Written by Mariana Paz Quiroz, 2022-2024 Spanish Literacy Tutor
AmeriCorps members often come to our program during a transitional period in their lives, not always sure of what their next step will be after serving. This was the case for Mariana, who had just completed her undergraduate degree and was interested in working with children when she became a tutor. She didn’t expect to fall in love with teaching and pursue it as a career. Now, Mariana is a 1st grade bilingual teacher at Perez Elementary, the school she called home for two years as a tutor. Read Mariana’s reflection to learn what inspired her to answer the call to teach.
I loved serving as a Literacy First tutor my first year, and I often refer to it as my favorite job ever. At the beginning of my second year as an AmeriCorps tutor, though, came a natural “What’s next?” moment for me. I wished, and still do, that I could be a Literacy First tutor forever. But because you can only serve with AmeriCorps for up to four years, I knew that this job wouldn’t be my forever. It was going to be temporary and transitionary. At the start of my second school year as a tutor, I started to feel a little pressure for what lay ahead. The future was coming in hot, and if you’ve ever been a student—or a teacher—you know how fast a school year goes. As I reflected, I had an air of hope around me and a recurring question in my head: “How is Literacy First going to catapult me to my next step?”
Come October, I was still mulling over that question. I was tired often. Working three jobs was catching up to me. Despite it all, I was at school and the kids remained the brightest spots of my day. In the hallways of Perez Elementary, I found a sense of comfort and joy. I greeted teachers I formed relationships with and I knew where to get any supply I needed. I was confident in my position. I knew school is where I belonged, but I still hadn’t figured out exactly how I could stay there long-term. I kept asking myself, “Who am I in this school, and how can I contribute in a way that lasts?”
Talking to my Literacy First coach, Whitney, really opened me to the idea of being a teacher. Let me state something upfront: I did not come into this wanting to be a teacher. I never thought it would be my calling. I studied English in college and minored in political science. I wanted to go to law school and become an immigration lawyer. But Whitney noticed my hard work and said I was good at my role as a tutor, which felt nice. Whitney said she believed I was meant to teach and told me she would never say that if she didn’t mean it, and that felt nice, too.
So, I applied to Region 13, an alternative teaching certification program and got in. Region 13 joined my ever-growing to-do list, and I got giddy when I thought of the homework I needed to complete. I realized I want to be the best teacher I can be for however long I choose to be in a classroom. I took what I learned in my time as a tutor and brought it forward in class and felt incredibly proud. I know I am capable of bringing so much to the profession, and I am capable of being taught so much from it.
I spent two weeks in a kindergarten classroom at the end of February. I fell in love with the absolutely draining chaos that comes with 20 or so little kids running around and was looking forward to it as a teacher. I knew I would be exhausted from teaching and making a difference with one kid, one day at a time. But I was looking forward to trading that for the exhaustion I felt after walking 7–8 miles during a 6-hour shift at the grocery store.
During my time with Literacy First, I learned firsthand that the work done in a classroom is concrete and powerful. I would not have been prepared to become such an enthusiastic educator if I hadn’t first tutored kids in Spanish, a language I had once been forced to bottle up when I entered school. Throughout my two years with Literacy First, while I was teaching kids, they were also teaching me. Now, I am ready to return that energy and passion to a group of kids who are all deserving of the best teacher they can get.
Mariana Paz Quiroz (she/hers/ella) served as an AmeriCorps member with Literacy First as a Spanish Literacy Tutor from 2022–2024. Before joining Literacy First, Mariana studied English at Texas State University in San Marcos, and had been nannying three little girls since 2017. She became a tutor to expand her skills in serving children, specifically children who have similar childhoods and backgrounds to her. Through her work with Literacy First, Mariana has found a passion for serving, and has used that to pursue teaching. In her free time, Mariana enjoys reading and laying out when it’s sunny. If you’d like to connect with Mariana, you can find her on LinkedIn here.