I was born to Mexican immigrants in
Wasco, CA in 1974. My earliest memory of my life is from
around the age of three. I remember sitting in a high chair in a small, dingy
kitchen eating breakfast with my father and five-year-old sister. My mom was
standing over the stove making homemade tortillas and handing them to my father
freshly off the hot comal, a flat-iron grill used mainly in Latin
America to warm up tortillas and other food.
Reflecting on this image brings feelings of sadness and despair, because the
little girl sitting in the high chair didn’t know the crucibles she would
confront in life. Although, she would enjoy her moments of triumph, she would battle an immense number of obstacles and
endure pain, agony, fear, and at times, defeat.
My earliest memory sets the stage for my life journey and the various small
journeys upon which I’ve embarked. These
same small journeys, trials and triumphs, have molded me to become the person I am today. My inner soul, my
essence, and my values derive from these
small journeys.
I was fortunate to have
experienced a positive childhood and adolescence. My parents owned a
home. My siblings and I grew up with both parents. My father, a farm laborer,
was the sole provider. My mother, due to a disability, couldn’t work and stayed
home. The town, McFarland, had a population of 7,000. My father ensured
we had a roof over our heads, food on the table,
and clothes on our backs. In my family, education was considered a privilege and not expected. Although
my parents wanted the best for us, their aspirations were for us were to be
honest, kind to others, and good citizens.
My
first small journey I can recall is following through to attend college. As a
high school student, I did well academically and laid low under the radar. I challenged
myself to do well academically so that I could play
sports (e.g., volleyball, basketball, tennis). There was no other motivation to
do well in school except for extrinsic motivations. These
motivations and discipline paved the road to college.
During
my senior year, Marco de la Garza, a CSU, Northridge recruiter, gave a college presentation. I was fascinated with
how he spoke about his college experience, college life, and the liberties and
responsibilities of going to college. This was my first exposure to higher
education.
As he spoke energetically about his experience, I knew I wanted
something different for my life, beyond what I and
my family had experienced. I respected the work my father did, but as I labored in
the fields and packing sheds, something inside me told me I didn’t want this life for myself.
Two months earlier, during the
summer months, as I packed apples in a fruit shed, a rancher came up to me and
stood two inches from my face and began to
scream and yell at me, saying how I was “mishandling
his apples.” I was deeply humiliated and embarrassed. The whole plant stopped
to watch the rancher berate me as I stood frozen and scared with tears running
down my face. I thought I would lose my job but only before dying of humiliation.
The floor manager removed the rancher from the shed, but the damage was done.
As I cleaned myself up in the bathroom, I remember telling myself, “What he did
was not right. People need to be respected.” As I got home, I shamefully told
my father of the incident. He was so supportive and asked me if I wanted to file a formal
complaint. I agreed and he went with me for support. As I filled out the paperwork at the company office, I remember thinking, “There is more to this world than just this.”
I’d
heard of many stories of laborers being humiliated and embarrassed. In that
instance, I knew this wasn’t the life I wanted to live and I vowed to never put myself in a similar
situation, yet alone humiliate another human being.
Marco
de la Garza’s words and experiences about the
possibility of attending college made an unattainable dream feel like a
reachable goal. I knew I wanted something better for myself and the only way to
accomplish it was to get a college education. After his presentation, I told
myself, “I will attend college.” Marco de la Garza was instrumental in getting
me out of a town where dreams are merely
dreams. I knew there was something else out there for me,
and I was determined to find it.
PEACE, LOVE, and GOD BLESS!
