College Voice

Issue date: 4/19/06 Section: News

Maggie Escobedo-Carrasco is a counselor at the Multicultural office at GCC, bridging the cultural gap for many Hispanic students. [Click to enlarge]

Jose Mendoza, a couselor at the Mutlicultural office at GCC admires the students' determination to get an education.

As the American dream becomes more popular around the world, many people come to the United States as immigrants.

This is the case of Jose Mendoza's parents, a member of the Multicultural Services Department at Glendale Community College (GCC), whose family became legal citizens back in 1948. This was an unforgettable date which anticipated the memorable Mexican Independence movement.

"I was born in Banderas, Chihuahua, Mexico as a premature baby, but I was registered in Artesia, New Mexico." Mendoza said.

As a third generation Mexican family, he grew up in New Mexico until he came to live in Arizona at the age of 10. He enrolled in elementary school only speaking Spanish, but he learned English some time later.

Mendoza worked at the agricultural fields as a farm worker with his parents and he was not paid well at that time.

His parents always celebrated the traditional Mexican holidays.

"I celebrate 5 de Mayo, Mothers Day and the Mexican Independence Day [September 16]."

Education was a life changing experience for him. He studied high school and after graduating, he enrolled in Glendale Community College where he then transferred to Arizona State University (ASU).

He and all of his siblings earned a degree because they all went to school. They no longer worked as farmers and their financial situation changed for good.

Mendoza said, "We need to fix this problem [immigration issues]and legalize these people to get them out of the shadows and let them participate in society.This country should realize how Mexican workers have helped the economy. The Hispanic community contributed over 29 billion dollars to benefit the state of Arizona economically," Mendoza said.

Jose Mendoza and his coworker Maggie Escobedo-Carrasco agree when they said that Hispanic students are determined to work hard by educating themselves.

"We give a personal touch when we help every student form every background by smiling, greeting and respecting them," Escobedo-Carrasco said.

Her father also came to the United States in the late 1940s. She was born in Ontario, Oregon.

Her primary language spoken at home was Spanish and she learned English at school. Just as Mendoza, Escobedo-Carrasco was raised in a very close traditional Hispanic family.

"As a migrant family, I remember working at a very young age. Unfortunately, we were not able to focus or concentrate on our education. For this reason I feel it is very important to pursue my dream of being an example to my family of 12 siblings, but most important to my children," Escobedo-Carrasco said.

Most of the struggles of her family came from financial problems. She remembers being a happy child and enjoyed her childhood with her brothers and sisters.

They overcame many situations all together. She considers herself as a proud American citizen and a successful Hispanic woman.
Even though, she had a difficult time in educational matters, she can't compare her problems at that time with the ones that students are facing now.

"I admire their determination. If we can educate them, that will be good for future generations," Escobedo-Carrasco added.
Her advice to Hispanic and non-Hispanic students are to "come together, get to know each other's culture and diversify this community."

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