Soledad Osequera

Golden Oak Adult School

Nominated in 2025

When Soledad Osequera came to the United States from Mexico in 1981, she did not speak any English at all. She came here to help her sister, who was pregnant. Soledad hadn’t planned to stay in the country permanently, but she ended up doing so, at first babysitting her sister’s children for some pay.

Two years later, she met her husband, and they had three children of their own. “I dedicated my life to taking care of my children,” Soledad said. She had not completed her education in Mexico. So when her children needed to go to the doctor, she would look around for someone to ask for help. For her children’s schooling, she similarly had to ask someone to help her fill out forms.

When her children grew up, she decided it was time for her to start her own educational journey. Her inspiration for learning English was her grandchildren. “I knew my grandchildren were not going to speak Spanish, and I wanted to be able to speak with them,” she said. She remembered having to use her own children as translators. “I had forced them to do what adults can do. I was putting them on the spot. My grandchildren were my inspiration to learn.”

She enrolled in her first Intermediate English as a Second Language class at Golden Oak Adult School in 2019. She purposefully sat in the front of the classroom. “You can’t learn if you are hiding in the back,” Soledad said.

After this, she continued at College of the Canyons, where she completed levels 4A and 4B of English as a Second Language. She also took some computer and HISET classes, but did not complete the HISET. The grief from losing her brother at this time hit her hard. Also, the workload was difficult for her. But she is now planning to take the HISET in Spanish and she wants to take English 60, the next level at College of the Canyons, as well.

At the church where her brother was a pastor, she has helped four people who came recently from Mexico to learn some basic English.

Soledad now works as a mechanical assembler, and taking English as a Second Language at Golden Oak Adult School helped her confidence grow. Because she learned about using context clues when reading new words, Soledad now approaches new words with the knowledge that she can figure out their meaning. “My coworkers and my supervisor respect me—I am able to help and to do paperwork and documents.”

Her advice to people who don’t know English is to invest time in education. “Education opens doors,” Soledad said. “Go to school. And don’t be afraid to practice—that is what makes you better.”