| |
“Being bilingual is
the best asset you can have,” believes Zelda Ray, whose native
tongue is Spanish, but who has long served as a translator of
English for her mother, a native of Mexico.
“Languages are just fascinating to me. I’ve been studying French
since ninth grade, and I love it. It’s easy to learn because
it’s a Latin-based language.
“Whenever I hear someone speak a different language, like
Portuguese or Italian, I want to learn it as well. I just don’t
understand why everyone doesn’t want to be bilingual.”
Ray, who has lived in the region since she was a toddler, began
learning English when she started attending public kindergarten
in Jasper. She had to drop out of high school in Jasper,
Georgia, to help her mother pay the bills after her parent’s
divorce. While still a teen, she worked as a waitress, a
translator, and as a receptionist.
“I finally got a job in Pickens County as a regional personnel
manager for a brand new business. It was a small town company
and it involved recruiting and job placement all over the area.
I enjoyed it, but I was itching to go to college. So I worked
all day and did independent study at night. I ended up getting
my high school equivalency (General Educational Development –
GED). Then in 2006, I applied to Dalton State, but didn’t start
here until January of 2007.” |
 |
Ray has discovered that
she has a real love for history, especially the history of
Mexico and South America during the pre-Columbian period.
She admits that part of her desire to learn more about the
history of that region is because she wants to re-connect with
her own past.
“I left Mexico when I was two-and-a-half, and I never really
spent much time with my biological father, who lives in
California. I was the first Latino student in my school in
Jasper. So I’d like to know more about that part of the world,
its people, and what happened to shape its past.”
Ray foresees law school in her future, and she would like be
directly involved with immigration issues.
“Actually, I want to do a little bit of everything. There’s just
not enough time to do it.”
Ray, who is 23, says that when she chose to come to Dalton
State, she had some concerns because she had spent much of her
teen life working with peers who were 20 – 30 years her senior.
“I didn’t know what to expect socially. Would I be behind? It
was daunting. I was very scared, but excited at the same time.
“What I found was that I had a real drive to prove, especially
to myself, that I could do well even though I had earned a GED
rather than a high school diploma. So far, I’ve made A’s in all
but three courses.”
She struggles, she confesses, with mathematics, which doesn’t
come as easily for her as languages and the social sciences.
“I have to study very, very hard in algebra to do well,” she
says. “But I try to follow my own advice that I give other
students who are struggling with math. I tell them to go to the
math lab and to speak with their professors. And I’ve been going
there myself.”
One of the plusses of her Dalton State experience is that she
was recommended by some of her professors to pursue a work study
position as a Peer Advisor. “It’s a great job,” she says, noting
that Peer Advisors work with students who are having academic
difficulties in a particular subject and who need help from
peers who have taken those courses.
“I love putting myself into someone else’s position, and trying
to understand why they’re having problems in their studies.”
“I may be a little older than some of them, and so I know from
experience that there’s nothing to be ashamed of. I tell them to
do what you can do and to always do the best you can.”
Ray hopes to study abroad in the near future, and would
especially like to participate in one of the University System
of Georgia programs in either England or France.
“I suffer from wanderlust,” she admits. “I want to go
everywhere.”
|
|
