A Place To Call Home
(This article originally appeared in the Belen Jesuit Magazine, winter 2019 edition.)
Had you asked me during the summer of 1999 what I would most likely be doing twenty years from then, I can undoubtedly say that teaching at Belen was the last thing I would have mentioned. I probably would have said that I would end up becoming a doctor, a lawyer, a businessman, anything but being back at Belen. I must admit that for a good portion of my Belen career, I was a young man who did not like to be at school very much and longed to be able to be “free” in college. I was immature and unappreciative of all the things I had at my disposal and unfortunately I would not be able to realize that until many years later.
As far as academics go, I was nowhere near the top of my graduating class. I was much closer to being in the middle tier of Belen students. At times, I would show my capabilities to excel, but
more often than not, my lack of maturity kept me from being in that upper level of Belen students. In my eyes, I saw myself as an average to above average student and often times I would sell myself short. I would even venture to say that some of the students currently in
Belen could probably relate to these sentiments.
It is funny to consider these things as it serves as an ironic reminder to why I chose teaching. Rather, why teaching chose me. In retrospect, I had no real idea of what I wanted to do in my life once I left Belen. I knew I wanted to go to college but beyond that was a mystery to me. It took me many years of life’s experiences to come to the realization that there was no other career other than education that brought me fulfillment. From that moment on, my path forward
was never any clearer. It became obvious that teaching was my vocation. It was at this pivotal point in my life that I discovered that I wanted to help others realize the things that I did not realize when I was in school, to appreciate the things that I did not appreciate, to seize the opportunities that I never seized. Quite simply, at the heart of my efforts was to teach my students to take advantage of all the chances they have in Belen and to not let these opportunities slip through their fingers.
I would have never reached this point in my life had I not realized the impact that teachers have on the lives of their students just as they influenced mine. Memories of my teachers at Belen often come to my mind. When I look back at my days at Belen, one thing that always stuck out was the way that the teachers always pushed me to excel. They were always there for me if I needed them. The influence they had on me will never cease from my memory. I will never forget the clarity and love for history that Jorge Martinez showed in his instruction, the patience and enthusiasm given by Mrs. Busquet, or the encouragement and passion of Mr. Leo Williams. These values, along with a number of others expressed by my teachers on a daily basis, are the ones that I wish to replicate here in my Belen. The common thread in all the teachers was that they all wanted me to succeed. I will never forget the support and encouragement that my teachers gave me.
As I am now in my seventh year as a teacher at Belen, I realize that there is no other place I would rather be. There are few other places in the world that I feel more comfortable in than inside a Belen classroom. I am constantly pushing myself to try to model the teachers that left a lasting impact on me. Although being a teacher of Civics and AP World History naturally makes me a fan of politics, government, and history, the most thrilling part of my job is to be able to connect with my students on an individual basis. It is through these relationships that we then manage to plant the seeds that will eventually bear fruits of success. Many teachers have often told me that many times you will not see the fruits of your labor until many years down the road. It is a statement that rings true for me as I, too, did not truly realize how good I had it in Belen until many years after my graduation. I am eternally grateful to my teachers for this. It is often said that “God works in mysterious ways”. My vocation serves as testimony to this assertion as my life has come around full circle.
Click here to read the PDF version of the winter edition of the magazine.
BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline. In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the School property and expelled the Jesuit faculty. The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow. Today, Belen Jesuit sits on a 30-acre site in western Dade County, only minutes away from downtown Miami.