligent and describes the difficulties and diversions in the life of a special type of adolescent in the United States. She plays soccer on boys’ teams, she doesn’t like to go to the mall, she enjoys “ranchera” (traditional) music like that of Los Tigres del Norte. “I like the stories inside of their songs,” she says, and furthermore is a fan of soccer players Osvaldo Sanchez and Oscar “The Rabbit” Perez.

Maria is a fine athlete, an outstanding student and an adolescent who is compromised by her positions in life.

“I have only a few friends because of the way I am. I don’t like to go out and make friends nor do I like to wear make-up. I have trouble making American friends because I don’t like to go shopping and because Americans are very reserved in many things, almost boring.”

And, she continues her conversation firmly, with her English accent of that of a girl from New Jersey, “I am Mexican-American, I have certain customs that I like to follow, I study hard to learn my subjects. I live and learn in the midst of the American culture. I also like the Mexican culture, and that is why I am studying Spanish.”

She pauses and relaxes. She sighs, “Look, we’re all human beings, right? So, why do some people think that other people can’t do things? You see, what happens is that oftentimes they won’t let us do things.” And she finishes, “How can there be hate between people? Maybe someday we’ll all get along well.”

Maria celebrates las Posadas and Christmas, she celebrates Thanksgiving and Dia de los Reyes Magos, Cinco de Mayo and the Fourth of July. She likes rock and pop music. Recently she celebrated her Quince Anos (Sweet 15) and she also plans to celebrate her Sweet 16. She has a ferret for a pet, four birds, a rooster, and many fish.

She likes to play with her siblings Juliana, Luis, Gabriela, and especially her brother Juan, who shares some of her classes and plays on the same soccer team as she does.

Her best friend continues to be Iris, but she also has a good time in her ESL class, where all of her “colleagues” are very interesting. They are Percival who is Filipino, Sengul from Turkey, Cristian from Mexico, Jonathan from Puerto Rico, Omu from Africa, Sophia from Russia, Walter from Peru, and Kim and Cathie who are from the United States.

Maria would like to be a writer. She has all the skills necessary to do so.

“I would like to graduate and be able to go to high school in Colts Neck and later, if I have the money and the opportunity, to look for a university and get a degree in literature. And if I can’t, my second option will be to enlist in the armed forces. I’ve made up my mind about a lot of these things.”

For now she is completely immersed in her academic activities. Her parents and her teachers are very proud of her achievements and she is happy to do them.

“I am happy. I’m not American-American, but I’m Mexican-American,” she says.

The last paragraph of her biography of her vast 15 years of experience concludes: “Mexicans are not different from Americans, nor are Americans different from anybody else.”