My babies are growing up

Today, I felt like a very proud parent. As you all know, my students are all unemployed. They basically chose to take this English course among hundreds of professional development training courses offered all over the Madrid area by the Spanish government. This is one of their unemployment benefits. So throughout the course, my students are also busy looking for a new job.

The past few weeks, people have started getting hired. Two weeks ago, Mar was hired by a nonprofit. Last Friday, Carmen landed a great job at a bank. Today, Begoña got a job she really, really wanted. Begoña's employment was what made me proud the most.

Out of all the students that have gotten employed, Begoña was the one most interested in using her English skills in whatever job she got. She was going to interviews for positions that required some English skills, whereas the other ones interviewed for jobs that didn't necessarily need English. I sympathized with Begoña because she has told me about her interviews and how she always gets very nervous, loses her confidence and forgets all the English that she knows during interviews. I always try to encourage her because as someone who has taught her and observed her, I know she has the capability to have a decent conversation in English (she did live in Scotland for two years a few years ago!)...it may not always be grammatically correct or perfect pronunciation, but she can still express herself in English.

Yesterday morning, Begoña received a call from an employment agency about a company wanting to interview her in the afternoon. The agency told her that the interview will be done in English. So during break, she asked me to help her practice English so she can be in "English mode" before the interview. The other students would come up with possible interview questions and I would tell her how to answer them in English. The discussion continued after break and the entire class got involved. We were all helping her. By the time she had to leave for her interview, you can tell she was feeling a lot more confident - not only because she had English fresh in her mind, but also because the entire class was very supportive.

This morning, she told everyone that her interview went very well and she was waiting for the agency to call her sometime in the day. Everyone was very excited for her. Around noon, her cellphone rang. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her. The funny thing was as she was heading for the door to talk on the phone, she automatically answered the phone with a "Yes?" instead of a "Si?". We all started laughing. This is probably only funny to us, but some students sometimes find themselves automatically speaking in English (even to other Spaniards not in our class), which means they are thinking in English. When they do this, they always get surprised with themselves that they can't help but laugh.

We all anxiously waited for the news when finally Begoña came back to the classroom and said, with a huge smile on her face, "I obtained the job!" (I love how she used the word obtained...hahaha). The class went nuts - everyone started cheering and giving Begoña hugs and kisses. It was great! I almost started crying. It was so nice to see all of them come together and really support each other. I swear, Spanish people are great!

The only bad news is that she has to start tomorrow (the hiring process here moves really fast!). Since the class ends next Thursday, the class is going to lunch tomorrow for an early celebration. We are all sad that she can't make it.

But we also know that this new job is way better for her than any lunch. We're all very proud of her, and most of all, I am very, very proud! Go Begoña!!!