contents - Gallatin School of Individualized Study - New York ...

Matilde estrellaMATILDE ESTRELLA Living in NYC22The Newspaper Womanone building over from my building, you can usually find an older lady sittingin a wheelchair. She has gray, curly hair and pale white skin that is coveredin brown freckles. Rain or shine, you can usually find her there. Her intertwinedwhite and gray curly hair bounces up and down on a windy day and shines on asunny day. She always wears her golden glasses.My estimate is that she is in her early 90s. She is always reading thenewspaper. It is impressive to see people reading with such passion around that age.I see how sometimes her white, frail hands shiver as she is holding the newspaper,yet that doesn’t stop her from reading and enjoying herself. The smirk or full-onsmile that show up on her face are indicators of her pleasure in reading. SometimesI wonder why she doesn’t read magazines or books instead of the newspaper,but I guess that is a mystery. If she only knew how much I admire her energy andmotivation to read and how impressive it is to watch her, “The Newspaper Woman.”Matilde Estrella, age 40, has lived in New York City for 10 years. Originally fromSantiago, Dominican Republic, she studied laboratory science before coming to theUnited States. Today, she studies English at the New York Public Library’s St. AgnesCenter for Reading and Writing. Flora Sanders is her teacher and Steven Mahoney isthe site advisor. “I decided to learn English to improve my knowledge and reach mygoals,” says Matilde Estrella.