Mr. Carlos Ferralls has been the principal of Doral Academy Preparatory School for the past four years, but many students do not know the hardships he went through that led him to this significant position. 

     His family left Cuba behind when he was seven years old. They left their money with their relatives and set out for a new life “without any belongings except the clothes on their back.” He recalls throwing up throughout the whole boat trip and then arriving at Key West where they stayed in a gymnasium and slept in military camp cot beds. “Obviously at seven years old, you don’t know much; you’re a kid. All I wanted was a teddy bear and food.” His family then moved to North Carolina for three years where they were known as the first Cubans to arrive there. He shares, “The church helped us out a lot. Not only did they provide us clothing, but they would provide us language tutors and a home, and they actually took care of us.” He goes on, “I was in a situation where I was the minority and the upbringing was tough, but it made me who I am now. In the 80s, it was very evident that there was a lot of racial discrimination and it was tough.” He recalls, “I used to get chased home. Kids used to chase me home and try to take my belongings or hurt me.” One day, his mother and brother hid behind a tree and scared away the kids, and it never happened again. He jokingly states, “I thank them for chasing me every day because it made me faster and more agile, thus being able to give me an opportunity to get a scholarship [for football] when I got to high school.” He says “everything happens for a reason.”

     When he was younger, Ferralls used to play Little League baseball at the age of 12. When he began high school, he was supposed to continue playing baseball, but his passion for football took over and he tried out for his school’s team. “After the first practice, I found my love, it’s one of these things that you walk into and all of a sudden, that’s what you are going to do and that’s what you want to do.” For two years, his mother believed he played baseball but she eventually found out the truth during his junior year because he would come home bruised; she would then accept his new passion. “In football, I received a scholarship which at that time was a surprise to many.” He explains, “When I became a coach, I coached volleyball and football and we ended up doing great things. I coached volleyball, a sport that I had never even played before because some kids came and asked me …and it took me three years before we went to a state championship… something that I had never done.”

     Although Mr. Carlos Ferralls is currently the principal of Doral Academy, he used to hate school. It was not until he was intimidated by another student’s presentation that he truly took in the meaning of receiving an education. “I had to go back and revamp [my presentation] and after lots of practice and feeling like I wasn’t prepared, I really started honing in on what was really important, which was my education.” Mr. Ferralls began working as a coach and then moved on to teaching for five years, but he did not feel such a strong passion for that profession. He was then offered a position as an administrative assistant at Miami Senior High School and he explains, “As soon as I stepped into that role, I really found something that I really love to do. Once I sat in that chair, I found that it was my calling.” 

     Due to the rough transition from Cuba to America, he struggled a lot in school. Now, he is working to make sure no student experiences the same kind of hardships. He is currently a member of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics where they work towards helping similar students. “There needed to be something done for those individuals that were coming from other countries that had that language barrier, and especially in education. We’ve come a long way from when I came here to Cuba in 1980. I think that now we provide a lot of resources and a lot of opportunities for students to be able to develop before they’re mainstreamed into the classroom.” Growing up in the environment that he grew up in, he believes it allowed him to mature and become the person he is today. “Everybody has that goodness in them. There’s no reason for us to discriminate against your color, the way you look, your hair.” He goes on, “All we have to do is be able to surround ourselves with those individuals that can bring out the best in us. I think that we can all benefit off each other and by uniting together, I think this world could be such a better place. I think it is just education, being able to educate everyone, help them understand and accept everyone’s differences and beliefs and being able to respect that.”

     Ferralls explains, “I feel that with the experiences that I had, I understand what it takes to be able to make something successful and make it special. I feel that anyone can do that as an individual, as a student, as a professional, as a family member. I think it takes a lot of hard work, passion and really that love for something to really make it work. As long as you have that and as long as you find that, I feel that the sky’s the limit.” Mr. Carlos Ferralls has had an extensive and difficult journey, but it brought him to where he is today, and he is eternally grateful, as he says: “I love what I do. There’s no better job that I feel that I can get up to than being a principal here at Doral Academy. I love the school, I love the kids. I mean, there is nothing that I’d rather do on any given day than coming to Doral Academy and being here with you guys and being around the school. I love it.”