Faces of Repelón: The High School Student

One of the many things that I love about my community classes are the rich diversity that my students bring. Spanning several decades, each has an interesting and unique history that adds to the dynamic of the class. One of those students, Luisana, despite being only 16 years old, has definitely enriched these classes in multiple ways.

Born in Caracás, Venezuela, Luisana has two half-brothers, but has never lived with either of them. Her mother passed way when she was 7 years old and she moved to Repelón shortly afterwards to move in with family on her dad's side. One of her fondest memories of her mother was when they would sit together on their front porch of their house in Caracás, talking while her mother did her hair.

In addition to this, she loved taking photos (an obsession that has continued to this day!), making food, and enjoying the sweets that her dad would bring home with him from his work every day. Lusiana also had a large collection of Barbies that would keep her entertained for hours. Going to the park and the beach were other fond memories that she has from her childhood.

Currently, Luisana is in her last year of bachillerato (high school) and is set to graduate this November. Her time in school has been filled with great memories with her friends, exchanging jokes, and taking an obscene amount of potos. She greatly enjoys her teachers and looks forward to continuing her education in the coming years.

Life in a small pueblo is vastly different from that of the city. One thing about Repelón that Luisana loves are the people and the tranquil, safe feeling that life in a small town provides its citizens. She also loves the feeling of solidarity that is shared amongst many Repeloneros. However, the heat, mosquitoes, and lack of a movie theater and mall make life here sometimes unbearable.

In the future, once she has finished with any future studies that she may partake in, Luisana would love to visit the United States. This has been a dream of hers for many years. She sees the United States as a beautiful, developed country that is very advanced in terms of technology. If she can’t make it to the mainland US, Hawaii will do just fine as well!

I know that I probably say this about all of my students, but it has been an absolute pleasure to have Luisana in my classes. When she is absent there is a definite gap in the level of enthusiasm and positive energy in the class. It’s been a joy seeing someone so young take such an interest in bettering herself and setting herself up for nothing but success in the future.