Minerva Lara

If you read a lot, you can know the world. You can imagine that you are living the life of the books and stories you read. You can do anything and everything, if you want. If you really want to do something, you can make it happen.

Minerva Lara

My name is Lara Minerva. I was born in Mexico. When I was five years old, I started kindergarten. I know how to read already, so the school let me go to first grade at five years old.

I have five sisters and a brother. Only my dad works so we don’t have enough money to get all the things we need for the school. I started having problems in school because I came from a Jehovah Witnesses family. Here you have a lot of religions and different kinds of people, and they accept you. But in Mexico, it was different at that time.

The problem at the school was with the teachers. They always make fun of me and my brother and sisters. They were supposed to teach their kids to respect others. And they didn’t do that.

When I came to the United States, I was 18 years old. Nobody treat me different because I’m from Mexico. But sometimes I felt they treated me badly because I don’t speak English.

I have three babies to take care of. I have to work so I don’t have time to go to school. One day I was looking around in the Dollar Store and I see this book, How To Learn English. I read the book a little bit and then I take it home. The first thing I learn was how to say Hi to others.

I get a nice job and it was good for my kids and me. I have enough money, but my kids were always with a babysitter. So, we moved to Minnesota six years ago.

I now work with a letter shop company. I’m now going to school. I like to read a lot. I prefer to read English because I can learn new words all the time.

Besides reading, I like to dance salsa. The basic step is only one step forward, one step back. You have to use your hands. The women wear nice dresses and look pretty.