Yvette Lopez / Mexico
My parents immigrated to the United States from Jalisco, Mexico. I was born and raised in Simi Valley, California, and my parents and grandparents are a constant inspiration to me. My mom’s parents - my grandparents - came to the united states in the early 1970’s. They worked odd jobs and lived in rough conditions to make enough money for my mom and her sister to move to the US as well. When my mom and aunt came to the US, my grandparents lived in Watts, Los Angeles. During this time, the neighborhood had an extremely high crime rate, and a community of people who were hostile to my grandparents and their children. My mom remembers times when the engine of their car was stolen, when their house was set on fire, and a time when my grandparents were robbed inside their own home. My mom was less than 5 years old when this all happened. Still, my grandparents kept on working, kept insisting that my mom and her sister go to school and learn english, and did their best to improve the situation they were in. Eventually my grandpa was able to move the family to Moorpark, where my mom and her siblings grew up.
The challenges that my grandparents and my mom had to endure to be here leave me humbled. They moved to the United States and took on difficult work without complaining. They lived in an extremely dangerous neighborhood where they were obviously not welcome, and still they kept going. My grandparents went through so much pain so that their kids, and now their grandkids, can have the opportunities to succeed. My grandma is an especially important person in my life. When I was in high school, she told me that she constantly misses Mexico. She was born and raised there, and she still has family there, but she told me that she came to the United States because “aquí están las oportunidades”. And she hasn’t stopped working, either; For the past few years, my grandma has run a cleaning company - she sets up appointments so that groups of workers clean houses around the Los Angeles area. She frequently goes with her workers to clean as well. One summer, I decided to work as a cleaning lady for her, and quickly learned that the work isn’t easy. It’s not glamorous, it’s not fun, and it’s not well-paying. And yet my grandma, who is in her sixties and recently had two surgeries, still gets up and helps to clean houses whenever she can. She has selflessly done this kind of work for most of her life, not because she wants to do it, but because she understood that she had to do it if she wanted her kids to live in the US.
My grandmother leaves me in awe. And she constantly reminds me to make the most out of even the most hopeless situations. Because at the end of the day, I’m here. I grew up in a nice house in southern California. I went to a great high school that gave me the tools I needed to get into college. I am studying computer science at an amazing university; a university that is located just blocks away from the neighborhood my grandparents once suffered so much in. I am here because my grandparents fought for me to be here. Like hell I’m going to let all that effort go to waste. I know that if I’m even a fraction as strong as my grandparents, even half as committed as they are, I can conquer anything that comes my way.
The challenges that my grandparents and my mom had to endure to be here leave me humbled. They moved to the United States and took on difficult work without complaining. They lived in an extremely dangerous neighborhood where they were obviously not welcome, and still they kept going. My grandparents went through so much pain so that their kids, and now their grandkids, can have the opportunities to succeed. My grandma is an especially important person in my life. When I was in high school, she told me that she constantly misses Mexico. She was born and raised there, and she still has family there, but she told me that she came to the United States because “aquí están las oportunidades”. And she hasn’t stopped working, either; For the past few years, my grandma has run a cleaning company - she sets up appointments so that groups of workers clean houses around the Los Angeles area. She frequently goes with her workers to clean as well. One summer, I decided to work as a cleaning lady for her, and quickly learned that the work isn’t easy. It’s not glamorous, it’s not fun, and it’s not well-paying. And yet my grandma, who is in her sixties and recently had two surgeries, still gets up and helps to clean houses whenever she can. She has selflessly done this kind of work for most of her life, not because she wants to do it, but because she understood that she had to do it if she wanted her kids to live in the US.
My grandmother leaves me in awe. And she constantly reminds me to make the most out of even the most hopeless situations. Because at the end of the day, I’m here. I grew up in a nice house in southern California. I went to a great high school that gave me the tools I needed to get into college. I am studying computer science at an amazing university; a university that is located just blocks away from the neighborhood my grandparents once suffered so much in. I am here because my grandparents fought for me to be here. Like hell I’m going to let all that effort go to waste. I know that if I’m even a fraction as strong as my grandparents, even half as committed as they are, I can conquer anything that comes my way.