Some people immigrate to the United States for better opportunities. For Maria Calderon, emigrating was partially about safety.
Calderon grew up in a rural part of Guatemala, a country southeast of Mexico in Central America. Her father is a dairy farmer and along with his wife also sells Suzuki motorcycles. She originally had two sisters and one brother, all older than her.
When her brother was in his mid 20s, he was shot to death.
“He refused to take a drink with this person,” Calderon said. “The guy was drunk and started calling him names and shot him.”
Then, about eight years ago, her sister and brother-in-law disappeared.
“One day she went out with her husband,” Calderon said. “We don’t know what happened. She had a baby she left with my parents. After a year [my parents] got custody of the baby.”
Calderon’s remaining sister had already been living in the Franklin Park area for 14 years. Calderon’s parents decided it would be safer for Maria to live in the United States. So in October 2010, shortly before turning 13, Calderon came to the United States. She repeated eighth grade and then started at East Leyden High School in 2011.
“The classes — math, science, that kind of stuff — I already knew,” said Calderon. “So that was kind of easy. English and reading were a challenge. All I knew how to say was “Hi, how are you” and “Do you speak English?”
She moved quickly through English as a Second Language classes at East Leyden, testing out of ESL 1 and ESL 2 and eventually out of ESL classes altogether and into standard English courses.
“I did understand the language but I was scared of talking and writing,” said Calderon. “For the first two years I was really shy. I would understand people but maybe respond with a few words.”
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Still, Calderon liked the great variety of elective classes at East Leyden compared to schools in Guatemala. Besides the usual math and English and social studies, she also took ceramics, computer networking and a technical support class.
Ultimately it was her Spanish teacher in junior year who helped her break through her shyness. In class, the students would act out plays and after seeing Calderon act, the teacher had a suggestion.
“[My teacher] said, you can try out [for a school-wide play],” Calderon said. “I was like, I don’t want to do it.”
The teacher persisted, however and with a friend Calderon auditioned for a Spanish-language play — District 212’s first — titled “La Gringa.” It’s about a young woman — coincidentally also named Maria — who moves from Puerto Rico to the continental United States.
In her senior year she again tried out for a play, this time “The House on Mango Street,” a coming-of-age story of a Chicana girl in Chicago. She also is completing an English 4 honors course and a Spanish Advanced Placement class.
A few weeks from graduation, Calderon is anything but shy, chatting away about her four years at Leyden. She plans to attend Triton College for the next two years before transferring to a university to study medical technology.
Her first priority after graduation, however, is to visit Guatemala, which she hasn’t seen since a visit in the eighth grade.
“The hardest thing besides [learning the] language has been living away from my parents,” Calderon said. “It’s a challenge for them too. It’s not just one daughter here but two.”