Washington Evening Journal
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EV’s Spanish, ESL teacher makes America her country
By Melinda Wichmann, The Hometown Current
May. 9, 2023 12:42 pm
Twenty-one years ago, Esperanza Lopez came to the United States with one goal in mind.
“I wanted to learn to speak English,” she says. She was not, however, excited about learning to speak it in Iowa.
The state she wasn’t excited about coming to and the small town she was initially dismayed to see soon filled her heart. Esperanza became a naturalized United States citizen in March and while she holds dual citizenship in Spain and the U.S., Iowa County and North English are now her home.
“I love it here. This is my home, this is my family,” she says.
Esperanza was living in her native country of Spain when she read a newspaper story about American schools seeking Spanish teachers. The only requirements were a master’s degree and teaching licenses.
“I had both of those things, so I applied,” she recalls. “There was a lot of demand and very little supply, so you know what that means. They would hire anyone. I got the job.”
In 2002, Esperanza came to the United States as part of the Visiting Teachers Program. An agreement between Spain and the governments of numerous American states provided Spanish teachers for schools that were having difficulty filling those positions.
Although she could read and write English, she was not a fluent speaker. Her degree was in business administration and her previous job had been as a secretary for a foundation. Upon arriving in the United States, she remembers going to a train station with a notebook and pen and writing, “I need a ticket to (destination)” because her command of the spoken language was not yet strong enough.
Her determination to master the language was the driving force behind coming to America to teach Spanish.
“I knew if I was not immersed in the culture, I would not learn to speak English,” she says. “Then I got here and I find out, you have to teach Spanish in English.”
From 2002 to 2004, she taught in three different Iowa school districts. Gradually, she gained fluency in English and is now certified as an ESL (English as a Second Language) instructor in Iowa, meaning she can instruct kindergarten through 12th grade students with language needs.
Instructing has provided a two-way street for learning, she notes.
“I have learned a lot from my students. They are very patient. Now I can understand the lyrics to American music,” she said, adding she has an affinity for Leonard Cohen.
Esperanza returned to Spain at the end of the initial three-year stint in the U.S., then returned in 2006 to teach Spanish at English Valleys High School, North English, this time on a work visa.
She confesses she had “no idea where she was going” when she arrived in North English. Her initial impression of the town’s size and its rural location, surrounded by farm fields, made her question her decision. While she knew she would be living and working in a small town, her expectation was of a suburb near a large metropolitan area.
“I came from a city of 1.5 million people,” she says. “I looked around and thought, ‘I am in the middle of nowhere.’”
Her welcome to the community soon dispelled any doubts about her decision. EV music teacher Denise Wade and retired EV teacher Scott Romine met her the day she arrived. They drove through North English, showing her around the town, introducing her to people and picking up donated pieces of furniture and other home furnishings for her new apartment.
When she arrived at her new home, she discovered it was already partially furnished through the generosity of people at English Valleys school and North English residents.
“That’s when I knew, these are good people,” Esperanza recalls. “Iowa has treated me very well.”
Adjusting to life in rural Iowa came with a learning curve that started at the dinner table.
“I did not eat meat before coming to Iowa. I ate fish. When I got here, I looked around and thought, ‘No fish. What am I going to eat?’ Then I had a steak.” She breaks into a smile. “I love beef. It is the best thing you grow in Iowa.”
While growing up, her father served in the military and the family moved around a lot during her childhood.
“This is the place where I have lived the longest,” she says. Since landing at English Valleys, Esperanza has taught high school Spanish for 17 years. The friendships she made and love of her job, the school and the students led to her decision to go beyond living here on a work visa to become a U.S. citizen.
The road to citizenship has been a long and winding one. The work visa allowed her to work only at the English Valleys Community School District, as the school was sponsoring her. Obtaining her green card was huge milestone in 2017. Her students threw a party for her at school.
“It was a big celebration. A green card allows you to work everywhere,” she explains. “You can do anything except vote.”
After obtaining her green card, she had to wait five years before applying to become a U.S. citizen.
To prepare for the citizenship interview, Esperanza had a list of 100 questions about American government. To meet the interview requirement, she had to answer six out of 10 correctly.
Her students helped her prepare, asking her study questions. Their tutoring paid off, as she easily answered six without problem.
The naturalization ceremony took place March 30 in the Neil Smith Federal building in Des Moines.
Going through security and checking paperwork took longer than the actual ceremony, Esperanza notes. Officials wanted to make sure the applicants were in good standing with the state of Iowa, with no outstanding traffic tickets or other violations. The gentleman in line in front of her had a number of speeding tickets that needed to be resolved, she recalls.
The ceremony itself was quick and simple.
“The ceremony was very brief but moving,” she says. “There were about 25 people there. It was very cozy.”
Esperanza has family in Spain, where she visits in the summer and at Christmas. While she is unmarried and has no children, she doesn’t feel alone.
“I have family,” she says. “My family is in this town.”
Comments: Melinda.Wichmann@southeastiowaunion.com