Have You Met Jefersson Soyos Suret?

Jeff

Jeff

Jason Floegel, Staff Writer

Stuck behind the thick barrier of language, Spanish-speaking Jefersson Soyos Suret has an interesting life that a very small number of students know about here at WHBHS. Jeff is just one of the students everyone walks past in the hallway and leaves be, only because of the difficulty he has communicating in English. I can assure anyone who reads about him in this article will change their opinion completely about not only Jeff, but any of those students we see every day just living their life on the other side of the barrier.

Only three months ago Jefersson moved to WHB from Guatemala. I had already known that he was making friends just by seeing him with people in the halls, but using Google Translate I asked about how he liked it here and how he was adapting. Jeff said, “I like it a lot and I’m adapting very well. I am very interested in playing soccer next year.” I then asked him if speaking a different language makes it harder to fit in, and Jeff responded, “A little bit, but I have Hispanic friends and that helps… The people here treat me very kind.”

Aside from how well Jefersson is fitting in already, after talking with him for a while, I also noticed that he is one of the most talented kids in the school. With a dream to be a great cartoon artist, he draws truly amazing drawings during his free time in just a small 100-page journal. From my perspective, that dream is likely to come true.

Jefersson’s move seemed to be very sudden, given that he moved here in the middle of the year. He told me the reason he moved here was to become closer to his family that he rarely was able to see in Guatemala and to improve his studies. After talking with him he seems very glad he is here now instead of there, and is having a lot more fun.

Jeff seems to be doing great, but what do his friends think about him? Justin Campos says, “I have known Jefersson for three months…he is a great friend and fun to be with…he is fitting in very well with us.”

With his family much closer, with friends that already are starting to really like him, with his new education, and with his amazing artistic skills, Jefersson seems to be breaking through that thick language barrier. It is up to the rest of the students at WHBHS to not only be more open to Jeff, but to anyone else in his situation.