Can you talk about your family’s history and where you were raised?
I am American-born and my parents are Mexican immigrants from Durango. They immigrated here when they were 19 years old so they were really young. Ultimately they continued to grow up here which is really cool. It’s also cool to hear what times were like when they were young and immediately started working which is what they were here for. A lot of people from Durango came at the same time and landed in the Cicero area in Chicago, so it’s really nice to know there are familiar faces. Especially something as scary as immigrating to another country at such a young age, it’s nice to have a community here.
I grew up in Roscoe Village, but was only there until I was 5 so I wasn’t necessarily raised there. My dad moved us to the Northwest suburbs and I am very thankful for that because that’s the dream to be able to afford to move your family to the suburbs. At the time, Roscoe Village was a rough neighborhood but the people that know it today know it’s completely gentrified. There are multi-million dollar homes on those blocks now so it is not what it was when I was first growing up there. So I can officially say I was Chicago-based but I’m totally a ‘burbs kid. My parents were from ranches that belonged to the municipality of Santiago Papasquiaro. Overall humble beginnings, my grandparents had big families in houses with no more than two or three bedrooms. My mom is the youngest of nine for example. My dad’s family ended up moving out of the rural area and into Santiago which is where my family on my dad’s side made their legacy with their business and have been there ever since. But overall we’re very proud Mexican Americans and it’s a blessing to still be connected to my roots, even now as an adult, and I’m very grateful for it.
How did you perceive Mexico when you were a kid?
I was born in America but I was much more in tune with my Hispanic culture more than anything. So much so that growing up I would tell people I was just Mexican. I am Mexican-American and a wonderful product of the better life my parents strived I very much identified as being Mexican. It was never something where I had to discover it. My first language in the house was Spanish, and then the rest of it was English at school. Especially with food, the language, and frequently going to Mexico, it was very natural- very normal.
Would you say that is the same for a lot of Mexican-Americans?
No, and I can even identify this within my own household. Both of my parents are very fluent in English, my dad even speaks Polish because he worked his whole life at a construction company, but I always spoke Spanish to my parents very well. My brother though never picked up on the language, it just wasn’t his forte. He predominantly grew up learning English more and we grew up in the same house. We were afforded the same opportunities and the same resources and we are still very different. But to answer your questions, it absolutely has to do with what is being implemented in everyone’s household and more than that how it is being interpreted by every individual.
How do you feel like your upbringing prepared you for your current role?
I would accredit my upbringing to not having fear, or being scared. I remember my dad saying some people would immigrate here from Mexico and be scared to learn English and speak it because they were embarrassed by how maybe botched it was. My dad would say that you just have to speak it- someone will understand you and that’s the only way to get better at it. You just have to do it. There was also this one time, and I remember this so vividly, that my dad threw me in a swimming pool. I didn’t know how to swim and I came out crying so scared. In retrospect, and again, you just have to do it. In life you just have to dive into it, you cannot be scared. The only way you’re going to move forward is by throwing yourself into it.
Where do you see the values from your upbringing the most in your life today?
I would say in my relationships that I have. I come from a very traditional household, and I’m okay with that. I take pride in the traditions that I have in my house like family, food, language, and music. I 100% align with all of that and of course, we can tweak things because things have to change. There is no doubt with me that I’m going to take my family traditions and hopefully, one day implement them in my family that I’ll have one day.
How do you want to let your upbringing influence the way you raise your kids in the future?
I definitely want my kids to understand the value of hard work, the value of a dollar. You know, I hope to spoil my kids rotten. I think everyone wants to do that, but you have to implement that at an early age. I feel that we were middle class growing up and this was rare as a Mexican family. We were the only Mexican family on our block. I feel blessed with how I grew up and my parents taught me that if you have something, you can share it with others. There’s no need to be stingy. I want my kids to be kind, I want them to be humble. I feel like we see so many different outcomes and we can only wish for these things with our kids, but we do have to be aware that they are going to grow up and do whatever the hell they want. We cannot control other people. But my hope would be that I can implement hard work, humbleness, kindness, and being united with family.
Is there an older relative in particular that you hope to grow up resembling?
I would definitely say my grandfather on my mom’s side. He was such a tough man. He’s been passed away for some time now, but we were always scared of him as kids. My grandpa had a stoic demeanor to him, but it was because he was a no-BS guy. I’ve come to grow up and hear these stories about him and how he was such a brave man. He was noble by all means and his demeanor was stoic because that’s just how he had to be his whole life. He had so much love for his grandkids and his family. He was such a well-respected man from where we come from that even today if people know you’re related to him they’re like, “Oh my god, have a wheel of cheese.” I hope to be as noble as he was, where we resemble in that strong-willed sense. I am also a no-BS kind of person and I clock people as soon as I sense something’s wrong. Being outspoken, people just tended to think my grandpa was grumpy. But now I understand it because if I want something to get done right, I’m going to have to do it. Apart from that, we can misread people for having a mean demeanor when actually it’s just a strong person who’s been through it and knows the ins and outs of life. It’s just sad that he’s not here to share that wisdom, but I do feel a strong sense of him everywhere I go.
Lastly, what advice would you give to people who don’t feel like they’re connected to a particular culture?
That’s a good question. There’s no right or wrong answer to that because it really just depends on what someone’s life circumstance is. If someone does have a relative who’s still alive who can teach them about their culture, I would say it’s never too late to connect with your culture and implement it in your life. Research it, or visit your ancestral homeland. You might have a really unique connection there. You might even feel like this is home, that’s how I feel when I go back to where my parents are from. I feel a very familiar energy when I’m there, but in general, it’s never too late to connect to your roots and find out about it.
