Nuevitas, 2025.- At the age of 60, Carmen de la Caridad Rivero Pérez recalls with nostalgia and pride her career of more than three decades in the world of teaching.
Although her initial dream was to be a nurse, her path seemed to be set by the literacy educators and teachers who surrounded her since childhood. It was after sixth grade that she fell in love with the green uniform of the Teacher Training School.
“I grew up watching my whole family teaching; my mom taught at home, she had a classroom in the living room with tables, chairs and a blackboard. She instilled in me a love for the profession.
I was part of the last sixth grade year to enter directly into the Teacher Training School, as it was established in the following school year that only students after the 9th grade could enter”.
As an educator she worked in several schools until she settled permanently in “Victoria de Girón”.
“I worked in many places. I spent some time at La Gloria neighborhood, I worked a school year at Tarafa and spent a few months at Amalia Simoni; but it is in Victoria de Girón where I found a second home, I stayed there at the age of 37 until my retirement”.
The affection and recognition of her former students is her greatest reward, after spending so many years of her life to this profession. When she meets them, she relives special moments and feels proud to have contributed to their education. For Carmen, every greeting from a former pupil means that she has left a positive mark on that person's life.
“I know many of my former students who are now engineers, doctors and even teachers; and when we cross paths on the street they immediately ask me ‘Teacher, how are you?’; sometimes I don't recognize them, but they mention their names and I immediately remember the child, who is now an adult, then I think ‘I did a good job’.
According to Carmen, among the many children she taught, there is one in particular that she will never forget.
“I had a student who I couldn't leave alone; as soon as I walked away she would start crying. At that time my son was sick so I would go to my house during the noon break to give his lunch. I had to take her with me and then we would go back together, it was quite an odyssey. She is now a doctor and lives in Havana”.
Although she faced several challenges, including her deteriorating health that led to her retirement, the greatest of all was to keep up her work as a delegate of the People's Power and a teacher, she says.
“I didn't even think about leaving the classroom; the country was in a stage of improvement that mostly affected primary education, so I found myself in the need to manage multiple roles at the same time, I tried to fulfill everything: with my family, my students and my work. Thanks to the help I received from those close to me, I was able to handle all these responsibilities”.
Being a good teacher goes beyond a simply transfer of knowledge; it involves a deep passion and an innate ability to connect with students.
“It's something that comes from the person, you have to fall in love with the profession. Of course, there will always be times when your patience will be tested, either with the children or with their parents, but if you are able to bear and love what you do, you will be a good educator”.
When asked if she had any advice for future generations of educators, her clear and moving answer showed the affection she feels for the most important job of all.
“Fall in love with children's smiles, with those days when they learn to read, to write, to calculate; cherish those moments when a little one kisses you on the cheek, hugs you or gives you a flower. Because those are priceless things. Love your profession because it is the most beautiful of all”.
