Did you have a projects-based childhood

working in tandem with your family

In my culture, we have a projects-based childhood. I started cooking at six, at eight, I learned to sew, crochet and, along with my sister, served as my parents’ interpreter and translator. I remember feeling nervous about speaking on my parents’ behalf and also understanding that doing difficult tasks in life made school easier.

At twelve, I took care of my nieces and nephews - as the activities director, child psychology researcher, and also fed them and changed their diapers. I loved taking care of babies because the speed at which they evolved and changed was so magical.

In my family, we understood that we worked together. No allowances, no drama and, although we often disagreed with our parents and wanted to rebel, we loved and respected them. In our world, doing many things well was a matter of course, not something to brag about.
As an adult, in New York City - where I grew up - I was a volunteer vegan chef for a yoga center in NYC for years, an interpreter at hospitals and I taught a lot of things.

I taught nutrition and meditation to refugees in the Bronx, creative writing to women in the Garífuna community, bellydancing to survivors of domestic violence, nutrition and wellbeing at a homeless shelter in Brooklyn for men coming out of prison, Spanish to indigenous women from Mexico in a BENL program (basic education in native language) and English as a Second Language to immigrants who were newly arrived to our city.

It is often in the most humble places that we learn the most impactful lessons: in my family, I learned patience, compassion, delayed gratification, self-regulation, discipline, focus, communication skills, research, respect for those who struggled in different ways than myself, translation and interpreter skills, active listening to name a few.

Using teaching as a means to practice compassion, empathy, and caring for
vulnerable people allowed me to learn about the world - working in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx. I used my informal and formal education to create what was not provided or what might have been hidden from view.


What are you doing with your creativity and skills?

How can you serve others in your career/work?

Did your childhood education credits transfer?