When Maria Cabrera arrived in the United States during the Mariel boatlift, she was a 16-year-old bride with big dreams, but no education.
Today — after putting herself through English classes, earning her GED, and going to college and graduate school, all the while working full time and raising three children — Cabrera has her dream job: teaching children at Auburndale Elementary.
"Education is a beautiful thing," Cabrera tells her young students at the start of each school year. "It broadens your horizons in so many ways."
Cabrera's story is the American Dream, Miami-style.
The Havana native and her husband Giraldo came to Miami in 1980 with no family and little money.
As a girl, Cabrera had dreamed of becoming a school teacher. But in Miami, she was only able to find work as a dental technician.
Determined to make a better life for her family, Cabrera enrolled in nightly English classes at Miami Senior High. She was so persistent in her efforts to learn English that a neighbor offered to give her additional lessons.
"That was the first step," she later recalled.
In the years that followed, Cabrera gave birth to three daughters. She took time off from work to care for them.
When the youngest started school, Cabrera became a classroom volunteer at Miami's Kinloch Park Elementary.
That's when she had her aha moment: She would go back to school and become a teacher.
"I always knew I was born to be a teacher," Cabrera said. "It's my calling. I love the career so much."
NIGHT CLASSES
Working for her GED diploma wasn't easy. Cabrera took classes at night so she could continue volunteering at her daughters' school. Finding time for homework was a challenge, especially with three young children at home.
Cabrera also met some resistance from family members who thought she should assume a more traditional role in the home.
She persevered.
"I knew I had to do it," she said. "I had to give a better life to my daughters and myself."
The girls have vivid memories of watching their mother work for her diploma.
"She was always doing her homework on her desk," recalled Susset, the middle daughter. "We knew how much she cared about school."
Diane, the oldest at 26, said her mother was equally as devoted to family.
"She would walk us home from our school, make sure that we ate dinner, finished our homework and took showers, and then she would leave again to go to her school," Diane recalled.
Within a year, Cabrera was able to complete her GED. Immediately, she was offered a job as a teachers' aide at Kinloch Park Elementary.
Cabrera accepted. But she wasn't done yet.
For the next decade, Cabrera spent nights and weekends working on a bachelor's degree from Florida Memorial University and a master's from Florida International University.
Her daughters and her husband beamed with pride each time she walked across the stage.
TRAINS TEACHERS
Cabrera is now a fourth-grade teacher and an expert in developing reading curricula for young children. She trains teachers, too.
Already, her students at Auburndale Elementary in East Coral Gables are enthusiastic about learning. Just one week into the school year, they delight in using "sophisticated" vocabulary words such as "seek" and "spectacular."
Cabrera's daughters have also taken her lessons to heart.
Diane is a graduate of Georgetown University. She studied abroad at Oxford University, and is now working on a master's in social responsibility at the Universidad Anahuac in Mexico.
Susset, 24, holds a bachelor's in business administration and a master's in public relations from the University of Miami.
And Diaset, 23, just finished her undergraduate degree from UM this spring.
Each of the girls said they were inspired by their mother.
"She overcame so many obstacles and made so many sacrifices," said Diane. "It made me realize that as long as you have the guts, you can do whatever you want to do."
Maria Cabrera may not be finished yet.
On a recent evening, she and Susset joked about pursuing a doctorate degree at the same time.
Maria was only half kidding.
"I think I'm going to go for it," she said, smiling. "You never know with me."
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