Angelica Villanueva Story - Living the American Dream

Angelica Villanueva: When I started school I didn't speak in English because my parents only spoke Spanish at home. My brothers and sisters were just like my students, newcomers in the class, they didn't understand the language and didn't know the whole process so it was all learning the experience. Then when I see these kids that come in I try to make it where they feel like home, where they feel like they are not gonna be judged, that they can feel comfortable talking to me because I see my brothers and sisters in them. They went through the same thing. When I was going to school, I had different issues but I always remembered that my brothers and sisters would always talk about Mrs. Salazar, which was a teacher they had in Wichita, and they said, my sister, the oldest one, Mrs. Salazar took her to her first library, showed her how to get her first book. That teacher exposed them to so much more than what they would have been exposed to without a teacher being involved. You know, just stepping in and helping out where they you know, saw the need was there. So hopefully I can be that for some of my students.

With the two packing plants that we have there is a big migrant population which a lot of parents, just because the necessity that they have in their country, they come to look for work. I have kids from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Vietnam, Mexico, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and Cuba all in that class. For them, knowing that they have somebody, that teacher that they can speak to in their language, that looks like them, makes it a lot easier for them to start school in a new country you know. And, it's hard at times just because since it's, it's a small community. Some Latinos that do wrong things they box in everybody else, but it's like every culture, we all have our bad, we all have our good. I think it takes a person that doesn't judge one person and they're all our culture. We've always tried to better ourselves and be the example to where people don't talk bad about us. I remember teachers telling me you need to study because if you don't study and you don't do what you're supposed to, you're just gonna end up at the packing plant like the rest of you. My dad is my hero. He worked hard for us to have what we had and when I heard teachers saying that to me, it was like, so working there it means that I'm, I didn't accomplish anything in life?

After I graduated from high school, Miss Angelica thought, I'm gonna be like my dad, I want to work in knives in fabrication just like my dad does. And I remember the first day that I worked on knives, I cried. My hand hurts so bad that night and I remember calling my dad and asked him like, dad what do I do my hand hurt so much I can't stop crying of the pain, and he told me, he's like, I have worked there as long as I have and suffered the pain for you guys not to suffer. He's like, I don't understand why you're there but I want you to be there, that way you can make better choices. At that time I was partying a lot, going to dances and concerts and I really didn't know if I wanted to go to college. I had other things that I wanted but not realizing that there's still more once you have family, once you know different things that you at the time when you're young you don't think about. And so now I tell the kids, well they're like, oh we'll just make more at the plant, I'm like you know what, I go, it's it's a good job, it pays the bills, I said. But if you have the opportunity to make more money and to work less and not have to work physically, I said you know, if you have the opportunity, do it now.

When I first started college I was single you know, I didn't have any kids or I wasn't married. And so, uh, you know, they're like you really want to go there, what do you wanna do. I'm like I don't know, I'm just gonna take my basics, I guess you know. Even if I was young and I think it changed my way of looking at life. I got married in March and I knew, I found out I was pregnant in May and so when I had my son in January I knew that you know my dad had played a big role in an example for us so I had to play a big role and an example for my son and I wanted him to be part of me. And so that really where I'm like, I gotta do this I gotta make my son proud, of that way he, you know, he can also follow. Like my dad told me, I want you to be better than me and so I'm gonna tell my son I want you to be better than me and so that chain reaction you know, what will benefit everybody and I always tell my son, you know your mommy did it, so if I can do it, anybody can do it. I think having him really really changed my life. Sometimes some people use it as an excuse like, oh I got pregnant and I, or I got married so, but if you want something and if you want to make your life better, you can do it. It doesn't matter you know, it doesn't matter what obstacles come, or what hinders your life you, you can do it. Know if I came from a very very poor family that didn't speak the language, we weren't accustomed to how everything was here, but you know as long you can set a goal and try to meet it and exceed it if possible.