Sometimes we make assumptions about people based on their education level and backgrounds without taking the time to know them at a deeper level and discovering whom they are. There is knowledge and intelligence acquired outside the classroom setting that is important and can build a bridge to shaping our understanding of the world and our own identity.
Dad is proud of his work and shares his knowledge of agriculture with us every opportunity he gets. His knowledge ranges from citrus types, harvesting, crop prices, foreign and domestic sales pricing, and negotiation of wages. He did not learn this while earning his college degree or reading trade books. My father is a farm worker and works his way to understanding the trade and the complexities of the English language in his daily interactions with farmers. He was educated in Mexico and earned a vocational degree the equivalent of an accountant.
Dad never formally used his education. Instead, Dad immigrated to the United States as a teenager with his family. As the oldest child and a son, he worked to help his parents support his younger siblings. They came to the United States in search of a better life, one which meant my father would never use the knowledge he gained through his vocational training in the position of an accountant.
In his search for a better life, my Dad worked as a farm worker where he learned English while learning the trade and found connections to his education that eventually led him to earn a role as a crew boss and eventually a harvest coordinator. The mantra he taught me “Echele ganas m’ijita y no se deje”—go for it and don’t give up—is exemplified in his life work. It is not something I recognized until later in life.
My father taught me the importance of speaking up and standing up for what is just. Even with his limited English proficiency, while I was in elementary school, my father would show up at school to speak with the principal or teachers whenever there was a need.
My run in with the Honor Band Bus Bully was one of Dad’s many teachable moments. On the afternoon I decided I had had enough verbal harassment and did not get on the bus for rehearsal, my father walked me back to the school to report the incident to the principal. Dad had two things in mind, he was not going to allow me to give up on something I had worked so hard to attain (my spot in the honor band) and he definitely was not going to let someone get away with belittling me.
In this instance, Dad taught me that I should use my voice to rectify a situation that was oppressive. He said that we had to put a stop to the Honor Band Bus Bully because she would not stop calling me names and he did not want me or anyone else feeling out of place when we had as much right as the bully to be there. Dad also taught me that her name-calling was not a problem with me. He said that people who put others down do so out of fear or anger due to their own personal shortcomings. Perhaps she felt the need to put me down as a way of making herself feel better. Dad said I could not let that get in the way of my goals. He taught me that giving up is never an option and challenges or barriers are momentary setbacks which lengthen the process to reach our goals. “Echele ganas m’ijta y no se deje” soon became my go to mantra in difficult situations.
My freshman year in college took an emotional toll on me. I found myself away from home for the first time at a college campus three times the size of my hometown. My parents raised me in a traditional household where I was not allowed to go anywhere without them or a family member to chaperone. High school prom was no exception as my date’s parents drove us to and from the event—the only way my parents gave me permission to go. Imagine the culture shock of living on my own for the very first time in an urban setting like Los Angeles.
I recall one phone call home in which I could no longer hide the emotional distress I felt due to homesickness and asking my mother if they could pick me up. After all the hard work I endured to achieve my goal of attending UCLA, I was ready to give it all up just to go back to the comforts of home and family. My mother cried right along with me because she was heartsick from having her first child away for the first time and for such an extended period. I remember Papi took the phone from Mami as we cried in unison. “¿Dígame m’ija cuál fue su meta? ¿Que no está donde quería? ¿Para qué tanto esfuerzo si tan fácil lo abandona? Échele ganas m’ijita y no se deje. Esto pronto pasa y cuando menos espere ya se recibe con su título.” Those few phrases quickly reminded me of all I had worked for and the sacrifices I would make were only small deposits in a pool of accomplishments I had yet to achieve.
Dad always has a way of drawing into perspective the goals I set out to achieve and to refocus my thoughts when I feel like I have lost all hope. That simple phrase “Echele ganas m’ijita y no se deje” carried me through every stage of education and life’s challenges all the way through earning my doctorate, for it encompasses all the sacrifices my Dad has made to give us a better life and all he has taught me through example. As life threw challenges at Dad, he found a way to overcome them and that is something that we could never learn in a book or classroom.
As often as it is suggested that students of poverty and underrepresented backgrounds need to learn resiliency and grit, I think of the lessons my father taught me. I realize that as educators we should never make assumptions about the knowledge students already bring to the classroom from their life experiences because there are other parents like Dad, who have taught their children similar lessons that can bridge learning in a classroom setting.
