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Growing up in Arvada, Colorado, Esperanza Zarate attended Foster Elementary, a bilingual school where she first began to understand the transformative power of language and identity.����

“Being able to receive dual-language instruction helped me stay connected to my roots and my language,” she said.

Now a practicum student at University Hill Elementary, a bilingual school in Boulder, Zarate is preparing for her final year of student teaching. She’s committed to creating classrooms where emergent bilingual students feel seen, celebrated and supported.

But her journey to the CU Boulder School of Education wasn’t always clear. When she first started at CU Boulder, she was a psychology major.

“After my first semester, I realized I wasn’t in the right spot,” she said. “I knew I didn’t want to be sitting behind a desk all day. I’ve always loved working with kids, I volunteered at Eiber Elementary in high school and have been coaching youth soccer for years. It brings me so much joy.”

That joy led her to change major to Elementary Education and quickly discover her purpose.

“I’ve loved getting to work with students and watch them grow every day,” Zarate said. "I’m so excited to have my own classroom someday.”

Zarate is especially passionate about supporting immigrant families, emergent bilinguals, newcomers and underserved communities.

“I’m very justice-oriented,” she said. “Too often, kids from underserved communities are overlooked just because they aren’t part of the 'majority.'

“I don’t want to lead them. Yo quiero acompañarlos para ser exitosos. I want to walk alongside my community, so we can succeed together.”

That vision inspired her to launch CU Boulder’s new chapter of Bilingual Education Student Organization (BESO), a national organization with chapters across the country. While CU Denver had an active chapter, Zarate noticed that CU Boulder didn’t, and she decided to change that.

“In the School of Education, we talk a lot about supporting culturally and linguistically diverse students,” she said. “But I didn’t feel like there was a space outside of class where we could really connect, reflect, and support each other. I wanted to create that.”

Now, BESO is a growing community of future educators committed to bilingual education. In April, the group participated in el Día del Niño (Day of the Child), a festival hosted by the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art.

“We [helped] kids make their own alebrijes and [share] where the tradition comes from,” Zarate said. "It’s a fun, hands-on way to celebrate culture and connect with the community.”

Outside of school, Zarate continues to nurture her love for soccer, a sport she’s played all her life. She coaches youth camps in the summer through Balón USA, a nonprofit that provides sports programming to underserved communities, and plays intramural soccer at CU.

Whether she’s leading a BESO meeting, coaching on the soccer field or building relationships with students in a bilingual classroom, Zarate brings heart, purpose and an unwavering commitment to justice in everything she does.��

As she prepares for her final year at CU Boulder and looks ahead to becoming a teacher, she remains rooted in her community and inspired by the belief that every child deserves to be seen, heard and celebrated.����