Felipa Gonnella
In the United States the streets are paved with gold. Growing up in a small rural community in Mexico I heard that expression time after time.
I was born 42 years ago in Oxnard, California the oldest of 10 children, but grew up and went to school in Mexico. My father was a migrant/seasonal worker in Ventura County. He and my mom would make the journey North every year for the strawberry and lemon season and then back to their native land at the end of it. My dad always told us that being born in the US was the best gift he could ever give us; he wanted us to have the opportunity to come back here if we ever wanted to because after 1970 we stayed permanently in Mexico.
When I was 18-years-old, fresh out of high school, my parents decided to move the family back to California because my dad was too sick to work and needed medical attention. Also, he could no longer provide us with the resources (money) to live or continue our education.
California turned out to be not at all like the stories I had heard. For starters, I did not see any golden paved streets, but I did see that the opportunities were there. All I had to do was learn English. I enrolled in ESL classes as soon as I was able to.
My first job in this country was in a factory, not a very glamorous job but the only thing I could find due to the fact that I could not speak English. It was hard work and light years away from my dream of becoming an accountant. I became friends with an older woman who had spent her life working at that factory. She told me her story which is the same or very similar to many people who emigrate from other countries. She came here at the age of 20 with big dreams for her future; she was going to become a teacher. However, she explained to me that she never cared to learn to speak English well enough to go to College which limited her options to even getting a better job. She also told me that because she never went to school her children now had no desire to do so because if she could support a family with her meager earnings, so could they. She told me not to give up and to do something with myself.
With a few months of ESL under my belt I decided to enroll in College. My English was not by any means good but I thought that if I took classes that didn't require too much writing I would be okay. My first class was Accounting 101 which I failed miserably because not even my love for numbers could make up for my inability to comprehend my instructor. I realized that I needed to go back to simply learning English and then give it another try. A year later I gave College a try again but had to drop out because my family and I had to move to a more affordable community. I kept thinking that if I could make more money we wouldnt have to move because I would be able to help more with my income, which I couldnt do because in order for me get a better job I had to have a College degree.
I enrolled in a Technical school course that lasted 2 years and was able to get a Certificate in Accounting and I thought I was ready to take on the world.
However, my bubble burst when I started looking for a job and I realized that people were not impressed by the fact that I had a Certificate, they were looking for a degree. Fortunately I found someone willing to give me a chance working in an office which liberated me from factory work once and for all. For the next couple of years I was content with my progress, I had a better income now which made me move my dream of a college education to the bottom of my list.
I got married and had two great kids. Unfortunately my second child, my daughter, was born prematurely, and the doctors told us that she might need a lot of special care which we decided a child care facility would not be able to provide so the best decision for our family was for me to quit my job and become a stay home mom to care for her. Too quickly her medical bills began piling up reaching an exorbitant total because even though we had medical insurance, most of the treatment that she needed was not covered under our policy; we were ultimately forced to declare bankruptcy. Little by little we got back on our feet, but to improve our chances of making it we had to move to another town.
As my children got older and more independent, I decided to go back to school because I thought I had plenty of time to do it. We discussed it with my husband and figured out a schedule so we wouldnt have to pay for child care, which we couldnt afford on his salary alone and by now we had one more child. I enrolled at my local community college but after only a couple of courses the dream had to be put on hold again, not for lack of desire, but because we could no longer manage financially unless we became a two income family again.
It has been 9 years since then, and the itch to further my education has begun to flare once again.
With a hectic life like mine an online school is the best alternative to an education, and for me the opportunity to fulfill my dreams of becoming a CPA. That will definitely provide me with a better income for my family and as a result I can provide my children the support they need to make it easier on them to accomplish their education dreams.
Yes the streets of the United States are paved with gold, but only for those who take advantage of the opportunities that generous people like you offer.