When Spanish teacher Pedro Mendez was 15 years old he wanted to be a doctor.

“I knew my mom had a heart problem,” Mendez said, “and I was thinking, ‘You know what? I’d like to be a doctor so one day I can work on my mom or save people with the same problem.”

Since then, Mendez’s spirit of looking out for others has carried on throughout his life.

When Mendez first moved to the United States from Oaxaca, Mexico, he worked as a cook at a fast-food chain. Mendez said that the supervisor there was often very harsh, especially to illegal immigrants, who were paid below minimum wage and worked long hours with minimal breaks. Their inability to support themselves and their families became one of Mendez’s major concerns.

“[Working there] got me close to the immigrant community. But when I say immigrant community, I’m not talking about medical doctors or business men who immigrated to the United States and started businesses or a hospital,” he said. “I’m talking about people who somehow came to the States because they didn’t have any other choice but immigrate – otherwise they would die. As we speak right now, someone is cleaning your house, someone is preparing food, someone is doing something for us, and I think it is only fair to help.”

Mendez said discrimination goes hand in hand with immigration. Because many immigrants do not speak English fluently, they are often forced to get low-paying jobs even if they have college degrees, like the law student, chemist and accountant Mendez met at his job. Mendez said situations like this only strengthen discrimination based on one’s origin and appearance. Mendez said he inevitably experienced discrimination himself, such as when, two years ago, he stopped by a farm stand during vacation and a woman mistook him for one of the farmers.

While painful, Mendez said that instead of retaliating he tries to focus on teaching his students to be more conscious of the realities of the people around them.

“You learn to live,” he said. “You feel awful, but try to educate new generations and new people and say, ‘Hey, it’s not cool to do that. Don’t assume that just because you see a person with this characteristic, everybody is the same.’”

Mendez said immigration and discrimination are issues he discusses often in class because of their pressing and universal nature. Junior Audrey Stitt said the topics covered, such as slavery, immigration and the histories of Argentina and Puerto Rico, supplement what students learn in their social studies classes. Junior Jordi Cabanas agreed that the class gives students perspectives they might never have been exposed to otherwise.

“You never hear much about South America, probably partially because the U.S. has an interest in keeping that quiet, since it doesn’t shed us in the best light,” Cabanas said. “It’s interesting to expose it, especially with a native Mexican. He has a different perspective on the U.S. involvement in Latin American cultures than we do.”

Mendez said when he holds these discussions, he brings up questions that are important to himself as well.

“I try to put my opinions in my classes,” Mendez said. “Like, when is it okay to help people, and what does it mean to help people? Are you helping people really, and how are you helping?”

Spanish teacher Marta Fuertes said Mendez helps those in need of aid around him with his energy and full heart.

“He is very open to the world, very observant to what’s happening around him and very generous,” Fuertes said. “If he has time, if he has materials, if he has money, he will give it to you. He is a very, very splendid person.”

Fuertes said Mendez’s generosity shows up in the details: how he frequently pops up with some new activities she can try with her classes, and how he single-handedly organized a trip to Mexico that included 30 students, two other teachers and his own daughter. Mendez arranged for the group to visit Frida Kahlo’s house when a few students expressed interest, and even jogged in the mornings with some students because they were not allowed to go out alone, Stitt and junior Myra Johnson said.

Fuertes recalled a time when the world language department was participating in a holiday gift exchange and Mendez told them the department should appreciate being together rather than focusing on the material aspect of gift giving.

“He is very human. He doesn’t care much about material things,” Fuertes said. “He likes human interactions, the company of each other. Those moments that cannot be quantified, quality moments—that’s what he cares for.”

Fuertes said Mendez has made her time in Brookline much more comfortable and welcoming.

“I’m not by myself,” Fuertes said. “It’s great to have people like him in your professional day. It is great to work with friends. It makes your life much easier and much more pleasant.”

Spanish teacher Ricardo Calleja said Mendez does not help others just to show off or gain something for himself.

“He doesn’t seek the limelight,” Calleja said. “I think what’s nice about him is that he does these things kind of quietly. That he likes being a teacher. That he’s not trying to be an administrator or principal—down the line, I think he will, because I think he has the capacity to do it. That he does things because he thinks they’re the right things to do.”

Sofia Tong can be contacted at [email protected].