MANY people only know how to say, “Hola”, but Ryan Sweeney is the maestro of his craft as a Spanish teacher, and continues to improve his competencies. He recently graduated with a master of education in bilingual education/English as a second language with a 4.0 grade point average from the American College of Education. However, the successes he enjoys today are because of deliberate choices and sacrifices.

Sweeney grew up in the inner-city community of Bellrock, Cockburn Gardens on Olympic Way in Kingston 11 with his parents and six siblings — three brothers and three sisters. Given the negative connotation and realities of living in the ghetto, he decided from a tender age that he would not allow his surroundings to negatively influence his destiny.

“Honestly, for me, I did not like the term ghetto or the idea of what it really means. As such, I created a different reality that I wanted in my head, and I worked endlessly towards it. I never allowed my community to influence my appearance or determine my future. Of course, there are nights when I would hear gunshots. I have lost friends my age to the gun, and the fear of coming home late at nights because of the possibility of being robbed or held at gunpoint.”

Notwithstanding, the 29-year-old told the Jamaica Observer that there was a stage in his life when he felt a need to have a sense of social belonging.

“Just like most young men in the inner city, I wanted to fit in at one point. I wanted to smoke too. I went to parties as well. I just was not involved in gangs or violence. My family also ensured that I did not go down that path.”

After sitting the now-discontinued Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), Sweeney was placed at Excelsior High School, where not only his love for Spanish was ignited but his leadership abilities also emerged. Determined to make the best of his high school years, he occupied a number of leadership roles, including senior prefect and head boy.

Nevertheless, his tenure had its fair share of challenges and episodes of discomfort.

“…My mom would only buy me a pair of shoes for the start of the school year and it had to last until the end of the school year. I would see my classmates change theirs in the middle of the school year. I could only wish I were that lucky. At that time my shoes were not the strongest of shoes to last for an entire school year, but somehow I had to find a way to let that happen.

“I would also have to ensure that I take good care of my uniform because they were to be repeated for the upcoming school year. My classmate used to ask if my parents took my measurement in water. I had to laugh, too, in order to not think about the true reality,” he added.

Sweeney used these experiences as a motivation to move forward. He knew that education would be his only avenue to one day enjoy the luxuries that his family could not afford.

After aceing his seven Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate subjects he continued doing Spanish and other humanities courses in sixth form, then moved on to The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, where he read for a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Linguistics with a minor in Political Science. While there, he also served as an executive in the modern languages club. After his second year he participated in a cultural exchange programme for a year in Columbia, which allowed him to teach English to Spanish-speaking students, while capitalising on the experience to immerse himself in the Spanish language and culture.

His involvement in the United Nations Club at The UWI also afforded him the opportunity to represent the university at the Harvard National United Nations Conference in Boston, USA. He joined other youth leaders from across the world in discussing solutions to global issues.

After completing his first degree, Sweeney returned to his alma mater to teach Spanish. It did not come as a surprise as he knew he wanted to be a part of the teaching profession while he was a student there.

“I knew that I wanted to teach. In helping my classmates prepare for exams, I have done this through teaching, in which I try to reteach the topic by explaining in detail. By doing this, I felt like I was a teacher. I used to love marking test papers and even notebooks. However, I realised that Spanish was the subject that I wanted to teach — just the beauty of telling my classmates the Spanish equivalent of an English word or how to express a wish or desire using the subjunctive mood.”

He spent three years teaching at Excelsior High School across grade levels and working as a Spanish oral examiner for the Caribbean Examinations Council before migrating to the United States of America to continue teaching Spanish in a middle school in North Carolina. Additionally, he serves as a member of the School Improvement Team and provides mentorship for beginning teachers with one or two years of experience. His presence there has been meaningful.

“Being an international teacher in the states is quite impactful. I bring to my classroom a rich sense of diversity. Imagine having a teacher who teaches you Spanish but comes from Jamaica. Through this level of cultural diversity I teach my students cultural understanding and appreciation. During daily instruction I share cultural facts with my students from both Spanish-speaking countries and my homeland Jamaica. I am able to share with them different and effective ways in learning.”

Due to his expertise in the modern language domain, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction asked him to be a part of a review team to assess textbooks of English as a foreign language for middle schoolers. He was also given the opportunity to work with different stakeholders in the same state to evaluate other textbooks that students are expected to use in this upcoming school year.

Having graduated from his master’s programme with distinction, and often praised by his lecturers for his exceptional research skills and work ethic, the dynamic teacher, who also enjoys fashion, hopes to pursue doctoral studies in short order. He also has plans to use his expertise within Jamaica’s Ministry of Education to further develop foreign language learning. Furthermore, given the global teacher crisis, he is widening his reach by offering online tutoring classes.