Book One — Determination Like No Other

Villasenor, V. (2004). Burro Genius. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers. (pp 3-46)

After reading the first book (There are three books, not sure why the memoir is divided into books just yet, but we will find out.) of Burro Genius by Victor Villasenor, I am hooked! I love how humble and vulnerable Villasenor is in his writing. He starts off the book by informing the reader that it took him 260 rejections and 13 years to published his first book. Not something to brag about, but it does show a tenacity and determination that is uncommon in today’s world. Villasenor shares is feelings and emotions as if he were talking to a parent or his best friend. To be honest, I don’t know a man willing to share his feelings a tenth as much as Villasenor has so far in this book. But, I guess that is why he is a writer.

Martinez, A. (April 27, 2016) El Paisano 

So, shortly after Vellasenor’s first book was published, he was invited to the California Association of Teachers of English convention. Admittedly, he was only invited because he lived nearby and a scheduled panelist failed to show, but through a series of ironic circumstances Villasenor ends up being the keynote speaker at the conference. During his speech, Villasenor tells a room full of English teachers how horrible his English educational experience had been. How his teachers would yell hateful things at him and how some were even physically abusive to him. Vellasenor went as far as to say he had an English teacher he prayed to God “DIES A PAINFUL DEATH THAT LASTS AT LEAST ONE WEEK!” (p 14) You can image how well that went over in a room full of English teachers. Vellasenor yelled, cried, and even ended up berating a few of the teachers that tried to leave, but by the end of his speech most of the room was crying with him and he received a standing ovation.

 

Later, Vellasenor was asked if he would talk more about even one good teacher he had growing up. Today’s teachers realize the system isn’t perfect, but they need to know what constructive influences he had and where he acquired his determination and perseverance. Vellasenor spends the night thinking and then dreaming about a teacher that had a positive effect on him. Sadly, it was a substitute teacher he only had for three days, but in those three days, that substitute made a huge impact on Vellasenor’s life.

Now, for just a minute, I have to veer off track to mention some specific things this substitute did, simply so I can remember to do them when I teach.

1)    Glance around the classroom and give each student a personal acknowledgment. I want each and every one of my students to know that I see 

them and they are important to me. That each one has something to bring to the class.

2)    Grade in a pencil to show respect for the work the student does. This is 

especially important when it comes to art, because art can be very personal. 

It can be an extension of one’s self.

3)    Get students so excited about their studies that “the love of learning will 

be with [them] for the rest of [their] lives.” (p 26) If I can find the one thing 

that excites my students, I can use that to get them excited about art.   

Okay, back to the actual subject of this post. That substitute teacher was able to build

up Vellasenor’s confidence so much, that even when Captain Moses, his English teacher at the Army Navy Academy in Carlsbad, belittled and humiliated him in front of the entire class, and his fellow students hit and kicked him so much he couldn’t breathe, it only served to strengthen him. Vellasenor would never again be trapped by fear, the idea of failure or other’s beliefs that he couldn’t do something. He was free to be who he was (cowboy hat, loud western shirt, belt buckle and all). He was determined and proud to be his very best.