Immigrant Story: Bernardino Najera

Bernardino Najera with his certificate of Citizenship.

Aside from learning in class, Bernardino likes to have social events with all the other students at BIIN since it’s a place where people can be comfortable expressing themselves. It is a place where people make friends and build community. In his English class, level 4, they have gotten together as a group to have a tamale event in which students from Spain, Thailand, China, and many other countries unite to showcase a singular culture for the evening. This is also the case in citizenship class in which at the end of each term we have a potluck and everyone brings whatever they would like to share with the class. BIIN today has become the melting pot of the Bryan College Station area, and students such as Bernardino have found friends and community at BIIN.

Bernardino also practices his English skills in his citizenship class, where Jeremy Brett, our citizenship classes volunteer, goes through lectures and practice questions. Throughout the ten-week course, he has been able to learn all one hundred questions and is confident that he is ready to have his interview. Viviana and Christian, our Americorps member and intern, have helped prepare him for his exam by breaking into small groups that go in depth about questions that will be on the citizenship exam. He has continuously been an outstanding student, he is not just always eager to learn but always willing to help a fellow classmate. He has shown up prepared and ready to learn every Saturday, his dedication and eagerness to learn radiates through his personality and quality of work.

Bernardino is an avid learner. He loves studying literature, history, and politics. When he isn’t at BIIN’s English or citizenship classes, you can find him at museums such as The Museum of the American GI in Brazos County or reading the news. His favorite part about Bryan/College Station and BIIN is the cultural diversity, and he hopes to volunteer for the citizenship classes at BIIN sometime in the future as well as someday return to school and continue his education at Texas A&M University. 

Thank you to our Spring 2023 interns, Christian and Chanwoo for interviewing and writing this story; and to Freddy and Viviana for editing.