Teaching is more than a profession; it is a calling. From this perspective, Miladis Pérez Ardebol recounts part of the indelible bond that the noble craft of education has woven into her life.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- She belongs to that lineage of teachers who cannot imagine life without children around them. She was born in the province of Camagüey, in the municipality of Nuevitas, and has recently moved to Las Tunas. Before arriving here, she worked for three school years in Manatí, teaching at a semi-boarding school. She holds a degree in early childhood education and has been teaching for more than 35 years, about 20 of them as a preschool teacher.

At Tony Alomá Elementary School, where she has been working for two school years, she works with young children. “With the new curriculum, preschoolers are now expected to recognize natural numbers up to ten and mathematical symbols. They didn’t have to do that before,” she explains.

“I feel good here,” she says. The reason is simple: “Because it’s what I truly love; I chose this career because I was born for this. If I were born again, I’d do the same thing.”

That calling has family roots. “I grew up in that world; my entire family on my mother’s side were teachers,” she says. Her father, though not directly in teaching, also worked at a school; she says teaching was always part of her home life.

Regarding the current school year, Miladis acknowledges the country’s economic difficulties, the lack of resources, and the electricity problems. But she also highlights the positives. “We have good attendance; the parents have been very supportive, and they feel comfortable with us,” she says.

For those just starting in this profession, she offers this advice: “You have to be very dedicated and willing to make sacrifices, because since there’s practically nothing available right now, we have to find a way to educate these children no matter what,” she says.

She has the help of a teaching assistant who is also a teacher. “If I have to be absent for any reason, she knows how to keep things running,” she explains. That mutual trust is part of what keeps her classroom running smoothly.

When you want to get to know someone, you don’t ask what they do, but what they love —and this teacher is the mirror that reflects that satisfaction, because that is the calling that drives a teacher.