Authors
Chloe Childress
Zictlaly Castro
Melissa Gonzalez
Jeffery Harper
Sherlyn De Haro
Shawnee Hofstad-Collins
Mrs. Bolanos
I was a teen mom, and my family - you just graduated from high school. That was it - there was no talk about college.
I really feel like it [coming to Infinity] was fate- like it was supposed to happen. They didn’t know me, they had just heard of me, so when I finally went to go meet with [the first IECHS principal], it really wasn’t an interview because she said “I know I want you”, but she was just going to be formal. I had something that most people didn’t have, which was not only bilingual, but I could relate to the parents on the parent’s side because my child attended an early college and now, I was gonna be on the other side of it, working at the early college. So she knew it was going to be a win-win. So I started working there right away when she hired me, and right away we had 60 kids. I think we took in 75 but we ended up with 60 kids, so that was it.
So when that happened, it was just myself, the principal, and four teachers, and from there I started meeting with the parents. she would tell me “introduce yourself,” at first I was a nervous wreck, but then the parents welcomed me and made me feel like I belonged there because they wanted to pick my brain. So a lot of them were spanish speaking parents, and a lot of them were like “I don't know what this program is, I don't understand, i dont know whats going on.”, and they were asking my about my child and asking if this or that made a difference and how it helped, so because of that, we formed a relationship. They earned my trust by me just being very open, and I would talk to them. Answer all their questions, they would call me. We were so small, because it was just those kids and that was It, you know we all knew each other.
I love kids, I just have a big heart for kids. And so I would talk to them, say, “Hey how are you doing?”, if I saw that they looked sad, and I would just reach out. There was one girl in particular, she is a teacher at Dogwood right now. She came in with her mom and they were gonna withdraw. The principal called me in, irritated, and said “just go ahead and withdraw them.”
I sat down and talked to her, and I learned that in the hispanic community, the parents that don’t speak english, that didn’t finish school, rely on their kids a lot. I didn’t know this, so through the process of getting to know them I learned a lot. I learned the teenagers were paying the bills for the parents. I then realized that the kids were being taken out of school a lot, and it was because when the parents had an appointment, they would need the oldest child to translate for them. Because they rely so much on the students, the child starts to develop a… I don’t want to call it a “sense of entitlement”, but you know, they’re running the household. Instead of the parents parenting them, they are parenting themselves and making decisions. So, this girl for instance, she told her mom that she’s leaving, and the mom said “Okay, whatever you think is best.”, to where I feel like education is the most important thing. So I sat down the mom, and I told her - not as an employee but as a mom of a child who went to an Early College High School - sometimes, we have to remember that kids are kids, and they aren't adults yet. Even if we task them with things that may make them think or feel like they’re older, at the end of the day, they rely on us to lead and guide them.
I really feel like it [coming to Infinity] was fate- like it was supposed to happen. They didn’t know me, they had just heard of me, so when I finally went to go meet with [the first IECHS principal], it really wasn’t an interview because she said “I know I want you”, but she was just going to be formal. I had something that most people didn’t have, which was not only bilingual, but I could relate to the parents on the parent’s side because my child attended an early college and now, I was gonna be on the other side of it, working at the early college. So she knew it was going to be a win-win. So I started working there right away when she hired me, and right away we had 60 kids. I think we took in 75 but we ended up with 60 kids, so that was it.
So when that happened, it was just myself, the principal, and four teachers, and from there I started meeting with the parents. she would tell me “introduce yourself,” at first I was a nervous wreck, but then the parents welcomed me and made me feel like I belonged there because they wanted to pick my brain. So a lot of them were spanish speaking parents, and a lot of them were like “I don't know what this program is, I don't understand, i dont know whats going on.”, and they were asking my about my child and asking if this or that made a difference and how it helped, so because of that, we formed a relationship. They earned my trust by me just being very open, and I would talk to them. Answer all their questions, they would call me. We were so small, because it was just those kids and that was It, you know we all knew each other.
I love kids, I just have a big heart for kids. And so I would talk to them, say, “Hey how are you doing?”, if I saw that they looked sad, and I would just reach out. There was one girl in particular, she is a teacher at Dogwood right now. She came in with her mom and they were gonna withdraw. The principal called me in, irritated, and said “just go ahead and withdraw them.”
I sat down and talked to her, and I learned that in the hispanic community, the parents that don’t speak english, that didn’t finish school, rely on their kids a lot. I didn’t know this, so through the process of getting to know them I learned a lot. I learned the teenagers were paying the bills for the parents. I then realized that the kids were being taken out of school a lot, and it was because when the parents had an appointment, they would need the oldest child to translate for them. Because they rely so much on the students, the child starts to develop a… I don’t want to call it a “sense of entitlement”, but you know, they’re running the household. Instead of the parents parenting them, they are parenting themselves and making decisions. So, this girl for instance, she told her mom that she’s leaving, and the mom said “Okay, whatever you think is best.”, to where I feel like education is the most important thing. So I sat down the mom, and I told her - not as an employee but as a mom of a child who went to an Early College High School - sometimes, we have to remember that kids are kids, and they aren't adults yet. Even if we task them with things that may make them think or feel like they’re older, at the end of the day, they rely on us to lead and guide them.
Juliana Gamboa
I am a rainbow child. A rainbow child is a child who is born after a miscarriage. After everything I have been through in my life, meeting my boyfriend was one of the best things that happened in my life. When I first met my boyfriend, I didn't think that he was going to be the best thing that ever happened to me and now he is my motivation to keep going. My family is the most important thing to me, especially my mom and my brother. They have always been there for me when I needed them. The things that help me to relax are drawing and baking. I also have my own baking company (Mostly Sweet Bakery) that I started 3-4 years ago. A lot of people would describe me as mean because of the way my face looks but I am actually pretty nice to everyone I know even though most of my life the people that I thought were with my friends and family treated me in a way that no one should ever be treated.
Dorian Miranda
I’d say the happiest moment of my life as of now is when I went outside of my house
and there were a bunch of dandelions on the side of my house. I like dandelions because
the idea of having wishes granted is nice, and also because it’s fun making the seeds fly,
so seeing a bunch was lovely. I spent a lot of time picking them and then making crowns
out of the stems, and that’s another reason why I like dandelions. You need to pick them
so they can live again so you’re not really killing them and it’s nice knowing that. I made
three crowns, and then I left them back where the seeds fell. I loved it.
No regrets, that’s how I want to live. I’m going with the flow right now, but who knows. Maybe I’ll be working
[work] as a bartender or tattoo artist. Maybe [I’ll be] riding a subway to who knows where, just going
with it, or perhaps driving a car with the windows rolled down to the beach. I want a
peaceful life. It’s hard to think about where I see myself in five years, since I know
anything can happen, everything can change in the blink of an eye. Nothing stays.
and there were a bunch of dandelions on the side of my house. I like dandelions because
the idea of having wishes granted is nice, and also because it’s fun making the seeds fly,
so seeing a bunch was lovely. I spent a lot of time picking them and then making crowns
out of the stems, and that’s another reason why I like dandelions. You need to pick them
so they can live again so you’re not really killing them and it’s nice knowing that. I made
three crowns, and then I left them back where the seeds fell. I loved it.
No regrets, that’s how I want to live. I’m going with the flow right now, but who knows. Maybe I’ll be working
[work] as a bartender or tattoo artist. Maybe [I’ll be] riding a subway to who knows where, just going
with it, or perhaps driving a car with the windows rolled down to the beach. I want a
peaceful life. It’s hard to think about where I see myself in five years, since I know
anything can happen, everything can change in the blink of an eye. Nothing stays.
Jonathan Fernandez
I was living in Arlington and started at another school in Ellis. I moved and I went to a similar neighborhood, in a similar area, but I didn’t go to Ellis. I went to a different school, and actually at the end of the year, I went to a school with “better benefits” even though I didn't want to go. I went to Keefer and I went to a meeting for Infinity, and I thought it was what I needed. It wasn't mom’s idea, my dad’s idea, my brother’s idea or anyone else’s idea, it was my idea. I decided I wanted to go and I encouraged the idea to my parents and they allowed me to go. I finally got to go to a school that serves my interests and only my interests.
Mrs. Brandi Minshew
I was born in 81. I was the grunge style; I still wear it, my husband thinks I look cute; look up jncos or baggy pants. I wore my dad's shirts, my dad was huge, when I wore his shirt it came down to [my knees], massive massive. I look up to my daddy because he’s a very big man and no one ever messed with the family, I'm just a daddy’s girl. I don’t wear makeup and I don’t wear jewelry, except for this ring, it's my wedding ring my husband gave it to me on our wedding day. He had it on his finger since he was about 13, it belonged to his great-great-grandmother, and he put it on. The only time he ever took it off was for our wedding and it's been on my hand since. I love tattoos, I have fifteen, I draw all of them, every piece I have it’s mine. I like being bald. I've been bald the last five years I’ve been here, this is the first time I’m growing my hair out. I’ve struggled many nights. I can feel it back here, I have to slick it back just so my hairs don’t go whoop. My husband doesn’t care, he thinks I'm cute either way. Richard Paul Minshew is my husband's name. One heart, one soul, and one body, that’s me and my husband, we are one. I love my twin but my husband is my number one. When my girls go all I have is him, my sister married off and does her own thing and I have mine. Meeting my husband [was the most influential moment of my life]. One of the most wonderful things he ever said to me was that he met me before but I didn't see him, he’d seen me; he goes like, ‘When I’d seen you, there was like nothing else around you and this light shined down and said, that's yours,’ and he won my heart. I’m a pretty easy person to be friends with. But I only hang out with my husband and my ex-brother-in-law. He's like a brother to me because when I needed somewhere safe he took me in, 15 years ago. My ex-husband tried to hurt me really badly to the point where I would not be staying there anymore. He didn’t care, he let me move in, and he said well you're my sister and we’ll take care of you, and I was like, you're my brother, and that hasn’t changed since. [Something most people don’t know about me is] that I’m actually nice. My husband says I’m an M&M, I’m hard on the outside but soft and sweet on the inside, and I say nuh-uh it’s a peanut M&M cause I’m nuts on the inside too. I read this one book and I think it’s good for anybody, it’s called the 5 love languages. It helps you understand people around you, and connect with them, then you feel love and joy and happiness, and that’s what people see.
Mrs. Sautter |
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My grandparents were amazing role models for me, my parents got divorced when I was five, and I both stuck to my grandparents and my great grandparents who were all just incredible human beings. I wanna be a good example for my daughter, you know: Your words are important, your character is important, say what you mean, mean what you say, when you say to do something try to stick by that. [In high school], start trying to be yourself, you don't have to just fit into somebody’s box, just be fine and enjoy life. Stop worrying about everybody else’s life. Serve others, lead with love, and be available.” I think that fate and the universe have a way of making things happen- I think that just the feel of this campus and what you guys just try to overcome-it just fit well with who I am. It's my core belief that everyone has this core potential and opportunity. It was the perfect fit, this job is hard, very hard but y’all [students] are working hard and building character so I’m gonna match that- and be right in there with you.