Mary Toro-Bonilla left her eight-year teaching career in Puerto Rico to give her son a better life. 

In Puerto Rico, her son was diagnosed with narcolepsy. Toro-Bonilla said he continued to randomly fall asleep even with treatment, so she decided to seek out better medical care and move to Georgia.

She worked in a warehouse for around a month to support her son and other two children. However, Toro-Bonilla couldn’t avoid her true passion. 

“I prayed every day,” Toro-Bonilla said. “Then the next month I did an interview at a private school in Snellville, and the same day they called me back and said, ‘You have the job.’”

Toro-Bonilla worked as a pre-K teacher for nearly two years in Snellville then was hired at World Language Academy. 

Before coming to the U.S. six years ago, Toro-Bonilla said she didn’t know any English. Through spending time with her students, she slowly picked up the language. 

“I was frustrated in the beginning because no one understood me,” Toro-Bonilla said. “I learned with the children, and I still keep working on the language because I want to express who I am.”

She is now in her fourth year at World Language Academy. Most of her days consist of teaching her class in Spanish and sharing the culture of her home, Puerto Rico.

At what moment did you realize you wanted to be a teacher?

For me, I always liked psychology. I became pregnant when I was 15 and everything changed in my life. For psychology, it’s not only four years in the university, you need more degrees. So, I decided to study to become a teacher. As a teacher I can use psychology, nursing and my experience as a mother. I love it. I love coming to work in the morning and seeing their little smiles. 

Why teach pre-K?

I love preschool because that’s my base. It’s amazing when the children put together the words. I’m so happy when they understand the Spanish, that’s magic. When they start singing in Spanish, it’s wonderful. I like to share my food from my country. I love the little ones, but I want to later explore teaching high school as a Spanish teacher. 

What are some of the biggest challenges you face as a teacher?

We are dealing with humans, and sometimes teachers can forget that. You need to have empathy when dealing with families and their situations. Sometimes for me it’s super hard when a kid is going through abuse. For me, I need to realize that they’re a child. Nobody is teaching you in the university how to deal with those bad situations. You see the family problems like divorce, and you see those bad situations reflected in the kids. My job is to give a happy ending for those little kids because to them, you are like their mother. God brought me the energy to handle those situations, but sometimes they are hard. 

What do you enjoy most about working at your school?

I like the culture and tradition here. Here you can be you. I’m so happy when I can share with everyone my culture, like the food. When I meet with the parents, I prepare my food from my culture and bring it to them. It’s a little school, but it has a big heart. No matter if you are a teacher, parent or part of the community, everyone worries about you here. We look like a family here, and that’s why I love World Language Academy. 

What have you learned about yourself through your time as a teacher?

I learned how much control I have over a classroom. When I say, “Clase, clase!” everyone becomes quiet. I say, “Oh my God, that’s so amazing.” I learned that I have the power to make their experience great. The teacher is everything for the student. The parents sometimes tell me, “I don’t know how you do that because for me, I only have one child and I can’t do the same.”

What advice would you give to new teachers?

You need to prepare for it, if it’s your passion. You need to be passionate about it and not care about the money. Even right now, my pay is not enough. I work as a waitress on Saturday and Sunday. At the end of the day, my happy ending is knowing that I’m teaching kids every day. It’s so great to see them smile and laugh with me when I say little jokes. You need to prepare to help not only the kids, but their families. 

Which moments make all of your efforts as a teacher worth it?

For me, I’m so proud to teach everything I know from my culture. I thank God for giving me this different opportunity. It’s funny because I have one child that’s Chinese, and they don’t smile when we take pictures. In the end, I’m teaching them to smile, and for me it’s amazing. 

Teaching is my passion, and nobody will take that away from me. When I come to the class, they say, “Oh, Ms. Mary” and give me a hug and tell me they love me. That is warm for me and touches my heart.