Sisters happy they took dad’s education advice
The Garcia family: Maria, Guadalupe, Isidro and Ana. Maria is director of purchasing and contracts at Lamar State College in Orange. Ana is a management analyst for the City of Pasadena.
“Neither of my parents are college educated. My father only made it to third grade. But from an early age, he made sure that my sister and I knew the importance of a good education.
“My dad always had his regular job, but he also had a side job. He started a lawn care business that they gradually built up. And he and my mom started taking us with them when I was 4 and my sister was 2. They would have us pick up trash or bring them gas, water or whatever. We kept going for years, on evenings and weekends, until I was about 16. We hated it.
“I remember thinking about these people’s homes and all the nice things they had. Then we went back to our house, which was in pretty bad shape with no air conditioning. We had food and clothes and everything, but it was all really basic. That’s when my dad would say, ‘Look, this is how people with an education live. People with no education, this is how we live. Do you want to be the ones cutting the grass or would you rather be inside in the air conditioning and have someone else mow your yard? Those are your two choices. You need to think about what lifestyle you want to have.’
“That was one of the motivations for my sister and me to go to college. We both ended up earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and our parents paid for all of it. We came out with no debt because of all the sacrifices they made. They worked hard and saved money all those years so that we could go to college, get an education and have a better life.”
— Maria Garcia
Related:
