Ana Alonso Vallejo

Director & Spanish Instructor

¡Hola! My name is Ana Alonso. I was born in Madrid, Spain, and I moved to the United States by myself at the age of seventeen as an international student to complete my studies.Since I was twelve years old, I knew my calling was to be a teacher. My life changed completely after having the opportunity to come to the United States to study. The idea of leaving my country without even speaking the language or knowing about its culture, without my parents, and with barely seventeen years of age, scared me. I decided to take the risk and start from scratch; without a doubt, it was one of the best decisions I have made in my life.My first year in the United States was a bit complicated. I landed in Ferguson, Missouri in August 2014. Things in school were also complicated for me; many of the students were not used to seeing people from other countries, which caused some rejection. To summarize my first years studying in the United States, I could say that after having lived in different states and with different populations, I felt a certain rejection to foreigners due to a lack of knowledge about other cultures. Today, with more experience and maturity, I can understand that much of this rejection comes from the fact that they weren't familiarized with different cultures. The experience of coming to the United States and facing a new language and culture from scratch made me understand the importance of learning different languages and cultures, to communicate and to discover what is beyond what we have nearby. My goal is to be the teacher who changes the lives of her students. My philosophy as an educator is that through teaching and knowledge, one can transform future generations and help achieve a more open-minded society based on equality and without discrimination based on gender, race, or sexual orientation. My goal is to educate my future students about other cultures and a new language, and thus help eliminate discrimination, which I, like many other people, have experienced many times in our lives.