The student news site of Westwood High School.

Westwood Horizon

The student news site of Westwood High School.

Westwood Horizon

The student news site of Westwood High School.

Westwood Horizon

Teachers After 4:10 — Sra. MilyBett Llanos-Gremillion

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Travelling the world is something almost everyone wants to do — but what if you lived on three different continents before you were 15? Sra. MilyBett Llanos-Gremillion has done just that. Due to her father’s career in the military, she and her family moved all around the world, from Puerto Rico to Germany, experiencing the diverse cultures each place has to offer.

Sra. Llanos-Gremillion’s father was in the Army, serving in the Communications unit- for twenty years.

“I know technology nowadays is a big thing, but back then when he first started it wasn’t, so it was pretty neat for him to work with switches and things of that nature,” Sra. Llanos-Gremillion said “He has a Civil Engineering Degree.”

After being born in Fort Hood, TX, Sra. Llanos-Gremillion and her mother moved home to Puerto Rico, where they remained until her father completed his training. He was then stationed in Fort Polk, LA.

“I started kindergarten in a place where, of course, I didn’t know anyone; but not only that, I didn’t know the language. So it was a nice curveball — to go to school and not have the tools to communicate with anyone,” Sra. Llanos-Gremillion said. “At home my parents and I spoke Spanish because we are from Puerto Rico. My mom didn’t know any English, and my father still walked around with his Vox dictionary. Even though he was in the military, he still had to use the dictionary to figure out how to say certain things.”

The language barrier challenged Sra. Llanos-Gremillion, but she learned to adapt to her surroundings.

“I think the only reason I passed kindergarten is because, back then, you didn’t have to learn how to read and write in kindergarten– at least not in Louisiana,” Sra. Llanos-Gremillion said. “If you knew how to cut and paste you were good to go!”

Though she couldn’t speak English, Sra. Llanos-Gremillion still learned a few things from her kindergarten teacher.

“I remember there was only one pair of scissors, and every time I’d go for that left hand she’d always put it in my right hand,” Sra. Llanos-Gremillion said. “That is what I learned from kindergarten: how to become a right handed person — which sometimes I wonder if that’s why my mind works in mysterious ways!”

Sra. Llanos-Gremillion was also surprised to see how U.S. culture differed from that of her native Puerto Rico.

“Going to school here in the US, most kids would have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and in Puerto Rico, the schools served rice and beans — really wholesome home cooking, not just pizza or mac n’ cheese, or ‘here’s a sandwich’ — so I was the kid that would take rice and meat, and everyone would just look and go, ‘What are you eating?’. So that was somewhat of a culture shock; I remember coming home one day and telling my mom, ‘Can you just prepare me a sandwich?’”

After living in Louisiana for a year, they moved to Fort Gordon in Augusta, GA.

“Augusta was the town nearby, and that is where I completed first grade. Then, right around the end of first grade we went back to Puerto Rico, and I started second grade at Fort Buchanan. Three weeks into second grade, my dad called and told my mom, ‘Okay, I’m ready for y’all to come to Germany’. So then we ended up in Darmstadt, Germany, and there I was able to have a solid foundation with elementary school, because we stayed for second, third, and fourth grade.”

In Germany, Sra. Llanos-Gremillion learned to speak basic German, enabling her to aid her mother when they went shopping.

“We would take the Straßenbahn (strassenbahn), which is the little train that would lead us downtown, and we’d go shopping,” Sra. Llanos-Gremillion said.  “I would be her translator from German to Spanish. Every once in awhile we would find someone who was also Spanish speaking and she was able to communicate with that person; someone from Spain or Mexico that had ended up there.”

Pictures of Sra. LL-G_1After three years in Germany, the Llanos family moved back to Killeen, where Sra. Llanos-Gremillion began school again.

“I started at a school in Killeen: I did fifth grade and then part of sixth, then my dad said ‘Okay, the army is ready for us to get back on base!’,” Sra. Llanos-Gremillion said. “So we ended up in Fort Hood, and there I completed sixth, seventh, and eighth grade, so that was good — I was able to have a solid middle school career, make friends, and finally get to know myself better.”

Then, after serving for twenty years, Sra. Llanos-Gremillion’s father retired. Sra. Llanos-Gremillion began classes at the local community college in Killeen, then relocated to Austin.  

“I went to Puerto Rico and missed the deadline for UT, and I thought, ‘Okay, I need to go to some school’, so I ended up at Southwest Texas (which nowadays is Texas State) and then I realized, ‘Okay, this is really neat’,” Sra. Llanos-Gremillion said. “I found out that Lyndon B. Johnson had attended Southwest, and that it is a teacher school, and I said, ‘Well, if this is a teacher school, and a president attended this school, why don’t I just stay here and commute?’. So I did! I graduated in ‘99, and went back to Killeen where I taught middle school for a year. I returned to in Austin in 2000, ready to start teaching here at Westwood, and I’ve been here ever since.”

Sra. Llanos-Gremillion’s desire to begin teaching actually began in Germany.

“In Germany is where that passion just grew. I felt the connection that I made with my teacher in third grade, Ms. Gould, who was probably the best teacher I ever had. Back in the early 80’s there wasn’t an English as a Second Language class, so she really helped and guided me,” Sra. Llanos Gremillion said. “And so when they figured out that, ‘Okay, she needs special help because of her English’, [my teacher] was the one that made that happen. So I feel she inspired me — I already had that inkling; I knew that I enjoyed people and being able to teach someone, so seeing how she interacted with us, and especially with me, I think that’s what really motivated me.”

Growing up in so many different places, Sra. Llanos-Gremillion was able to experience and embrace various cultures and ways of life.

“I look back and say, ‘Wow, that makes me who I am today’. I think many times, people forget that diversity is really needed; we’re all different,” Sra. Llanos-Gremillion “It’s not about tolerating, it’s about embracing each other’s cultures, languages, and perspectives on life.”

There were also distinct characteristics between countries that Sra. Llanos-Gremillion noticed during her unorthodox childhood.

“In Germany, when we lived there, I truly enjoyed being able to explore castles and how they embraced architecture — whereas here, what do we have? The Empire State Building? The Statue of Liberty?” Sra. Llanos-Gremillion said. “We don’t have structures that are as impressive and you go, ‘Wow!’, like castles — I saw all different perspectives, and was able to appreciate and embrace the differences.”

Sra. Llanos-Gremillion believes that whatever our situation in life, we should all explore everything the world has to offer us.
“We need to get out of our little bubble and go out and explore the world – I think the idea of exploring definitely needs to be on everyone’s bucket list,” Sra. Llanos-Gremillion. “My bucket list item, and one in which I hope to check off someday, is making sure I make it to every continent. I still have a couple left – like Antarctica. However, I do not like the cold, so I always say that will be my last one. I’ll hang out with the penguins, and if I freeze to the death, then at least I would have still fulfilled my dream.”

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