My name is Francisca Zamora, I am the youngest of my brothers, born in a small town called Luz Salvatierra, Guanajuato in Mexico. In the year 1996 I arrived in Beloit with my mother and brothers to reunite with my father, teaching at Aldrich School where Professor Torres helped me with homework while not knowing any English. Three months after arriving, for immigration procedures, my mother and I returned to Mexico for two years and in the summer of 1998 we returned to Beloit.

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My parents worked 12 hours a day for 7 days a week and I was left alone. I decided to leave and live with my sister from Brodhead where I began eighth grade of school. I was the only Hispanic, the little English I learned I had forgotten and there was no help for me. It was my worst year and in my house I would cry because I did not know how to do my homework and did not understand. I had to read a book and turn in a report, I tried to read, but I did not understand what I read and I did not know how to do that report.

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I wanted to return to my country, I did not want to study, and I felt that all of my dreams of my future had left with a different language and culture. Feeling that I have no belonging in that place and my family and my friends were good to me, simply there was no one that could teach or explain my clases.

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I went to the library and took out preschool books to learn the words and read them to my cousins, a neighbor that only spoke English listened to me and from their patio corrected my pronunciation. After going two or three times a week and they would make us read and correct our pronunciation until it was correct.

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We did not have another option to learn English, little by little I learned, I was shy and did not have friends at the same time for not mastering the language. I was always independent and began to work for 16 years on the weekends in a cheese factory. I wanted to buy a car and they told me why would I want a car if I was not going to learn how to drive, but I am stubborn and I bought my first standard car and learned how to drive alone. FInally, in my last year of High School I finally felt comfortable and was able to turn in all of my homework.

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Since I was a little girl I wanted to be a nurse, I like to help people and protect people. The school paid me to obtain a CNA (certification of an assistant nurse in Blackhawk. So I was studying in the day in H.S., in the afternoon I had clinicals and in the night I went to Blackhaw. The weekends I worked in the cheese factory. Thanks to working I was able to buy myself a computer, I felt very satisfied with what I had achieved. I was able to learn English, take my classes, and have economic independence. Thankful for my sister that she treated me like a daughter and I never lacked anything.

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I graduated H.S. and of CNA independently began to work in Beloit Clinic. My family was proud and a great achievement since they did not finish their primary studies. I registered to continue my career as a nurse and my mother told me that I was going to go into debt if I had a secure job, that I better dedicate myself to work and save money, other people said the same thing, I did not have a guide to follow and that ended up confusing me and I gave up studying.

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After graduating I married my husband who I met since I was 16 years old but we only had a phone relationship. He lived in Beloit and I in Brodhead. My husband had encouraged me to study and follow my dreams. When I was pregnant with my first son I had a class and finished the semester. We moved to Mexico for two years so that my husband could regularize his immigration status. Upon returning, I began to work at BACH, I kept taking a class a semester, when I wanted to enter Blackhaw there was a two year waiting list so I waited and went through the first semester. My father became gravely ill and with work, home, the children, and the illness of my father I no longer achieved concentration in my classes. So I decided to stop studying and dedicate my time to my father, it was an illness that was brought on by other illnesses and havoc to his health for 10 years and in the end, my father lost his life, it is a loss that is sweet to me. After his departure I remembered that he said to me “if you want something you have to fight, it is the only way you can get something” “if you have to go into debt, do it with work and fight because anything is possible”.

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In 2015 I tried to return to the school of Blackhawk but I had to wait two years and someone recommended me to go to Rasmussen College in Rockford. I only had to take an exam and obtain a high qualification and I decided to take it with a practice for the following semester. When I was presented it I saw that it was a very complete exam, it had chemistry, physics, mathematics, history, literature and art. I believed that it had not happened, but I passed and in less than two weeks I had met all of the requirements to start my classes in October. It was very difficult to leave home, working part time, driving to Rockford, doing clinicals and taking my classes, but I liked what I did.

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We began to receive a lot of comments like; “so that you waste your time studying” “because you will go into debt, if you already have a job” “you will not be able to” I received a lot of teasing, my husband would say, “it is a waste of time” “are you sure they go to school” but what they told him the most was “as soon as she graduates she will leave you.” There were so many comments that this created problems in my relationship with my husband, but speaking we solved the problems since our marriage is based on the love and well-being of the family.

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In December of 2016 I graduated and everyone jumped with excitement. I was in a state of shock that I could not believe. My graduation was a day of joy for my whole family, being an achievement that was achieved with the effort of all, of my husband, my children, and myself. I remember that I did not know English when I arrived, I did not have to buy a pair of shoes either, but I did not give up and I managed to fulfill my dreams. Now my children told me that they want me to teach them not to give up now matter how difficult the path may be and teach them to fight for what they want. I still had to take the state exam to obtain the nursing license in Wisconsin. I went alone to Madison, the exam is of 75 to 365 questions and was given results within 72 hours. I began the exam and it had a little over 80 questions when my computer shut down. I believed I had failed and returned to Beloit crying. I arrived at my house trembling and said to my husband that I had failed. I went to my room trying to calm down, but followed by crying. My husband was scared since I do not usually cry and I tried to eat, but I did not pass the meal. Two days later I received an email from the health department where it only said “number of licenses”. I did not understand that I passed and thought that it was the payment of the exam. I called Tracy, a nurse, and she said to go to the health department page and type my name. I could not believe it, I passed the exam. I felt like I could not breathe, there was a beautiful and painful sensation, because there was a long road full of obstacles where I could give up on more than one occasion. I did not give up because you can fall, but you have to get up and move on with your dreams and never listen to someone who tells you that you cannot. The most valuable thing in life is education. It can be expensive but it is an investment, do no see it as a debt since it is an investment that will later allow you to earn much more money and allow you to decide where to work.

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Actually, I work in the Beloit Community Health Center (BACH) since 2008 and I love my job. I have always liked the way they treat people, especially the Hispanic community. My family is composed of my husband Felipe, my son Felipe Jr. 16 years old and my daughter Andrea 12 years old, I love to cook daily and make tortillas by hand, in my free time I like to work in the garden that we have at home where we harvest tomatoes, tomatillo, onion, chili, coriander, carrot, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, broccoli, cucumbers, corn, beans, chickpeas, peanuts, melon, watermelon.

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My message to parents is to treat your children equally and invest in their education since it is the best inheritance and for children is to invest in the time of your education and prepare for your future.

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