Today we’d like to introduce you to Mimi Pollack.
Hi Mimi, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
In December 1982, I moved from Mexico City to San Diego knowing only one or two people. I had worked as a teacher in Mexico City where I grew up.
In January 1983, I became a teacher’s aide at San Diego Community College District Continuing Education. Three months later, I was hired as a teacher and worked continuously until I retired in 2018. I taught immigrants and refugees English as a Second Language. Our students were from all over the world, and all levels of life. They were seeking a better life in America.
This experience taught me about all the different cultures and people of the world and how much immigrants attribute to this country. I have had many student success stories.
In 1989, I got hired as a teacher at a second community college, Grossmont College where I taught credit ESL classes until I retired in 2020. I continued to sub there, and I have decided to return to teach a new class in the spring of 2026.
I feel happy in a classroom setting. Helping others makes me happy and I have done a lot of donation work. At one point, my garage was filled with donations I had collected to be distributed.
My life took a different turn in 2010, when an editor I met at Grossmont College encouraged me to become a writer. Thanks to Don Harrison’s faith in me, I began to freelance and write for his online newspaper, San Diego Jewish World, and several other local newspapers, including Times of San Diego, Diario Judio, and East County Magazine. This opened up a whole new and exciting world for me beyond the classroom.
Finally, I love animals and I live with a dog and two cats.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has mostly been smooth. As a teacher working with adults from other countries, there have been cultural differences to overcome, but also a great learning experience.
Although I like freelance writing and I meet many interesting people, it pays very little.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As I mentioned previously, I have been both a teacher and a freelance writer. My life has not taken the usual 9-to-5 path, but I feel grateful and proud for what I have accomplished.
What matters most to you?
Kindness and compassion. This world would be a much better place if we had more of both. I know. Easier said than done.
My family, my four-legged family, my significant other, my friends, my former and future students, the people and organizations I have written about and volunteered with, all are important to me, and what they do in the world matters.
