Eugenio Gonzalez

I serve on the Board for Guadalupe Schools one of the longest-running Adult ESL programs in the state and I heard this great story the other day about Eugenio Gonzalez that I thought everyone should hear.

Eugenio joined Guadalupe School's adult ESL program at age 59 without knowing any English. During his 5 years in the program he maintained an attendace rate higher than 95 percent and made it to and from the classes without a car. His teacher Kate Diggins said that Eugenio would use any mode of transportation to get to class except, possibly horseback. For one whole year he rode his bike many miles in all kinds of weather to go to class until a volunteer tutor learned of his situation and got him a TRAX pass.

Eugenio lived in a garage in order to save money to send back to his family in Mexico. He didn't want to spend money on rent so he lived in the garage where he had his car repair business. He didn't have a stove or fridge in his garage, so imagine what he would eat. He understood the importance of learning English in order to better his situation so that he could provide a better living for his family. English is hard enough to learn when you have all the comforts of a nice home and good transportation. It is pretty remarkable that he was willing to sacrifice and endure so much to learn English.

Eugenio advanced four levels and gave a very articulate and moving speech at graduation about how much the school had meant to him and how much he'll miss the staff and his fellow students.

The next time you hear somebody ask "why don't those Hispanics learn English" remind them of the many barriers they face and just how difficult it is to learn a new language. Tell them the story of Eugenio and then ask them what they are doing to help non-English speakers learn English.