Sor Juana Inés snuck away from her mother at a very young age and secretly followed her older sister to school. There, Juana stood to the side and watched eagerly as the teacher taught the lessons to the older girls. Fascinated by what she saw, Juana stepped forward and sat amongst the students. She convinced the teacher that her mother wanted her to be in school, so the lessons continued. Day after day, Juana found her way back to the school and the classes. By the time her mother found out what she was doing, Juana had learned how to read, much to her mother’s delight. Years later, Juana said this was when she “caught fire with the desire to learn.”
The school was known as an amiga , a house where a few girls were instructed by a townswoman who taught her pupils good manners and reading using the Bible. Not much more was taught beyond those few things. Juana’s amiga was in her village of San
Miguel Nepantla outside of Mexico City. The year was 1650 when Mexico was a colony of Spain under the king’s rule.
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