What do you think you’ve been most successful at in your life?

Being perseverant. I [had] a goal to get a job here so I started volunteering. And it [didn’t] matter that I didn’t speak English. I went to meetings and tried to pay attention and tried to understand. I [said], “I will learn,” and I did. [I did] a master’s degree to revalidate what I had in Mexico. A master’s in Gestalt, that doesn’t mean anything here. So I [gave] myself the challenge of: “Don’t give up, and just go back to the university and [get] the degree here”—with pain in my head for the English, but I did it. I didn’t give up. I just continued, continued, continued. So yeah, this is one of the things I have accomplished: to be successful in [this] country—because I consider myself a very success[ful] person, with a degree, with a nice family (my husband and my daughter), a safe place to be. So I got what I was looking for.

You can be really proud of that.

Yes, I am. I am proud of my mom. Without her I probably wouldn’t be here. Because she [always said], “You have to do it. You can do it. Go to school….” She always was with me. My father didn’t, but my mom always said, “You can do it. I paid for that. Don’t worry, you do it.” And yes, I’m here, thanks [to] her.

When you were growing up was that unusual to value the girls’ education?

Yeah, and more—not in the city, probably, or a little bit in the cities, but in rural areas. My father grew up in Veracruz, which is close to the Gulf of Mexico, and he had those thoughts: that a woman should stay at home, have children, and cook, and men can go to school. So from my father’s view, that was my future. From my mom’s view—which is interesting because she also grew up in the rural area, and she didn’t [go] to school. But she knew that her children [would] need to go to the school, whether it was a boy or girl. So it’s interesting because she set that goal for me.

Especially having a boy twin.

Yeah.

She wanted you to be treated the same.

The same, yeah. She is a fighter.

Was there conflict between your parents about that issue?

Oh yes. Yeah. But you know, a friend of my mother said, “Hey, how many fights have you had with your husband?”

And my mom said, “Oh, huge.”

“So get [in] another one. Get [in] another fight for your daughter. Send her to the school, and pay for that.”

And my mom got in a fight with my dad when he [found] out that I was going to the school.

¿Qué piensas tu que ha sido tu mayor éxito en tu vida?

Ser persaverante. Yo tenia una meta que era conseguir un trabajo aqui y empecé como voluntaria. No me importaba que no hablara inglés. Fui a algunas reuniones y traté de poner atención y de entender. Yo dije, “Yo aprenderé,” y lo hice. Obtuve una maestría para revalidar la que había hecho en México. Una maestría en Gestalt no significa nada aqui. Yo me tracé este desafío: “No renuncio, voy a la universidad y obtendré un título aqui.” Con dolor de cabeza por el inglés, pero lo hice. No renuncié. Me esforcé, me esforcé, me esforcé. Esta es una de las cosas que yo he logrado: tener éxito en este pais—porque yo me considero una persona muy exitosa, con un títuto, con una hermosa familia (mi esposo y mi hija), un lugar seguro. Por lo tanto he conseguido lo que estaba buscando.

Puedes estar orgullosa de esto.

Si, lo estoy. Estoy muy orgullosa de mi madre. Sin ella, probablamente no estaría aqui. Porque ella siempre dijo, “Tienes que hacerlo. Puedes hacerlo. Ve a la escuela.” Ella siempre estuvo conmigo. Mi padre, no, pero mi madre siempre dijo, “Tu puedes hacerlo. Yo pagué por eso. No te preocupes, tu puedes.” Y sí, aqui estoy, gracias a ella.

Cuando creciste, era raro valorar la educación para las niñas?

Si, era un poco raro en la ciudad, pero rarísimo en las áreas rurales. Mi padre creció en Veracruz, que es muy cerca de Golfo de México, y el tuvo estas ideas: de que las mujeres deberían estar en la casa, teniendo niños, y cocinando. El hombre puede ir a la escuela. Desde el punto de vista de mi padre, ese era mi futuro. Desde el punto de vista de mi madre—lo cual es muy interesante porque ella creció en un area rural tambien, y ella no fue a la escuela. Pero ella sabía que sus niños necesitarian ir a la escuela, no importaba fuera hembra o varón. Por lo tanto, es interesante porque ella se trazó esa meta para mi.

Especialmente porque tu tienes un gemelo.

Si.

Ella quería que tu fueras tratada de la misma manera.

Si, de la misma manera. Ella es una luchadora.

¿Hubo un conflicto entre tus padres por esta razón?