Scott Shepherd grew up jealous of his cousins, who spoke Spanish at home with their godmother — until the language was deliberately removed from the house out of fear it would hold them back in school. He spent years afterward chasing that language himself, sailing around the world and studying abroad to claim it as his own.
This week's guest grew up the opposite way. Sergio Corona-Munoz's first language was Spanish — and the world around him slowly taught him to feel ashamed of it. A bilingual education specialist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Sergio talks with Scott about the middle school moment that made him swear off speaking Spanish for over a decade, what it took to reclaim it as an adult, and the conversation with his own mother about coral reefs that changed everything.
In this episode:
— Growing up bilingual, and the institutional and social forces that push kids to abandon one language for another
— The middle school moment that made Sergio stop speaking Spanish outside his home for over a decade
— Leaving a political science major behind to follow a childhood love of animals back to environmental science
— Saying yes to leading Spanish-language science education at the Aquarium of the Pacific, despite the fear
— The conversation with his mother about coral biology that became a healing moment — "son como las piedras"
— What happens in a room when a bilingual student hears marine science explained in their first language, often for the first time
— Bringing ocean access to Central Coast farm labor communities through the Monterey Bay Aquarium's OLAS program
— Breaking cycles — what it means to occupy spaces you didn't believe were available to you as a kid, and keep the door open behind you
— Sergio's advice for finding your relationship with the natural world by starting with what you already love
ABOUT SERGIO CORONA-MUNOZ Bilingual Education Specialist, Monterey Bay Aquarium. M.A. in Agricultural Education, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Leads bilingual programming for early childhood, K-12, and summer camp audiences across California's Central Coast.
- https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/learning-programs/teen-programs
- Sergion on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergio-corona-mu%C3%B1oz-b86370192/
ABOUT YOUR HOST Scott Shepherd is the founder of Wildward Institute, based in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California. 🌿 wildwardinstitute.net
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