Foreign-born students learned at yesterday's career day that speaking with an accent does not have to bar them from obtaining their dream job.
"A lot of them say 'I speak with an accent. How am I going to get anywhere here?' " said teacher Carmen Rodriguez, who helped organize the event at Waltham High School. "We decided let's bring in some people who are immigrants who have made it. Here are people from other countries who came here like they did and became doctors, lawyers, mortgage brokers ... they needed to see that."
Rodriguez, an attorney turned foreign languages teacher, invited friends and colleagues from her past to speak at the school. She began organizing the event about three months ago with the help of guidance counselors and other faculty.
Inside the library, students listened as various professionals told how they got their start.
Mabel Skelton, a probation officer at the Suffolk County Juvenile Court at the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse in Boston, was born and raised in Cuba. She moved to America with her parents and two siblings when she was 16.
She offered advice to students from Puerto Rico, Guatemala and other parts of the world.
"For me to see a lot of students born outside the U.S. have the desire to better themselves (was most rewarding)," she said. "They are going to go home and think 'they did, it so I'm going to do it."'
Judge Diana Maldonado of Chelsea District Court was born in the South Bronx and her parents are from Puerto Rico. Maldonado urged students to pursue their passions.
"I was very engaged by them, they had a lot of great questions," she said. "I said if you find your interest in school and do what you really love, you will excel in it and find what your heart desires."
Waltham High School has 1,500 students; 56 percent are white, 23 percent are Latino, 5 percent are Asian, 11 percent are black and the rest fall into an undetermined category, according to Assistant Superintendent Emile Rosenberg.
Xiomava Palma, 15, said career day was important to her. Her father is from Guatemala and her mother from Puerto Rico.
"I really don't know what I want to be when I grow up, but I really liked the judge and the court (officials)"she said. "I think it's a good thing because in my class there's a lot of Hispanic people. They can't really become everything they want to become. Many are facing immigration issues."
Some students said their immigration status posed roadblocks to them receiving a decent education in the United States. Without a Social Security number and the proper legal documents, they said it's difficult to receive financial aid for college.
"Most of us want to go to college and most want to apply for financial aid and they can't," said student Raul Arevalo, 19. "They can't apply for financial aid because they weren't born here."
Arevalo along with classmates Josue Toteo and Michael Garcia, both 19, hail from Guatemala and said they began attending Waltham High School through temporary student visas.
Without U.S. citizenship, Arevalo said going to college is more expensive and difficult.
All three hope to attend MassBay Community College after graduation this year. Arevalo and Garcia said they both plan to pursue criminal justice and auto mechanics. Toteo said he is still undecided.
"I'm going to MassBay College. It's the easiest one and they don't charge that much money," Garcia said. "(Today) helped me a lot. I would like to do law. It was really good to listen to the detective and the judge. I think it's really interesting stuff."
Jeff Gilbride can be reached at 781-398-8005 or at jgilbrid@cnc.com
