Why I Volunteer to Teach English: Meet Kent

Kent Hercules has been around different cultures all his life and is multilingual. Kent got to be involved with the English Skills Learning Center (ESLC) through his daughter, who works there full-time. “[Immigrants] were our friends. They were at our house. We did things together. We ate together. And I think she grew up seeing lots of different cultures.” Kent describes her daughter as being both passionate and level-headed, which he finds important in this line of work. 

Having lived in Switzerland for seven years, Kent knows how difficult it can be to be immersed in a different world. “We were the foreigners. We were the ones getting those pitying looks like oh you poor dim-witted foreigner. We understand what that feels like, and how grateful we were to the people who were kind to us and helped us through.” 

One day at church in Utah, Kent began talking with an immigrant that only spoke Spanish. “I found out he was from a small town in Mexico. He was here living with 15 other guys in [an] apartment near us, sleeping on the floor, working two jobs, sending every penny he could back home.” Kent said that he was lonely and just wanted to talk to somebody. “It wasn't exactly the American dream. He was just trying to survive for his family.” Kent admires immigrants and sees how brave they have to be in order to live in another country and learn a new language.

A few years ago, Kent’s schedule freed up and he began getting involved with the ESLC by volunteering. “These people come because they want to be there. There's hope in their eyes when they walk in the door. They want to improve themselves and improve their situation. Some of them also just want friends to socialize to be around people who are going through the same thing they're going through.” 

He loves using his talent with music to guide his lessons and make them fun. “I like to play the guitar. I like to sing with them, and so every lesson I choose ... something that might be slow enough where they can learn the lyrics, or repetitive enough that they can learn them, and that's related in some way.”

If Kent's story resonates with you, consider applying to volunteer!