Ernesto Gonzalez

I was born in Havana, Cuba on July 1st, 1956. My parents and I applied for United State visas in 1962 but were denied exit by Fidel Castro's regime. The Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 allowed us to re-apply. We were finally sponsored by one of my mother's sisters who had arrived in America in 1948 and had become a U.S. citizen in 1952. We were finally allowed to emigrate on July 5th, 1968 arriving in Miami, Florida where we lived from 1968-1970. In August of 1970, my parents and I moved to Boston, Massachusetts. Eventually after teaching myself English, I graduated from Catholic Memorial High School on May 25, 1977. I briefly attended Northeastern University in 1982 but did not stay after the first semester. In September of 1990, I entered The University of MA/Boston (1990-1996) where I earned a Bachelors in English/American Studies/American History. In June of 1996, I graduated with High Honors and earned a full scholarship to Tufts University where I earned a M.A. in Education (1996-97) and a C.A.G.S. in Advanced Educational Research (1997-98). I lived in Massachusetts from 1970-2002. In 1997 I began teaching with certifications in both English and Social Studies (9-12). In 2002…