Sonia Márquez on Leading with Intention
“Great things don’t happen on accident,” Sonia Márquez tells me. “When you aspire to greatness and you have a standard of excellence for yourself and for your team, you have to go out and create that.”
Over the course of our conversation, I would come to see how true her words are.
It’s nine o’clock on a Tuesday morning and she’s addressing me via Google Meet from her school’s principal's office—not because she’s in trouble, but because she’s the principal herself. What’s more, her office is objectively one of the cutest spaces ever. Lining her bookshelf behind her are colorful alpaca figurines and plants, as well as various little paintings and pictures. When I compliment her on the decorations, she happily shows me the full scope of the room: posters of Frida Kahlo and Dia de los Muertos skeletons, plus wall paintings reading “hola” and depicting Mexico, a colorful reminder of her home. It creates a cozy, welcoming environment; all in all, this is a principal’s office I definitely wouldn’t mind being sent to.
Sonia has worked in education for an astounding 23 years, with her role as principal only being the tip of the iceberg of her career. A native of eastern North Carolina, she is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and the first member of her family to go to college, an honor she does not take lightly. Looking at her, it’s impossible to take her lightly as well. She exudes confidence in her tone and posture, and everything about her—from her ruby red nails to her golden and turquoise earrings to her fashionable ivory jacket—is indicative of a woman with a strong, distinct sense of self, style, and individuality.
As you will see as you read her story, it wasn’t easy for her to cultivate this aura for herself. Still, the journey to get there has been transformative and rewarding for her, as well as proof of the power of driven educators of color.
Chapter I: Rising Above
Sonia has loved all things school for as long as she can remember. As the oldest child in a large family, she would spend much of her time in her youth playing school, teaching her “students”—who ranged from her younger siblings to stuffed animals and dolls—and making up homework for her to do. She followed this love for school as a career path that she worked her way up. She started out in migrant education before entering the public school system, where she worked in Johnston County before becoming a teacher assistant, then a teacher, then a reading specialist, then an assistant principal, and finally a principal.
“I feel like I’ve done everything except drive the bus!” she quips. “I’m just so in love with every component involved with educating children: academics, social emotional, physical wellness, mental health…everything that makes a child well-prepared for whatever step is next in life.
Despite Sonia’s love for school, existing in educational spaces hasn’t always been easy for her, especially during her youth. She didn’t have her first educator of color—who was African American—until the tenth grade, and she has never had a Latina teacher, which is part of what spurred her own teaching journey as a Mexican woman. On top of that, her hometown was far from the most welcoming place for non-white individuals.
“Race relations were very covert, I should say, as far as how people felt about people of color. Racism was just something you had to deal with, and not something anyone really addressed,” she reminisces. “That showed in the classroom with how students of color were treated, especially intelligent ones. I still carry a lot of baggage from that. I felt like my entire life, people spent a significant amount of time putting me in my place. They wanted to believe despite being an intelligent Mexican female they thought there was only one place for me. And what they had in mind was not it. I spent a lot of time feeling uncomfortable, not just with where I was, but who I was. And so in high school, being one of three students of color in AP classes, for years that was very challenging and lonely.”
As she speaks, I can’t help but think how crazy it is that our stories are so similar despite us being generations apart. The classroom is supposed to be a safe, welcoming space, but it’s unfortunately a common experience for students of color to feel out of place in them. This is especially true for higher-achieving students, who often find themselves ridiculed, ostracized, and put into boxes by their peers and educators alike. As someone who was also one of the few minority students in my high school’s Advanced Placement classes, it’s a feeling I know all too well.
When I tell Sonia this, she gives me a sad smile, a knowing look in her eye. “There’s something psychological about being in predominantly white spaces that make you feel like you don’t belong there,” she empathizes. “It goes back to covert race relations—issues aren’t addressed and verbalized, but you know it’s there. You’re subconsciously told these are spaces for white affluents, and when you’re not white or affluent, you start to tell yourself that you don’t belong there.”
For Sonia, this didn’t stop when she graduated. Even after she finished her schooling and entered the professional world, she still found herself faced with microaggressions and labels slapped onto her.
“... Being bilingual, they wanted me to stay in this ‘no, you are the interpreter, you are not the teacher’, even though I was in fact a teacher. They would tell me to cancel classes, ‘you shouldn’t be teaching right now, we need you to make these phone calls to parents or interpret this for me’.” she says.
I can tell how emotionally frustrating all of this was for her, but despite this, Sonia talks about it with grace and ease. What’s more, she makes it clear that she didn’t let her negative experiences stop her from pursuing what she loved; rather, she let it fuel her.
“Once I found my voice and my advocacy and refined my story and my journey, I think that became a bigger part of me pushing forward toward school leadership,” she explains. “And that’s really framed the kind of leader I am in making sure that there's always someone advocating for students and teachers.”
Chapter II: Leading With Purpose
Spurred by her experience as a student of color, Sonia went on to pursue two masters degrees, one in reading education and one in school administration. Her nights and weekends were spent taking classes at Barton College, and by day she was a teacher assistant and a full-time mother of young children. By no means was it an easy time, but she persevered.
“Everything that I did along the way has been with a purpose,” she reminisces. “Even though it has been hard, I have always seen the value in ‘I need to do this, it’s going to be hard for a season, but it’s going to be worth it’. And that has really kept me persevering and reminding me that even though it’s hard, what I’m going to get out of the end of this journey is going to be the payoff.”
For her, the payoff was significant. She earned her two degrees and went on to have a productive and fruitful career in education and school leadership, where she has worked to create affirming spaces and foster success in the educational environments she inhabits. Because of her own lack of representation in school growing up, as a hiring manager, she has been intentional with who is on her teaching staff, ensuring that they mirror the diverse student populations at all the schools she has worked at.
“One thing I like to say is that you can’t be what you can’t see,” she asserts. “I want to make sure there’s significant cultural representation because every child deserves to have someone in their academic circle that can relate to them. If students are coming to school talking about going to a quinceañera over the weekend, for example, then there needs to be an adult that can invest in them and who can relate and affirm their identity and pastime.”
Her efforts extend farther than just her teaching staff. Her office, with its colorful (and charming) cultural decorations, is another reminder to the students of color who walk through her doors—especially Latinx ones—that their heritage and culture are to be celebrated.
“I want this to be a comfortable space for kids to come and know that when you’re in the principal’s office, it’s not necessarily like you’re in trouble,” she tells me, waving her Frida Kahlo badge holder with a grin. “This is a safe place to be, too.”
It’s clear that everything Sonia does is with intention, to positive effect. She tells me with a smile that she’s seen more students becoming confident in their languages, cultures, and countries of origin, and some have even started wearing traditional clothing to school. I’ve seen it myself at the high school I previously led in, where the classrooms in which I was one of the only Black girls now host classes and events celebrating Black culture and community. When I tell Sonia this, her smile grows wider. Once again, despite our generational differences, our experiences feel connected.
Chapter III: Remember Your Why
When I ask Sonia if she has received any advice that has helped her in her career, she recalls an important lesson that has helped her both personally and professionally.
“My parents have always told me to remember what’s really important. Remember your ‘why’: why do you do what you do? What are you here for? What gets you out of bed when you wake up in the morning and your alarm goes off and you think you can’t do it? Tapping into your true purpose is really key.”
As we’ve established, part of Sonia’s “why” for doing what she does is the lack of representation and affirmation she had as a woman of Mexican descent growing up. However, there is another side to it. You may recall I mentioned at the beginning of this article that she is a first-generation Mexican American, and the first in her family to go to college. Her parent’s decision to leave their home and come to America despite not speaking English was undoubtedly a difficult one, but through their struggle she found inspiration and motivation as she embarked on her own journey. It’s what kept her going through the long days at work, nights of classes, and the various microaggressions and dismissiveness she faced.
“I want to honor my parents’ immigrant journey, so that has been the main catalyst for everything I’ve been able to accomplish,” she utters. “My own children as well—them getting to see a woman who has overcome obstacles and persevered through those tough times is so important. I want to establish a role model…if I persevered, so can they. Having the people that I love be inspired and proud of me is what drives me.”
She pauses for a moment to wipe tears from her eyes. I’m fighting back my own, touched by her vulnerability, which I’m quick to thank her for once she recovers. It’s certainly not easy to open up about something so personal, but her willingness and ability to do so speaks volumes about her character.
Epilogue
It’s safe to say that Sonia’s mission has brought her much success. On top of the various school leadership positions she has held, she has also had her work published, been a public speaker, won various awards and professional accolades, and participates in a mentorship program. Additionally, she has helped to start a scholarship fund for DACA students, as well as started an affinity group Latino professionals in Durham and Guilford County through DPS Latinx and GCS Latinx. She also previously participated in CREED’s #TeachinginColor magazine launch, where she was interviewed and featured on the front page!
When I ask her what advice she has for educators of color who aspire to go down a similar path to hers, her answer is crucial. “I’ve always needed people I could connect with,” she says. “One of the things unique to non-European and indigenous cultures is this idea that we are all interconnected, but current culture now is so focused on individualism. So find your people: affinity groups, sorority sisters, some kind of connection so that you’re not going through your journey alone.”
She closes out the interview with some words of reflection.
“It has taken me a long time to find power and voice in my story. After twenty-three years in public education and eight years in school leadership, it wasn't until I started embarking on my leadership journey that I saw empowerment. Now I know very well who I am, who I want to be, and what I want to accomplish. It takes a lot of practice to refine your story and know the parts when you can share and with whom. Continue to share and find power and confidence in that, so over time you can know what part of your story is going to have the most impact in this circle or with this person.”
CREED would like to thank Sonia for taking the time to speak with us! Stay tuned for more stories from educators of color like Sonia from across North Carolina.
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Are you an educator of color interested in having your story told? See HERE for more information about Diversify the Narrative!
Want to get connected with fellow educators of color throughout North Carolina? Join the #TeachinginColor Community today! We are a professional learning network of educators dedicated to building community, supporting, and advocating for policy changes in the best interest of educators of color and the students they serve. Join HERE.
