The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXXIII

DANIELA SANCHES DE OLIVEIRA
MARY WALL, TEACHER
Barnstable Intermediate School, Barnstable, MA
I will never forget the day I traveled from Brazil to the United States. Leaving
Brazil was very sad! The United States was the most beautiful place, and I had
my family, the people I cared for the most, but I was leaving the rest of my
family behind. The only people who came with me were my pregnant mom,
Roseli; my dad, Roberto; and my sister, Amanda. We planned to move to Cape
Cod. It was hard to move places, because I did not know anyone but my family,
and I didn’t understand the language.
The first place I moved to was a basement. There were barely any neighbors.
Even though there were other houses in the neighborhood, I did not see any
kids. It was very lonely not having any friends. The second house we moved into
was an apartment. This time, there were kids, but I did not know them at first.
Then, I met Julia. She lived next door to me and became my best friend. We
would go to each other’s houses. It was so fun. We have stayed friends ever since.
A month or two later, I went to my first day of school, and it was in the middle
of the year. I remember like it was yesterday. I was terrified! I did not know
anyone. I did not speak English. I was afraid that nobody would like me. I went
to see my kindergarten teacher for the first time. When I saw her, I thought she
was Brazilian and would understand me. I said, “Oi,” and she looked at me like
she did not understand me. She started to speak English. That’s when I stopped
and dropped all my things, and she kept speaking English, and I did not
understand anything. I was devastated that there were no people who spoke my
language in school, or if there were, there were none that I knew.
When I came back home, I cried and cried. With my mom trying to comfort
me, I was able to stop crying. “What’s wrong?” she said in Portuguese.
“School was so hard today. I did not understand anything anyone said to me,”
I told her.
While I was talking to her, she went to the kitchen and got a tissue. She then
wiped my face and said, “It’s going to be okay.”
When I woke up the next day, I did not want to go back to school. My mother
insisted that I get ready for school. At school, I just watched the clock, hoping
the time would go fast. Even though I couldn’t tell time, I knew when I would
be free to go home. Still, no one could help me.
“WHEN I LOOK BACK,
I THINK TO MYSELF,
IF I WAS NOT
COURAGEOUS, I
WOULD HAVE GIVEN
UP, AND I WOULD NOT
BE HERE TODAY.”
Finally, the day came when there was a kid that could speak Portuguese. My
heart leaped with joy. I could finally speak Portuguese with someone. When
I went to talk to him, I was so happy knowing that I was not alone. He knew
English, so he translated it for me. Each day, I kept doing Imagine Learning
on the computer. This program helped me learn English. Over time, I learned
more and more, enough to talk to people in my class, and depending on what
the subject was, I could understand some stuff. Then the translator moved to a
different school, but I had already learned a bit of English. It was still hard
because I barely had friends.
The year passed, and it was the last day of school. I was grateful for everyone
who helped me on my journey. I think the teacher said to me something like,
“Have a nice summer.” I just started to laugh, even though I barely knew what
she said.
Next year came, and I still did not know a lot of English. The first week passed,
and there was a new kid who could only speak Portuguese, and I knew that I
had to help him, and I did. When we were all going home after a long day of
school, the kid said to me in Portuguese, “Thank you so much! When I came
into this classroom, I was scared, but you were there to translate for me. So
thank you again.”
I knew that if I did not give company or help to the kid, he would have had the
same pain I had when I was in kindergarten. My confidence grew as I went to
different grades. I got a lot better over time. When I look back, I think to
myself, if I was not courageous, I would have given up, and I would not be here
today. I never thought back in kindergarten that I would be able to do this.
Always be courageous, and never give up!
THE COURAGE OF CHILDREN: BOSTON AND BEYOND
VOLUME XXXIII
30 31