Norma Rodriguez / Mexico
I was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. I came to the U.S. when I was seven years old, with my two oldest brothers as immigrants. When I came here my parents were already in the U.S., a few years prior to us coming. And we had moved straight to the small town of Simi Valley. At that time, thirty years ago, the Latin and Hispanic community was not that big at all, it was very minimal if anything. So with that it was very hard to make friends, communicate, especially because we didn’t know the language. It was hard to relate to anyone because no one had went through what we had at such a young age. As years passed, my brother sadly lost his life to gang violence, at the young age of nineteen. That of course made for a very difficult time in both my family and my life. I had also became a young mother at the age of eighteen, getting pregnant and soon dropping out of high school. Being a single mom, no high school diploma, and being a Mexican young woman was definitely another difficult time in my life. I had no degree but I still wished for not just a job, but a career. But so many of my friends and family supported me and later in the years I began working at a company, in which even though I started at the bottom I made my way up. I worked hard and my bosses saw how determined I was to my work and talent. It was definitely not easy, working through many obstacles, but I didn’t give up. I was determined to get to the top, and luckily I was one that did. I became very successful and soon had landed a corporate position. I was able to travel with this company all over the world, including my hometown. It was surreal going back there, seeing my roots, and seeing what I have become since then. It showed me no matter what obstacles you go through and how hard life seems to be, if you believe in yourself and work hard really anything is possible. I found you can retrieve your dreams, no matter where you’re from.