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I have always loved my profession as a teacher. I left this profession to immigrate to this country six years ago only because in my country, a teacher is a public employee who earns a very low salary.

My youngest son was a symphonic musician from five years of age. He was part of the Colombian Youth Philharmonic, but he dreamed of something bigger: He dreamed of studying in the cradle of great musicians such as Mozart and Beethoven. He dreamed of going to the Conservatory of Music in Vienna.  

With my teacher’s salary in Colombia, I couldn’t help him achieve this dream. That is why I decided to immigrate to this country. I have worked as a nanny, a house cleaner, an office cleaner, a housekeeper in hotels, and as a personal Spanish tutor. Thanks to this, my son has been able to achieve his dream of studying at the Conservatory of Music in Vienna. Now he is in his second year.

Now I have also reached my dream to continue working on what is my passion—to teach and return to school. New York gave me the opportunity to return to the classroom and return to school. Now I’m a Spanish teacher in a Montessori school in Manhattan. Emigrating from my country wasn’t ever my dream, but emigrating allowed me to make my son’s dream come true. 

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Sor M. Villa-Zapata, age 59, emigrated from Medellin, Colombia, six years ago. She writes, “Every effort has a reward, everything that is dreamed of can be achieved. My son and I had to make many sacrifices, especially financial, but now each of us is living our passion.” A student at the New York Public Library’s Stavros Niarchos Foundation branch, her ESOL teacher is Michele Persaud.