“To me, it’s not a job, because I enjoy coming here and teaching and being in the classroom,” says Mrs. Serrano, Berkeley’s new Upper Division Spanish language teacher. Serrano grew up in Puerto Rico and moved to the USA in 1998 in order to find more job opportunities in education. She moved from Houston, Texas to come work at Berkeley and be closer to her family. 

When asked about why she wanted to pursue a career as a world language teacher, Serrano stated that she used to work as a tour guide in the governor’s house in Puerto Rico. “I realized that I really enjoyed every time that I gave tours to students from different schools.” In order to find a job in a less politically charged environment, Serrano decided to go back to university and do her master’s in education. 

What Serrano loves the most about her job is the interactions with her students. “Teaching high school students, it keeps me young,” Serrano states that she tries to help her students become the best version of themselves through learning the Spanish language, but she also grows personally through teaching. “They give you this energy that makes you want to be better.”

In her free time, Serrano loves to go to the beach. “I love Tampa, because I can go to la playa all the time, and that’s one of my happy places.” She also enjoys baking and traveling. So far, she has traveled around multiple countries in South America and Europe. 

Serrano shares that a fun fact about herself is that she won a break dancing competition in a TV show when she was 15 in Puerto Rico. Additionally, Serrano and her husband got married outside of a Starbucks during the pandemic due to social distancing. Surprisingly, she does not really frequent Starbucks as she makes her own Puerto Rican coffee at home.