The InstigatorThe People Who Shaped Me Writing Contest was a part of the 2023 Salem Reads: One Book, One Community program, which delved into the themes and messages of Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. The contest invited writers to submit essays, creative nonfiction and fictionalized stories that honored real people who had a profound impact on their lives.
3rd place
El Viaje Quo Cambio Mi Vida by Constanza Escanilla
El viaje que cambió mi vida, no es exactamente una persona. Este viaje incluye muchas personas que fueron parte del cambio que tuve. Este viaje me enseñó a ser más independiente, a hacer nuevos amigos, probar cosas nuevas, y lo más importante, la razón para este viaje, aprender un idioma nuevo.
Para dar un poco de contexto, yo vengo de Chile, de Santiago de Chile. Tengo 14 años, mii idioma nativo es el Español y he vivido toda mi vida allá. Yo siempre quise aprender inglés porque me parecÃa muy interesante aprender otro idioma y elegà inglés porque unas pocas veces venÃa acá a Estados Unidos de vacaciones.
Además mis tÃos viven acá, por lo que me propuse aprender inglés.
Empecé prestando más atención en mi colegio y yendo a talleres donde me enseñaron cómo aprender inglés. Le comenté a mi mamá que querÃa aprender más inglés asà que me inscribà en una academia de inglés. Todo lo que me enseñaban era muy básico asà que se me ocurrió la idea de viajar a Estados Unidos y vivir con mis tÃos por un año. Ir a un colegio como todos los otros niños y tratar de adaptarme y aprender más inglés de lo que sabÃa. Esta era una idea loca y arriesgada porque sabia que seria dificil adaptarme a un lenguaje que apenas sabÃa. Hablé con mis tÃos sobre esta loca idea y sorpresivamente ellos dijeron que sÃ, que tenÃa su permiso para vivir con ellos y que solo quedaba hablar con mis papás. Mis papás dijeron que sà sin pensarlo, dijeron que serÃa una maravillosa experiencia y me motivaron de todos modos.
Ahà comenzó mi viaje. Planificamos todo y ya tenÃamos la fecha de vuelo. Yo estaba muy nerviosa porque serÃa otro idioma, otra gente, otra cultura pero yo sabÃa que esta era una oportunidad única, una oportunidad que muy pocos pueden tener.
El dÃa del vuelo llegó, me despedà de mis papás, abuelos y amigos. El viaje habÃa empezado.
Llegué a la casa de mis tÃos, me recibieron con los brazos abiertos y siempre me apoyaron en todo. El primer dÃa de clases se acercaba y yo estaba extremadamente nerviosa. El tres de septiembre, nuevo colegio, nuevo idioma. El primer dÃa fue raro porque no entendÃa ni la mitad de las cosas que decÃan, era un colegio distinto a los que habÃa tenido antes, nuevos niños, nuevo profesores. Los primeros dÃas me costaron mucho. Me costó adaptarme pero lo logré.
Hice nuevos amigos, muy buenos amigos que luego extrañaré. Camino a mi colegio todos los dÃas, lo que me hace ser más independiente, me hace más responsable de mi misma. Ahora estoy tan agradecida por todo, he estado alrededor de 5 meses acá, he aprendido mucho inglés, ya me sé comunicar, ya se me hace bastante fácil hablar. Me gusta mucho. Mi colegio, mis amigos, profesores, todo. Esta es una de las experiencias que nunca se olvidan. Una de esas experiencias únicas pero importantes para tu vida.
The Trip That Changed My Life by Constanza Escanilla
The trip that changed my life is not exactly a person. This trip includes a lot of people who were part of the change that I had. This trip taught me how to be more independent, to make new friends, to try new things, and most importantly, the reason for this trip: to learn a new language.
To give a little bit of context, I am from Chile, Santiago de Chile. I am 14 years old, my native language is Spanish, and I have lived my entire life there. I always wanted to learn English because it seemed interesting to me to learn a new language, and I chose English because a few times I came here to the United States for vacation. In addition, my aunt and uncle live here, so I decided to learn English.
I started paying more attention in school and going to after-school classes where they taught me English. I told my mom that I wanted to learn more English, so I enrolled in an English academy. Everything that the academy taught me was very basic, so the idea occurred to me to go to the United States and live with my aunt and uncle for one year, go to a school like all the other children, try to adapt myself, and learn more English than I knew. This was a crazy and risky idea because I knew that it was going to be hard to adapt myself to a language that I barely knew. I talked with my aunt and uncle about this crazy idea and surprisingly they said yes, that I had their permission to live with them, and that now we just had to talk with my parents. My parents said yes immediately, they said that it would be an amazing experience, and they supported me completely.
That’s when my trip started. We planned everything and already had a flight date. I was really nervous because it would be another language, different people, another culture, but I knew that this opportunity was unique, an opportunity that not a lot of people can have. It was the day of the flight, I said goodbye to my parents, grandparents, and friends. The trip had started.
I arrived at my aunt and uncle’s house, they received me with open arms, and they always supported me with everything. The first day of school was getting close, and I was extremely nervous. September 3rd: new school, new language. The first day of school was weird because I did not understand even half of what they said.
The school was really different from the other schools that I had been to, new kids, new teachers. The first days of school were really hard. It was hard to adapt but I made it.
I made new friends, really good friends that I will miss. I walk to school every day, that is how I learned how to be more independent, that makes me more responsible for myself. Now I am so grateful about everything. I have been here for about five months, I have learned a lot of English, I know how to communicate with people, and now it is very easy for me to talk. I like it here a lot. My school, my friends, my teachers, everything. This is one of the experiences that you will never forget. One of those unique experiences but important for your life.
This story is connected to Press Play Salem issue 16 (Spring/Summer 2023)
