Success paths of young immigrants in higher education and the professional world.
Hello, my name is Imane. I am a kindergarten teacher.
I've been here in Catalonia 22 years.
My parents came the year 76.
Returned to Morocco, they stayed there again and then
came here again. I was 4 years old then.
And I started schooling here at P4 [4 year olds kindergarten].
Born in Morocco. Kindergarten teacher in Granollers.
At first, I remember not understanding the language
but I quickly got up to speed with it
and I did more or less fine.
In primary education I highlight as a positive aspect
that I really ended up fitting in, even though I felt some
small differences that my peers or a teacher made me feel.
Then, at the ESO stage [high school equivalent]
maybe it's my least favorite stage and the one I would erase from my life.
Basically because... there are positive aspects and teachers who support you,
telling you that you can, who believe in you.
But there were also schoolmates that bullied you,
that told you that you were different, to go back to your country
and this kind of comments, which have always been present.
What I would do is go there, believe more in myself.
Help my schoolmates. To the bullies say "hey,
I'm sorry but I am like you, I am a person and I have the same rights as you."
And though we are different, understand this diversity as a positive aspect
and not negative, as I had internalized.
When I was 16 I started to get odd jobs.
As a clerk, as a nanny... I was a secretary in a gym...
And basically it was because... You say, I want a bit of autonomy.
Not relying on others. So your parents don't always have to pay for everything.
And that made me grow up and trust myself a bit more.
All this capacity of effort, this desire
I have always been grateful to my family, especially my mother.
My mother is a mediator. She works for the town halls around Osona.
And the truth is that she has always been on the side. She has been like a role model.
Always learning, taking courses.
Catalan for her is one more language we use also at home.
And she is like a role model or a guiding light.
Then, in the high school stage was when I started to really enjoy it.
I chose the Humanistic path
and there I did have schoolmates who wanted to study.
I really wanted to study. Also I didn't take mathematics,
that were something that scared me.
And my schoolmates just wanted to keep studying as much as me.
I enjoyed it a lot. I got better marks
and then I decided "well yes, why not"
pursue a career, something that I liked. So early childhood education.
And so that's how I started my childhood education career.
That, however, once finished, I always do workshops,
because as teachers we have to keep always learning.
And this restlessness of "I want to learn."
Really, you just get the degree and you say "I know nothing".
So then, do an MA, I've done an inclusive education master
Well, today an English course... And keep
growing as a person, both at work and and at your daily life too.
I've always seen that everything I've been doing... a clerk,
secretary, whatever, you end up learning, meeting people, ways of life...
And so I think I've learned to adapt to any of the jobs I've been doing.
That's until I started my job as a teacher.
Then I said "this is really my job".
When I finished the University I didn't have a clear idea.
Yes, I like children, I like, I like this
but until you don't experience the everyday, the practice.
Until you see, until you take your place, you do not see it.
And that's when I said "geese! I am
doing a job I like and I'm also getting paid."
This is great!
I started when I was about 16
thanks to my brother who competed professionally.
Because of this I always... When I started it was like
Trying to practice a sport, because it was good for the body.
But after a while I saw it was a little time for me, to evade from my problems,
to focus on myself, to disconnect.
And then I started to enjoy it.
When you saw that there was a lot of work,
the discipline behind the sport,
the respect for opponents, the respect for you mates.
This made me feel I was doing the right thing.
And to this day I still practice this sport.
Have you gone back to Morocco?
The third year of college I did my field work in Morocco.
I decided to make it in Morocco.
Because I never studied there.
Everyone asks you how Morocco is and I only had an idea
thanks to the summers. Every summer you go there
you meet and see the family, always the same people.
But you are really on vacation.
And living there is something else.
We were there two months
and I really could see the proximity, that I could see already
I could see it even more present.
The hospitality of the people
learning about different ways of working.
How do they work in a school, which is totally different from here.
The school discipline.
Different NGOs that wanted to empower women.
I think this all enriched me greatly
and it ended up giving me a little support that I was lacking.
Or the information I was lacking because I really came here when I was 4.
And about Morocco, I could tell things...
Well, I've been here on vacation. I've been visiting this...
But I was missing how they lived.
What they did, where were they headed on the afternoon,
well, to the youth center. What were they doing at the youth center?
And more this everyday life aspect.
I've always wanted... or I have been doing things.
Working, studying...
Because I think that nobody gives you anything.
You have to fend for yourself, you have to assert yourself.
And you have to move.
My recommendation for all these young people
who at some point have felt bad,
or just do not know where to turn to,
Just say that everyone has skills and abilities to develop.
We all have some skills. We are better at some things and worse at others.
We just have to look for our way.
And from the premise that we are unique.
That does not mean we have to be all the same.
Understand diversity as a positive aspect.
Everybody can do something that maybe you can't
but I'm sure you'll find something that is part of you.
Not a full stop.