Marta Rangel

      My first exposure to the migrant lifestyle was when I was twelve years old and I remember being excited to leave my hometown, Brownsville, Texas, to go somewhere in the state of Colorado to hoe sugar beets and make money during the summer months.  It was a harsh awakening for someone who saw the world rosy pink; my days began at dawn and ended as the last gleam of sunlight faded.  The excruciating days of heat and excessive exercise marked my life for the next ten years; today my hands show signs of the callous left from that first year I worked in Colorado.  After the crop in the state of Colorado, I became familiar with the states of Ohio, Michigan, Oregon and Florida through their fields of tomatoes, cucumbers and strawberries.  Florida was to later become where I would settle my roots and begin a whole new life once exposed to the staff of the Farmworker Jobs and Education Program of Florida, Hillsborough Project, through the School District of Hillsborough County. Through them I was able to leave the fields like many others before me, once we were given new survival skills in the business world.  Their support and encouragement were specks of hope to a better tomorrow.

            To reach a goal one must possess perseverance.  With perseverance Abraham Lincoln became the 16^th President of the United States with only one year of formal education; he had self-taught the art of mathematics, grammar and law.  Perseverance is an art one masters as one strives to reach their goals; set a realistic time frame, I began with an Associate Degree that gradually led to a Bachelor’s Degree.  A Fellowship Award allowed me to complete in a year’s time my Master’s degree.  It was hard work but along the way I met wonderful friends and became educated in the history of Spain.  Amazing what perseverance does for the human mind! The outcome of this success has been through the support of the Latino Scholarship and the Fellowship Grant awarded through the University of South Florida.  Special thanks to Donna Parrino, Patsy Feliciano and Ron Hale who were very instrumental with the monetary assistance of their programs.  Last but not least, Richard W. Harrison, his patience and encouragement through my periods of trial has made him my hard rock in my personal life.

       Every semester those of us who have reached our educational goals or are mid-way there meet with newly admitted USF students in Café con Leche sessions.  The goal of these sessions is to bring in a guest speaker who will share his/her experiences and the barriers that they’ve had to overcome.  In the fall of 2001 we were honored with Dr. Alejandro Acevedo, a whale and dolphin expert from California honored by the Museum of Science and Industry as the First Hispanic Scientist of the Year.  The message that Dr. Acevedo and the other guests after him share with us is consistent: continue learning, learn to network and master the art of public speaking.

       Along the dream of becoming educated I also confronted the heartaches of not being able to attend soccer and football games when my son Daniel was playing, I missed family gatherings due to homework, tests and term papers.  Also, the time spent with my life partner was limited.  My personal message to the young student who is about to experience college life is to concentrate on your education now so that you don’t juggle school and family life later.  If a forty-plus, Hispanic female has accomplished her goal then for you the sky is the limit! Education is the key to success.  One quote that President Lincoln said and has stood in the back of my mind is:  “Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.” 

                 Recuerda, ¡Si Se Puede!

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