The Connections Within Me

By Daisy C.

Connection: a relationship in which a person, thing, or idea is linked or associated with something else. For Yerba Buena senior, Alondra Reyes, connection is her brother, family, friends, and those she’d like to teach in the future as a math teacher. Through connection, she will thrive despite the hardships and see a new light to life.

This connection didn’t come until later in her youth. From a young age Reyes had just moved from her home in Nevada to California. During that time she felt isolated and alone, having to start from scratch in a place where she had no idea about the environment she was brought into so suddenly. 

“I had to start from 0 with a new school and new friends, it was a bit scary and life got hard at times with no one to turn to for help,” said Reyes.

When Reyes got to California, she was enrolled into school and soon started experiencing bullying from those around her. Kids were cruel and used to push her around and accused of things she said never happened. The bullying almost got flipped around and nearly led to an expulsion before the truth came out. As she got older and entered middle school, she recounts on how she was bullied for her crooked teeth. The words dug deep enough where she stopped smiling with her teeth in pictures or covered her mouth with her hand whenever she laughed.

It took a toll on her mental well-being and she ended up having to harbor a shell to protect herself from the bullying.

“It changed me a lot, I was a really nice person but it got me to a point where I was mean and wouldn’t open up to anyone. I had my guard up and had to see what people are like before I let them into my life.”

On top of school life becoming a bit rough, her home life was difficult as well. She had the opportunity to get some things off her chest and be able to clear her mind from the difficult aspects of her home life. Collectively, Reyes had three different times where therapy played a part in getting her to open up.

“I had therapy, and my therapist was one of the people I could talk to about what was happening in my life and at home. Although she didn’t make me say everything, I let go of a lot of the things I had bottled up inside.” Reyes recounts.

Despite her hardships, things soon started looking up. When Reyes was 12 years old, her baby brother was born. That was when she felt that everything was beginning to look up. Being an older sister taught her that she could love herself and that someone was looking up and depending on her. 

“Loving yourself, being little I hated my life and being alone but him being in my life has been a big part of caring about myself and putting my well being as a number one instead of focusing on other people. He’s my family and he looks up to me and it’s important to love yourself and care about yourself.” says Reyes

As her brother got older, she’s seen how much his personality shines and how much of a bright little boy he is. She explains how he’s different from other kids his age and how much respect and interaction he has with adults and other authority figures. He’s not a shy kid but rather a kid who loves picking up conversations. She believes his bright and easy going personality will take him far in life and bring him great opportunities.

“Compared to how boys are now, a bit rude, you know I feel like he’ll be that boy that everyone wishes more boys were like,” Reyes says “The way he is with his elders and teachers is very respectful so when he gets a job that will really help him.”

Despite their 12 year age difference, Reyes recounts a time where she had gotten paid and was set on spending her paycheck to spend time with family. She and her brother connected over a subject he really enjoyed and she describes how that moment meant to her.

“I took him out to the movies for the first time, I had worked for the first time in my life and when I got my check I decided to spend it on my family and for him I took him out to the movies to see the Avengers for the first time. To see how happy he was and just the excitement before and during the movie was really nice and really happy to see him enjoying the moment.”

On top of being an older sister, one of her passions is becoming a math teacher. In school, Reyes always found herself doing really well in math. However, when she’d look around the room at her peers, she found them struggling without any help to turn to or where to start when trying to understand the subjects. These events grew a passion for her to become a math teacher and to not only help those students but to have connections with them so they could have someone they trust to turn to when they need help.

“I’ve known since I was little that I wanted to be a math teacher. The reason is because there aren’t a lot of good teachers, but there are those teachers that care about their students. I want to be the type of teacher that is supportive and a teacher that every student would like to have,” says Reyes.