By Mathew Mills
The American Dream is different for everyone. Some believe the American Dream is being rich and living in a mansion. For others, it is simply to have enough money to buy food and have a home big enough for a family to sleep in separate rooms. Some do not know that one day they will have the privilege of immigrating to America. Alejandra Mills is one of those people. She is a resident of Blue Ridge and an ESOL teacher for the Fannin County school system. She helps students who do not speak English learn the language, all while keeping them on track with the curriculum. This is only a tiny fraction of Mrs. Mills’s story because, at one point in her life, she was in a similar situation as some of her students. In September of 1965, Alejandra Mills was born in San Jose, Costa Rica. While San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica, it is also a poor city. Although at first glance it is hard to tell, her roots because she carries herself with elegance, Alejandra was one of the residents that lived in poverty.
“It was a very hard life in Costa Rica because we didn’t have a lot of things, we didn’t have a mother that worked, we didn’t have a father that worked and it was very hard to make ends meet,” Mills stated. Growing up in Costa Rica was extremely hard for Mrs. Mills because she had to work for much of what she needed at an early age. Even so, moving to America was the last thing she wanted to do.
“It was hard leaving my home, language, and culture behind,” Mills said nostalgically. It was her mother, Yadira, who eventually made her move to America, due to a job she had in the United States as a maid for a family, but Yadira was getting lonely. She left behind her children for the job and wanted to return to Costa Rica. Alejandra and her older sister could not believe that their mother would throw away that opportunity. So, Mills and her sister flipped a coin to see who would go to the United States, and Mills won. She did not want to leave, but she knew that she had to.
“My older sister and I knew that the United States would give my younger siblings a better future,” Mills said. Mrs. Mills moved to the United States when she was eighteen and started working with her mother as a maid. She sent as much money as she could back to her younger siblings and had every intention of moving back to Costa Rica. Mrs. Mills worked for a few years saving up enough money to bring her siblings to America. Although she lived in Miami, a largely Spanish speaking city, Alejandra Mills still did not know how to speak English. “I knew education was the only way out of poverty and being seen as a low social class person. So, I knew that the only way to make it in the United States was to learn English, so I put myself through night school to learn English,” Mrs. Mills remarked. Though she lived in poverty for much of her first years in the United States, she took every opportunity she could to further her education. She credits her dedication to education for the success she has today. Every time a college offered a free class she took it, every book she saw she read, and everything she could learn, she learned. It was only after having children and getting a well-paying job did Alejandra Mills go through college to obtain a degree. Even then, she was still busy working and taking care of her kids, but since she did not mind, she worked hard her whole life. Years later, in 2020, she graduated from Western Governors University.
“I believe native Spanish speakers that are also fluent in English are what makes this country great,” Mills said, “I know for a fact that this country was born from people all over the world, who spoke and speak many languages and dialects that have contributed in many aspects, culturally and economically, to this country. We are a melting pot.” Though people like Alejandra may seem few and far between, Mills doesn’t think people like her are rare at all. The amount of students Alejandra Mills sees yearly certainly supports her claim. Every year new students enter her program from all walks of life.
“I cannot say the names of my students but, of course, I identify with all of them. I also identify with their parents. I know the sacrifices, the barriers we all need to cross to be accepted into a new world,” Alejandra Mills stated sympathetically. “I remember when I arrived for the first time in this country, it was also my first time on a plane, and when the plane arrived at the Miami airport, I thought I was on a new planet.” Many of the kids Alejandra Mills teaches come from a similar place as her. Most are from Central America and can only speak Spanish. However, there are also kids from other countries that do not speak Spanish. Vietnam is one example. Although Alejandra Mills and some of her students may not share a common language, they share a common history. Many of her students come from impoverished countries and impoverished families, and they come to America, chasing the American Dream.
“My experience told me that no matter the obstacles, and uncertainties life throws in your path, never give up on your dreams,” stated Alejandra Mills. Mrs. Mills’s job is invaluable, not only to her students but to the students’ families as well. Though officially the United States of America has no official language, most of the population speaks English. Through the education that Mrs. Mills provides, she can give her students the opportunity to thrive in a country that is not their own.
“Being scared is ok. God gives you the strength to make things you see as impossible, possible. It is ok to dream big,” Alejandra Mills said enthusiastically. Although Americans may find it difficult to relate to Mills’s story specifically, everyone has trials and test in life. It is what those people do in the face of those trials that make them who they are. In Mrs. Mills’s case, she saw the situation she was in and made the most of it. She may not have been rich in material, but she was rich in spirit, and she used that to fulfill her American Dream. Now as an ESOL teacher for the Fannin County school system she helps her students jumpstart their journey on the way to their American Dream.
Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of personality profiles written by students in Jodi Williams’ English 1101 class at the University of North Georgia Blue Ridge campus. Each story is a first hand account of a local person who has made an impact on the author. As you read these stories, you will hear of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.