Superheroes usually save the day by showing up at the last minute to save those in trouble or by defeating evil villains in order to save a whole city or, heck, a whole planet. However, for one young boy in Mexico City in the 1980’s, superheroes changed his life by sparking a desire to learn a new language.
Leo Gutierrez’s older brother had the kind of comic book collection his little brother wanted to get his hands on. But instead of indulging Leo, his older brother gave him an English dictionary and let him look at one English-language Spider-Man comic book at a time.
“Once you can tell me what this book is about, I’ll give you another one to read.”
Many years and several comic books later, Leo is now an English reading and grammar teacher at both a high school and college outside of Mexico City and is a recent recipient of a Proyecta 100,000 scholarship. Created in partnership between the U.S. and Mexican governments, this scholarship program has already awarded 7,500 scholarships for short-term (4-week) intensive English language courses to underserved students and teachers. Applicants must demonstrate a knowledge of English as well as excellence as a student or teacher by providing documentation from supervisors and several letters of recommendation.
This Fall the IEI has had the opportunity to host nine Proyecta 100,000 awardees. Similar to other scholarships, this scholarship covers tuition, room and board, books, and transportation. Typically, short-term special groups at the IEI would have their own section, but with less than 10 students at varied levels of English proficiency, the IEI decided it would be best to integrate these learners into the regular IEI program meaning that most IEI sections have one or more Proyecta student studying with them.
Also, since these students are only here for 4 weeks, one of the IEI’s goals is to give these students as many language learning and cultural opportunities as we can squeeze in. For example, each student was able to meet their volunteer English conversation partner (ConvoPartner) during the first week of class and is required to track the amount of time they engage in community activities.
In July, though thrilled to learn that he had won a scholarship, Leo soon realized that pursuing this dream would require a degree of sacrifice. His wife and parents were very supportive of his opportunity, but it would mean missing out on some of his teaching salary and not being home to celebrate his 11th wedding anniversary or his son’s 5th birthday (Leo also has a nine-year-old daughter). However, on August 28th his sense of loss was quickly replaced with surprise as he boarded the plane for Chicago O’Hare and was told that due to an oversold flight, he had been bumped up to a seat in First Class. He’s been enjoying a first class experience ever since.
As luck would have it, he was the only passenger on his shuttle bus from Chicago to Champaign-Urbana and the friendly driver gave him a personalized tour of our city and helped him feel at ease. He also felt a warm welcome by the staff at Illini Tower when he checked into his room and was shown all the amenities including the dining room, gym and WiFi.
Leo placed into the IEI‘s Level 600 and chose to take classes in the Academic Track as well as two electives, Advanced Grammar and Communication and Culture.
“My teachers are not good, they’re great! Each one is perfectly matched with their strengths… I am not just improving my English, but I’m learning how to be a better teacher by observing my instructors. The way they use technology in the classroom is especially helping me see it as a very useful tool and it is feeling less and less intimidating.”
Additionally, outside of the classroom Leo has had the chance to meet with his ConvoPartner Kimberly each week to practice his conversational English and to ask questions about how Americans behave and the culture of a U.S. college campus. These real world interactions have forced him to use his English in more informal ways and have helped to further expand his vocabulary and understanding of English grammar.
As a result, Leo wishes he could stay at the IEI all semester. But like the superheroes he read about as a child, he must soon return to where duty (and his heart) calls.
“With great power comes great responsibility.”
Uncle Ben in Spider-Man
Leo’s power now lies in his improved English language skills and greater cultural understanding. His responsibility, like any good superhero, is to use that power for good which we know he and all the wonderful Proyecta 100,000 scholarship awardees will do.
The Intensive English Institute 