Faces of WEST
Madelaynes Rodriguez Castro
WEST Client (LST)
“Never stop thinking about living your dreams. Every day make an effort, study, see life with a positive mentality and never, ever lose faith in yourself and you will fulfill your dreams.”
- Tell us about yourself.
My Name is Madelaynes Rodriguez Castro. I am originally from Cuba – from the province of Santa Clara. I am 33 years old, and I am the mother of a 5-year-old child. When I lived in Cuba, I was an executive and at the same time I worked on my passion – modelling. I am also writing a book called Life, which is inspired by my own life story and some others that people have confessed to me at some time. I thought I would write the teachings that life has left us with not very good situations and so when people read the book they can see life from another perspective. I have been writing it for 2 years. I consider myself a person who has many hobbies like writing, practicing yoga, meditation, walking. I’m very curious. - What motivated you to get involved with WEST, and how has it impacted your life?
The first time I heard of WEST was from my friend. I asked her what school she recommended since I wanted a school where I felt reflected and supported as a new migrant to try and grow in my English language in Canada. She recommended WEST because in addition to growing in your English you can be trained to look for work. In Canada, these were the two pieces of advice she gave me at the time. My time at WEST has had an amazing impact on my life both inside and outside as it has given me more self-confidence, given me the strength to say “yes I can”, a lot of free information on life aimed at new immigrants and especially as a woman and mother. - What advice do you have for women striving to achieve their dreams?
The first piece of advice is to never stop thinking about living your dreams. Now, people who will want to turn off that light is inspiration, that wonderful Idea, woman, but you must look inside yourself/ breathe three times and say “yes, I can”, that should be your motto. Every day make an effort, study, see life with a positive mentality and never, ever lose faith in yourself and you will fulfill your dreams. - Is there any woman that has inspired you or continues to inspire you?
All of the women at WEST have inspired me every day of my life, but in particular Busra, my teacher, because she is a wise and very insightful woman who always wants the best for her students so that they not only grow as English students but as people.
