Trinity’s World Languages Department boasts four native speakers of Spanish — the Rocks’ los maestros de Español (teachers of Spanish).

When it comes to becoming successful under sometimes difficult circumstances, the four teachers can tell you all about it.

Mr. Walter Mata, Mr. Carlos Cuenca, Mrs. Maria Rocha and Mr. Jorge Serrano not only guide students in learning Spanish; they also give real insight into what the Spanish culture truly is.  The teachers never fail to incorporate how the language affects many cultures and nations.

Mata is from El Salvador, Cuenca from Ecuador, Rocha from Puerto Rico and Serrano from Colombia. They shared their diverse backgrounds.

From San Miguel, El Salvador, Mata truly has overcome many obstacles to be where he is now. One of those obstacles was the civil war going in his country. This civil war was devastating to his nation, leaving around 75,000 dead. When asked what it was like growing up, Mata said, “Education was a privilege.”

Already having a degree in math and physics, Mata moved to the United States seeking more education. When asked what he liked most about the U.S., he said, “It is so peaceful, no war. Everybody here is so accepting.”

After moving to the U.S., Mata worked at various places until he started teaching math at Trinity. He then added teaching Spanish. “(Trinity) is a very special school where the community is so involved in the education.”

A little more than 1,300 miles from Mata’s hometown, Cuenca grew up in Loja, Ecuador. Although there were no civil wars going on in Ecuador, Cuenca persevered tremendously to get where he is now. When asked what the differences were between his hometown and the U.S., he said, “Kids (in Ecuador) know what the consequences of their actions are going to be.” He said respect is paramount in Ecuador’s society.

Cuenca said he was fortunate to go to a conservatory as a child. He said, “The conservatory was where kids could go during school and learn to play an instrument for free.” This provided Cuenca the opportunity to go to the U.S. and play piano professionally.

Although piano was his reason for moving, Cuenca said, “Because I am a native speaker, I feel like I should share my knowledge with students.” This led Cuenca to finding a position at Trinity just a year ago. Cuenca said “seeing a student just be happy with the language” is his favorite part of teaching at Trinity.

Raised in the southwest part of Puerto Rico called, San German, Rocha found her way to Trinity. Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the U.S.  Of growing up in San German, Rocha said, “The school system for the most part was the same as it is here.” The biggest difference, she said, was that the textbooks in Puerto Rico were in English, but the teacher taught in Spanish.

Rocha moved to the U.S. for the same reason as Mata, better education. Rocha attended the University of Louisville for graduate school and studied Spanish literature.

Rocha said a major difference between Puerto Rico and Louisville is “the weather,” but “being in a different country was great.” After teaching for 12 years at Sacred Heart Academy, Rocha came to Trinity because her two boys loved the school. She said, “I can’t think of anything I don’t like here. I love to teach Spanish and pass that down to the students.”

The last of the four Spanish teachers has a compelling story of life in his native country, Colombia. Serrano grew up in Cúcuta, Colombia, close to the Venezuelan border. Talking about the differences between Cucuta and Louisville, Serrano said, “The culture, food, people, relationships and weather were very different.”

Serrano got his degree in architecture and taught in Venezuela in 1998. After teaching, Serrano had to flee Colombia because of terrorist groups. He said, “The terrorist groups tried to kidnap my family, so we moved to America to protect the family.”

Of the biggest difficulty in moving, he said, “Leaving everything — family and friends — and starting a new life was very hard.”

After moving to the U.S., Serrano got his teaching certification from Northern Kentucky University. He said, “The American people opened their arms to us and helped us get accustomed.” Serrano then saw a position at Trinity advertised in The Record.

The next time you see one of these teachers, in addition to saying hola, say gracias.