By Caroline Zandler

When Estrella Guadalupe Ramirez walked across the stage at her high school graduation in 2019, she could hardly believe it. Just a few years before, Ramirez had left El Salvador alone, stepping into an unfamiliar country with no family by her side and little knowledge of English. The journey had been filled with the challenges of navigating a new culture, supporting her younger nieces alone, and pushing herself to succeed, but she never let obstacles stop her. Now enrolled in an English as a Second Language (ESL) program at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, Ramirez plans to study business management and dreams of becoming a real estate agent to help Spanish-speaking families find their homes.

Immersion in a new culture and language can be a struggle for many people who do not have a personal connection. Each immigrant’s journey is incomparable, shaped by personal struggles and triumphs as they adapt to life in a new country. I have met individuals of all ages and backgrounds who have left their homes behind, facing the challenges of learning a new language and assimilating into an unfamiliar culture. Their stories, filled with resilience, determination, and hope, deserve to be shared.

ESL classes are prevalent in many educational institutions, including elementary, middle, and high schools and community colleges. These classes allow immigrants to grapple with challenging concepts in a supportive environment, surrounded by others facing the same experience. This shared understanding can make a significant difference for students, ranging from young children to adult learners.

J. Sargeant Reynolds in Richmond offers a popular ESL program with various courses and class times to accommodate diverse schedules. This ensures that anyone interested in the program can attend. Attendance is consistently high across both morning and evening classes throughout the year. Classes at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College cost $170 per credit hour, and many students in the ESL program receive financial aid. Students also have many scholarship opportunities under the Reynolds Scholarship Program, funded by the college’s Educational Foundation. The Reynolds Scholarship Program provides financial assistance for tuition, books, and supplies to eligible students through approximately 150 scholarships each year. Among the scholarships available, the Dimitri and Maggie Georgiadis Endowed Scholarship explicitly supports students who have completed ESL classes or are majoring in liberal arts programs.

Nancy “Slim” Nance, my grandmother, has an unwavering passion for teaching ESL. She remains as dedicated as ever after a lifelong career in this field, feeling called to this occupation. She began teaching in the 1960s in Prince Edward County, Virginia while pursuing her master’s degree at Longwood University. For two years, she taught in the public school system of Prince Edward County, a county known for shutting down its public schools for five years to avoid integration. During that time, white residents established a private school, Prince Edward Academy, to ensure that white children continued their education, leaving Black children without any schooling.

When the public schools eventually reopened, most white students remained at the private academy, while Black students returned to a school system where they were now five years behind. Some 12-year-olds were entering first grade. By the time Nance began teaching in 1969, the schools had been open for a few years, but students still struggled to catch up. She taught reading at the elementary level through Title I, a federal program designed to support disadvantaged students. All of her students were Black, and she was the only white teacher in the school.

As part of Title I, she was required to conduct home visits for some of her students. One visit stood out in particular. She drove with three siblings from her class, following their directions along Route 15 in Farmville before turning onto a smaller road. Eventually, they had to park and walk, because the road was inaccessible by car. “We’ll need to stop here,” the children said. Confused, Nance asked, “Where is your house?” “It is down the road, they said, “but the car can’t go any farther. We have to walk the rest of the way.” So they walked. And walked. And walked. The farther they went, the more Nance realized the daily reality these children faced. Every morning, they made this same long trek just to reach the bus stop for school. “By the time they get to school, they’re exhausted,” she said.

Nance with a student in her ESL class.

When they finally reached their home, it was little more than a single room with a potbelly stove in the center. Seven children shared the space, sleeping on mats arranged around the stove for warmth. There was no electricity or running water, with just an outhouse behind the house. “That was my introduction to poor people,” she said. “As they say, how the other half lives.” This experience shaped her teaching perspective. It was not just about providing students with an education; she was now intent on deeply connecting with them and understanding their stories.

She taught at Northern Virginia Community College and also spent time teaching at Quantico, a Marine Corps base north of Richmond. There, she worked with soldiers and their families, providing ESL instruction to the immigrant wives of service members. While she enjoyed that work, most of her ESL students were Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees who had arrived in the U.S. after the Vietnam War. In 1981, she and her family relocated to Richmond. While she had secured a full-time position at Northern Virginia Community College before moving, there were no full-time openings once she arrived in Richmond. Instead, she began teaching part-time at J. Sargeant Reynolds and at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), which had a strong ESL program.

She also taught American-born students reading and writing, but ESL remained her passion. Over the years, she taught in many different settings, but nothing compared to the fulfillment she found in working with ESL students. Her first teaching experience with Black students in segregated Virginia had been rewarding but challenging, and she was new to teaching then. Now, with years of experience, the work was still difficult, but she was confident in her ability.

More than anything, the students themselves have made teaching ESL so special. They are deeply appreciative and hard-working, and each carries a story of resilience. “If they weren’t the ones telling their stories, you’d probably be in tears,” she said.

One day in last year’s spring semester reading class, she asked a student in her 20’s if she was feeling okay. The student responded, “Yes, but I’m really tired.” When prompted to explain, she shared her story. She was from Afghanistan, living in the U.S. with her mother, who had diabetes. Her older brother suffered from seizures, while her younger brother, a teenager, was constantly in trouble. She was responsible for all of them, all while attending school. As she put it, “they didn’t come here because they thought it would be fun.” Their journeys are, in many cases, shaped by necessity rather than choice.

Nance’s class.

Nance has been teaching now for almost five decades. When asked about her future plans, she responded: “As long as I feel like I’m making a difference, as long as I can come home at the end of the day or the semester and know that I’ve helped change lives, made things a little easier or better for my students, I’m going to keep doing it,” she said. “I love this work. And as long as my brain still works, and so far, it does most of the time, so I have no plans to stop.”

In March, I had the privilege of sitting in on two of Nance’s writing and reading classes at Reynolds. Those two classes she teaches in the spring are the second level out of three levels available to students, the equivalent of an intermediate-level course.

Nance stood at the front of the classroom, dressed in gray slacks and a long-sleeved pink button-down shirt, with long silver necklaces draping over the top few buttons. She nodded thoughtfully as each student responded to her last question. She had asked the class if they knew what a drive-in movie theater was. No student raised their hand with confidence, though a few took a guess. To provide clarity, she lowered the large projection screen, which stretched across the length and width of the whiteboard, covering the classroom’s front wall. The screen lit up with an image of a drive-in movie theater—the very subject of their reading—capturing the attention of the ten rows of tables, five on either side, each seating three attentive students.

I took great notice of Nance’s tendency to speak slowly and pause between sentences. These things might seem insignificant, but it means the world to her students, who have just come to the United States and for whom English is still a challenge. They feel comfortable and can understand and take in what she’s saying effectively, as ultimately the foundation they build in these classes will set them up for success in a new place for the rest of their lives.

The reading and writing classes have a student composition of approximately 70% women and 30% men, representing over 15 countries, with the majority coming from Middle Eastern and Spanish-speaking backgrounds. The reading curriculum focuses on engaging with short stories, knowledge of the English language, and writing various essays to develop diverse writing skills. Students practice argumentative, analytical, and cause-and-effect essays, allowing them to explore different forms of expression and critical thinking. In addition to reading novels aloud in class and independently for homework, students answer comprehension questions and analyze the texts in depth to enhance their understanding. Each fall class meets twice weekly for two hours in the mid-morning.

One of Nance’s ESL students, Amina Azizi, a soft spoken woman with dark hair and hazel eyes, opened up about her journey to the United States. Azizi, originally from India, spent 20 years in Uganda before moving to the United States just a year and a half ago. She speaks multiple languages, including Hindi and English, and is taking ESL classes to improve her language abilities. She finds grammar particularly important: “Speaking depends on that, so I am interested in learning it properly.” When asked what advice she would give someone in a similar position, she urged them to take ESL classes as soon as possible, to research legal requirements thoroughly, and to make sure a support system was in place before the move. Her enthusiasm in sharing her story, coupled with her genuine joy, reflected her deep gratitude for the opportunities she had found in the United States and through ESL classes at the community college.

Another of Nance’s students, Adrian Pucia, also shared his story. Pucia, a kind-eyed, bald, and genuine man spoke about his trouble with such harsh immersion but noted his love and dedication to the ESL program. Pucia, who moved to the United States a bit over a year ago from Romania, has faced challenges learning English while adjusting to life and work. Despite speaking some Italian in his previous engineering job, he found the transition to the US difficult, especially with workplace communication and job applications. “What I learned here in a bit more than one year, I didn’t learn in my country in 40 years,” he said, emphasizing the importance of language immersion. He advises newcomers to the US to take ESL classes to build vocabulary and improve job prospects.

Nance understands and empathizes with the struggles her students face: adapting to a new language, a new culture, and an entirely different way of life. Many arrive without jobs, housing, or health insurance. A trip to the emergency room for something as minor as a sore throat or a stubbed toe often means waiting for hours, but at the same time, when something serious happens, they lack the resources to seek proper care.

Nance and her current class.

One of her students has a son who has spent the semester in and out of the hospital due to undiagnosed seizures. He has undergone multiple MRIs, and despite the father’s absences in class, he continues to push forward in his studies. “A typical student would have failed by now,” Nance said. “Normally, I’d tell someone in his situation to drop the class and try again later. But I’m not doing that with him. I’m doing everything I can to help him pass because of what he’s up against.” For many of her students, financial aid is their only way to continue their education. If they fail a class, they risk losing that aid, adding another layer of pressure.

18-year-old Maryam Mohmand, fitted in a beautiful red headscarf and with a soft, high-pitched voice, is originally from Saudi Arabia. She moved to the United States nine months ago with her mother and younger brother to pursue her dream of becoming a pediatric surgeon. Despite the challenges of adjusting to a new culture, a different social environment, and missing her friends, she remains focused on her long-term goals. “People tell me it will take too long, and that I will spend years studying, while others are working and starting families, but this is my dream, I want to do it, and in ten years, you’ll see,” she said. While she misses her friends who are all studying together back home, she believes studying in the United States offers better opportunities and a stronger foundation for her career. She encourages others in similar situations to take ESL classes, prepare through placement tests, and stay committed to their goals, no matter how difficult the journey may be.

When I asked Nance to sum up this semester so far, she knew just what to say. For her, teaching has been an enriching journey that has allowed for personal growth and deepened her understanding of diverse cultures. She has learned that creating her own materials, such as sample essays and visual aids, proves to be more effective for her students. Nance shared: “connecting literature, like The Outsiders and Code Talker, to my own life has helped bring lessons to life, making them more relatable and meaningful.” Nance’s personal connection fosters a better learning environment where students feel engaged and motivated.

Teaching ESL requires patience, repetition, and a deep understanding of the nuances of different languages and cultures. From the complexities of grammar to the unparalleled difficulties each student faces, the journey is never easy, but it is always worthwhile. The most crucial lesson Nance has learned is that: “teaching is not just about importing knowledge, it’s about making a difference in the lives of my students.” Nance looks forward to going to work every day knowing that she is contributing to student growth and, in turn, growing herself.

All photos courtesy of Nancy Nance.