Borderland Voices: The Migrant Experience

Hazelton: The following interview is conducted on behalf of Texas A&M International University's Laredo Border History Project. It took place on April 26, 2019 in, um, the office of Dr. Andrew Hazelton, um, Pellegrino Hall 215 F on the TAMIU campus. The interviewer is Andrew Hazelton, I'm speaking today with Jerry Gutierrez. Um, so, I will start by asking if you could please state your name and your date of birth and when you came through the CAMP program.

 Gutierrez: Uh, Jerry Gutierrez, I was born June 13, 1991 and I went through the CAMP program 2009. Hazelton:  Um to start off, could you describe um what it was like, um, what your experiences were as a migrant, um growing up and where you went um what kind of things you were involved with, what that was like.  

 Gutierrez:  Um it was a lot of uh moving from city to city, well not really too many cities we, we um, we would migrate to the city of Maine, I mean the city of Caribou in Maine. Um, and it was just every uh every April we would pack our stuff up and we would leave to Maine, we would start school in Maine. Um, I went to elementary, middle school and high school in Maine, um, because we would not end school here, we would have to end it over there and uh come back and end school over here so it was just a cycle of us just going to different schools or to just switching schools’ mid-year going to Maine, finishing and just coming back and starting again. 

 Hazelton:  Where was um home?

 Gutierrez: Uhh, I live in Donna Texas in the Rio Grande Valley.

 Hazelton:  Sounds like you went as a family, is that right?

 Gutierrez: Yes, as a family.

 Hazelton:  Uh how big was your family, who went?

 Gutierrez: It is seven of us. Four, three brothers and one sister and mom and dad.

 Hazelton:  You mentioned um kind of disruption to the school year or um you know starting in one place, starting in another, what was that experience like?

 Gutierrez: Uh... to me it was horrible, because um, I had to I guess, um, make new friends every year um, every time we would come back, uh, mid-year uh to Donna, Texas, my home town, everyone knew we were coming late, um, so it was always awkward for us because everyone had already established relationships, uh, made groups of friends and since it was always a new year, uh, kind of everybody, you know, made their own new groups of friends, and we were always like the new ones to come is. So to me, it was, it was a bit hard having to incorporate myself into a different, um, I guess location because Caribou, Maine and Donna, Texas are two very different locations, and um different population, um you know it was a lot of language barriers, you know, I was, um, born in a Spanish speaking household, um , so I was always in ESL courses and um going to Caribou, Maine, um, it was harder for me to communicate especially, uh, you know, as an elementary student. Um... so, I think that was hard for me. But, um, over the years, I just knew that it was just a cycle and I honestly, I thought everyone did it, uh as a child you really don’t know any better and I just thought that everyone in my school would do it. I just wouldn’t understand why we would be the last ones to get here. Um, so I, I just, up until maybe my first year of middle school I realized that, oh, not everybody’s a migrant, and I, I think that year is that year that is the year that I realized what being a migrant meant and that I was actually a migrant student so I was a bit different from everybody else um but yeah that’s basically it. My experience coming in and incorporating myself every year to, to a new group, new people, um yeah.

 Hazelton: So, you, so it sounds like you’d sort of go up in late spring, is that right? And then come back in uh fall?

 Gutierrez: Yeah so, so it was yeah so it was, we would leave April and we would come back, or try to come back, uh October, um so yeah it was between school, yeah.

Hazelton: Did you, what was it like going to, you mentioned ESL and things like that, um in Caribou, Maine, uh what, was there a substantial difference in, in how you felt going to school up there versus down here?

 Gutierrez: There was definitely a different, um level of care if you will. I don’t know like they, they just uh treated us very differently, uh, especially because we were from different backgrounds, different ethnic backgrounds, um you don’t really see too many Hispanics in that area, um its predominantly white um so every time we would, um, get to school in, in Caribou ISD, they always greeted us with, you know, open arms and say, “Oh the migrants are back, it’s so cool”. We would have classes together, uh, we became so close to some of our ESL teachers, to the point that they would come over for, for uh you know dinners and my parents would cook for them and they just loved it. Um, so it was very different and then coming back down, um, people in the Valley all look like… me. So, it just like, it’s just a different um level of care, just like everyone else you know, you’re no different.

Hazelton:  So, it seems like um, was there a sort of, was that town, uh Caribou, was that generally welcoming to migrants or?

 Gutierrez: Um, so there was um some people uh that weren’t too welcoming to us um they thought of us as thieves and uh just bad people in general and uh they just really had preconceived notions towards us because our color of skin us so yeah, we encountered um instances of racism and I always say that um I was born into racism because going over there, you know, I did encounter a lot of racism and so I just, again so I just thought it was another one of those things I thought it was normal. You come to the Valley and you’re like “what’s race”, I never experienced anything like that, um.

Hazelton:  Does anything stick out, experiences that really kind of stick, from that?

 Gutierrez: Uh, yeah, definitely, several experiences, um so uh, especially in school, um, there was one instance where um, we were at a soccer game and uh we were all together, huddled up together, like me and my cousins and other migrant students, we would always hang out together. And then um, there was some other local students, you know horse playing right next to us and one of them just took off his watch and just left it there and um, he just, he just couldn’t find it and he just automatically assumed that we stole it. And um, so we got into a lot of trouble because of that. They just thought that we had it and we weren’t gonna return it to him because, I don’t know, they just thought that we were thieves. um and then also in the supermarkets you know, they would um kind of, whenever they would walk next to us they would kind of like move their belongings to the opposite side, um so we wouldn’t steal it from them. I don’t just a lot of, just little things here and there that I would see, that I would normally not see in the Valley doing that.

Hazelton: Before I kind of move on, what, what was it that your, that your family was mostly, what crop activity were they most involved in?

 Gutierrez:  Uh, broccoli.

 Hazelton:  Broccoli?

 Gutierrez:  Mhm, it would be broccoli.

 Hazelton:  What do you remember about the work?

 Gutierrez: I started working at 11 years old um and actually I started working in Indiana. So, we, um there was about two years, in my 18 years of being an active migrant student um that we went to Indiana um and we did uh cantaloupe. Um so we did, I did that for, for one summer um when I was eleven years old um and I remember just… not wanting to wake up in the morning it was just so hard for me as a 11-year-old student. You know, just having to wake up so early in the morning, get ready for work, put on your working boots um it was just a constant battle with my bed and you know my mom, my mom just having us to wake up and yeah so we would just wake up and I remember one time where, uh it was just so um, I don’t know how to say it, I was just exhausted I guess that day and I remember just needing, you know, um to breathe and water and stuff like that because it was just so hot that day and I fainted that day.

 Hazelton:  At 11 years old?

 Gutierrez:  At 11 years old, yeah but that’s because um I, I also just whenever I would go to work I would just focus on, you know, just getting the work done, getting the work done, and I realized that I hadn’t drank any water in the whole day and so that, that incident happened to me but that was the only time that it has ever happened to me but yeah um I remember starting at 11 years of age. I also have um I have a twin sister and she also started working with me but she, she started working earlier because she looked older. Um so it would, it would um, i guess yeah, she looked older than me so they just had her working before me then after that I started working.

 Hazelton: We kind of talked around some of these, um, issues but um you know obviously kind of moving in and out of school districts and things like that but what, what barriers did you face growing up, with your education because of being a farm worker?

 Gutierrez: Um… never really being involved with um academics in general like i never really got too deep into programs that I wanted to get into for example in high school um AP courses all those advanced courses and be, having um, um, access, easy access to, to colleges we were always in ESL courses so, I guess they just didn’t have time for us to have access to that I don’t know I just, I just felt that I, I never really had access to that. Um, also um since we um again, um was living in Caribou, Maine and it was uh, um, they would, they would tolerate us, but I think sometimes so teachers had some, some um negative feelings towards us so they, they didn’t want us to succeed. I remember one teacher, in particular that she just said that I would never be anything in life and that I, if I continue working um as a migrant worker that it, that I would never amount to anything um so, I, I took her advice seriously but um I know at one point it was her being malicious about it because she, because we didn’t want to join one of her classes or something like that. Um and she um knew that we were going to work instead of going to classes and um she just basically told us “You’re never going to be anything in your life” um so it just pretty much stuck with me, so I pretty much succeeded because of that comment that she made.

 Hazelton:  Did that um, it sort of compelled you to uh prove her wrong?

 Gutierrez: Yeah, because to me it felt like I needed to work because it was me helping my family. Um my parents never forced us to do any work um they kind of just told us like look um this is going on now, you know, I did it because I knew that we needed to help the family out. From a young age, we, we knew that this is what we had to do to help the family out and I, I was doing it because I had to help my family out and I knew getting educated was um something that we also needed to do. So, we had to kind of balance both out um because our, our parents they always um instilled in us that we had to get a higher education and I know that they work hard um to get us to where we’re at now and I also wanted to work hard um to help the family out and I know they struggled a lot. But again, they always instilled in us you’re, yes, you’re a migrant worker but also want you to get educated and I, I know that they definitely put all their effort into it because they wouldn’t have been going through the hassle of going through the districts, signing all this paper work um having us sign out the right wat. Having um course um, um what’s it called, course comparisons between the districts in Caribou and the districts in Donna um I know that they wouldn’t have gone through all that trouble had they not been um you know wanting us to succeed in life.

Hazelton:  How did you, how did your family view um college, the possibility of going to college? Was it sort of a next step from everything you have done or was that sort of uncharted territory?

 Gutierrez: Um, well they, both of my parents have an education no higher than middle school and um but, but they, they knew that we needed to go to college and we needed to go to school um they just um, I’m guessing that they just didn’t know the right path to take. They just know that, you know continuing your education, you know middle school, uh, elementary, middle school, high school would eventually get you there and they knew that there would be someone to help you there um, but they never, they never um denied us going to school or you know tell us that you’re never gonna go to college, like they always, you know, wanted us to get higher education, um they were all for, you know higher education and helping us out, um. Of course, they did it through means of, you know, other people, you know, helping out um because obviously they, they didn’t know right route to take but they knew, that other people could help us out.

Hazelton:  What, how did you find yourself at TAMIU? What lead to your decision to apply and to attend college?

 Gutierrez:  Oh yeah, simple um they, there was a college recruiter that just came and said that they would give you a migrant scholarship if you attend our university. I actually didn’t even know this school existed um so, um when they gave me the opportunity I knew that I wanted to leave the Valley, I did not want to stay in the Valley and my parents didn’t let me go to Michigan State University because it was too far and um I didn’t think they were ready to let me go that far. And I said you know what, if I’m not leaving to Michigan State then I’m leaving for Laredo, its close enough but it’s still far away to say that you’re far away from home.  Um so I ended up choosing that, that, um TAMIU because the recruiter came and said, “we’ll give you a scholarship”, let’s do it um and yeah, I, I came in the summer. He actually tricked me actually, he told me that um the recruiter for TAMIU, the migrant program, he told me “You know what you can try the migrant program in TAMIU for the summer. If you don’t like the summer program and you don’t like the university, we can just simply transfer you back to UTPA”. Which was the school back in the days, um now its UTRGV. So, I was like you know what, that’s a good deal for my, for my course work for the summer, if I don’t like it I get to come back, awesome let’s do it. So, you know I signed the paper work and I came and then um I ended up loving it here. But little did I know that it was just easy to you know um register for courses in the summer, go to school and then all of a sudden you know what I’m gonna transfer out to UTRGV or back to Pan-Am. It wasn’t that easy, uh so I’m glad that I stayed here because I ended up meeting other, other friends um, other migrant students in the program that summer, um and we’ve, um been friends ever since, I made a couple of, um, good friends that year, summer of 2009 and we’ve been friends since then. Its already been, what, 10 years, um, that we’ve known each other so, yeah.

Hazelton: What, talk a little about the transition, clearly you made some friends, what was it like transitioning um to that- are you the first in your family to go?

Gutierrez: I am a first generation, I was the first one in my, in, within my sibling to go to college. Because I have older sibling so its um, the oldest sibling um he’s um 31 and then I have one that’s 28 and then me and my sister, twins, and then my youngest brother. So, I was the only one that went and then my youngest brother followed. Um, but the transition um, honestly it wasn’t, it wasn’t hard for me. I mean, I travelled, like literally all my life uh to Caribou, Maine which is completely opposite from the Valley and Laredo is what 95% Hispanic so I did not find um you know, it wasn’t hard for me to incorporate myself into society here. It was pretty easy and people are um, pretty easy going here, so I wouldn’t say it was hard transition. I just know I wanted to leave so, as long as that happened, I was good.

 Hazelton: Did you, um, did you face any particular barriers or stresses while being the first person in your family to go, anything?

 Gutierrez:  Uh, well yes because one I was the first one to go to college, so I didn’t know what to expect um in turn of um, in term of um education and um just higher education in general I, I think I struggled um because I really… So, so going back to high school, uh in, in my particular school I, I really felt that um students were really just labelled and you can never get out of your label. So, because I was a migrant student I was never able to, um excel, I was never able to get out of that statues, that label. Even if I wanted to do AP courses, no, you’re a migrant student so you stay as a migrant student. If you’re an AP student then you stay as an AP student. Um, so I was never really prepared for higher education or anything like that um, so coming here, um you know, have a, a different, different material um you know different way of teaching, I mean it’s a whole other level from high school to, to college and in, in terms of that, yes, the transition was pretty hard. Um and also because my, Um I wasn’t really that good at Language Arts um so that, that was also a barrier, writing essays and that stuff. That, not that it was brand new to me but I, I hadn’t perfected it in high school because, or you know, middle school, high school because the, the traveling back and forth um, we kind of got lost in the middle. Um we never really had a, a full year’s worth of just one classroom, one educator, um yeah.

 Hazelton: What, um what was your experience, I mean you talked a little bit about it but what was your experience in, in CAMP like, how did that sort of help with these things?

 Gutierrez: Oh, CAMP was definitely a big help because they, honestly, they were, they were the ones that really um, help me get um, I guess, uh a more, how do I say it. I guess they, they helped me the transition I guess, so they were really the ones that, that pushed me um, during school. They were the ones that just really help me get through my first year of college and help me with that transition, um. And I knew that I was going into a program with other students with a similar background um, so I knew that I can, um, um relate to them and they were, they were going to be my little group of friends, if in case I,  in case I felt um, you know, like I, like I needed someone to be with someone to be around, i could just go back to that little group of friends that I made in the CAMP program, um, just like a family away from home, I guess you could say, um. So, CAMP really did help me a lot with that transition and they help a lot with um, finding programs for your major um, maybe programs to help you study um, you know the university’s learning center um, they help you find stuff like that, yeah pretty much. 

 Hazelton:  You said you, you made some strong relationships and that was kind of a lasting legacy for you, talk about that a little bit, um you made some friends?

   Gutierrez: Yeah going in um, going back to, to um, like middle school and high school I was uh, was not too outgoing. I was uh, introvert um, I was very shy, never speak to anyone and, and I, I think it was because of me having to move to different places all time and having to make new friends I just kind of shut down. I’m like it’s going to happen over again so why, why you know, why make friends again why do this. Of course I had my loyals, every year they would always be like “he’s back” and I would talk to them and stuff. I wouldn’t venture out, I was too scared to venture out, um. So, coming to college and meeting um new friends’ um, meeting these people with similar backgrounds um I think I found it easier for me to say you know, “you know what, this is gonna be the year that I change and I’m gonna try to explore, talk to new people, be a little bit more extrovert”. I started talking to them and they just turned out to be amazing people um, we just had so many things in common, that it just became easy for me to open up and just become the person that I am now. Now people would never, would never guess that I was an introvert and I mean with, with TAMIU and the CAMP program I’ve been able to travel the world and you know visit, I, I’ve been to 26 countries. Every country I go to I just love talking, I just talk to whoever is next to me, I’m like super random like that. If someone is sitting next to me in the, the metro I just start talking um, but I think it’s because you know the program, really helps you um, you know, get out there, you know just, just be a better version of yourself I guess.

Hazelton: Was it, was it sort of, you know, refreshing? Did it make you feel like you know you weren’t the only person who had to deal with this and these issues growing up, did it help you kind of come out of that shell?

 Gutierrez:  I, I’ve always played it safe. Every time I met a group of people, if I met someone that was, like me, um that had a similar background I would just stick to them. So, I always liked to, to play it safe, so when I came into the, the program definitely I, I played it safe. I, they were all, had similar backgrounds and they all kind of like had a similar lingo um, I don’t know it, that’s a weird, we, we have a lingo um, that, uh so, we I, I just connected with them.

 Hazelton:  Can you give me an example?

 Gutierrez: I knew this was coming. Um, so, um… I guess it’s more like… I don’t know how to explain it, um… I’ll get back to you on that one.

 Hazelton:  Okay.

 Gutierrez:  Yeah.

Hazelton: Is there, you know, if you had to look back is there anything that you sort of think the program um, you know, you’ve spoken a lot about how the program is helpful for all these reasons, um, providing access to services, and the other things. Is there anything that you think is sort of missing, or that, that um, that you’ve would have like to have, to have had, you know, this additional thing?

 Gutierrez:   Of the top of my head, no. I don’t remember ever um, thinking that the program wasn’t enough um, I do think they really did help a lot. Um no, I, I honestly don’t know, if I figure something out I would make sure to…

Hazelton:  What, so CAMP is a one year program, what was it like transitioning out of that and continuing your education.

 Gutierrez:  Honestly, I never felt that I transitioned out because the program, yes, they help you out for your first-year um, with scholarships but they will continue helping you out through your years in college. They won’t give you financial aid but um, financial help, but they will help you out. Through they year, you know, I would always go to the office for advice um, maybe I needed um, I don’t know a scantron or I needed something for school and they would help you out. Academic advising, sometimes they would help you out, um, so I honestly never felt like I left and then um, I actually became an advisor for the migrant program, a mentor for the migrant program. Um, so I kind of stuck with CAMP throughout my, my college career. So, so they never really tell you okay that’s it, get out. No. They’re always just, you know, they’re always there, open doors. If you want to go back, talk to them, chit chat, um, yeah, I just never felt that I left, um but um, they definitely, they do or, they definitely did help me, you know, be a better student um, and just be a better person in general. 

Hazelton:  What was it like taking on the mentor role? What kind of lead to your decision to do that?

 Gutierrez:   I loved because I know that these students um, again, similar backgrounds, I knew that they were gonna have the same questions I had. Um, for example, how does it work um, what am I gonna do, you know, when my parents are not here um, I don’t know what am I gonna do without a vehicle. You know, not every freshman student comes in with a brand-new vehicle um, and I, I just, I wanted to be there, as, as, you know, a, a big brother, if you will. Um, you know, being in the program, for my, my first year is very helpful so, so I wanted to help other students understand the program or, or maybe um, you know, guide them through the program if they needed some guidance um, and I just also thought it was, it was good to keep in touch with CAMP so, I just decided to apply for the role and they hired me.

 Hazelton:  How many, um how many people would you, what was the sort of work of mentoring like?

Gutierrez:   Um, so um, every year they hired, I believe four mentors and then the program, usually has between 25-30 students So we would, I’m probably getting my math wrong, we would get about seven to eight students per mentor and every week we had to monitor um, their, their coursework um, or their classes, make sure that they’re attending classes. Make sure that they, if they had any like, um, homework or um, I guess if they had anything they needed help with um, make sure they went to their advising or academic counselor meetings. Um and we also as advisors, as mentors we would make sure that we, we had um, little programs for them. Um, money um, um…budgeting programs. So, we had budgeting programs if they lived on campus. We would have food programs so we would teach them how to cook basic stuff. We, we usually, for the summers, um, the students that would come in the summer, they would give them a stipend, a meal stipend. So, we would take them to Wal-Mart or H-E-B and we would show them how to, how to spend the money um, the correct way, you know. You don’t want to buy one item that costs like $20 when you can buy four items for that $20-budgeting. Um, so yeah those are the kind of things that we would work with and then we would also do a lot of community service. CAMP um, is really um, active when it comes to community service. Just, just serving the community and we um, kind of contact the local um, food banks um, Habitat for Humanity, and we would just go out there as a group, together and we would make hours of community service.

Hazelton:  Are there any, any experiences that you kind of remember from your role as a mentor um, that really kind of stick out and that you, you particularly remember?

 Gutierrez:  Um… the only thing that comes to, I mean I’m sure there’s a lot more than this but right now, I’m just, my…um, I can’t remember a lot um, but I know my brother also came to the program. So, I was his mentor and I never told anyone he was my brother because I didn’t want it to be biased and I didn’t want them to think that I was um, yeah basically being biased with him and giving him all of the stipends or giving him the liberty of being, you know, out for certain hours um, you know just favoring. So, I never told anyone that he was my brother. He didn’t end up being my mentee um, he ended up being someone else’s mentor, mentee but um, eventually they found out that he was my brother and they were like “what, he’s your brother, he’s in the program” I was like “yeah he’s my brother um, he also doing the program but don’t feel like im favoring him because like I haven’t, if you can see”. Um, but I think just that, just um, be-being able to, you know, help my brother also come to college and do the same program I did um, and helping him succeed. Um, I think that’s one of the things that I remember the most, in the mentor program.

 Hazelton:  When did he come?

 Gutierrez: He came 2012? Yeah, I believe 2012, 2013 and that’s when he came into to the CAMP program and he also did the summer program. They don’t do the summer programs here, at least not here at TAMIU. He did the summer program where he did course work and they got him started so. They paid for everything so, I think it was a good opportunity for him. I’m glad he took it because he wasn’t, he wasn’t coming to TAMIU, he was like “I’m not gonna go to the school that you’re going to” he’s like “I’m gonna to it myself and I’m gonna go to this place” I don’t even know where he was gonna go and he ended up coming to TAMIU. I helped him with everything, the application and um he ended up coming, eventually he followed me. He already graduated and everything so, he-he’s proud of his school, as am I. 

 Hazelton:  You have a TAMIU legacy going on.

 Gutierrez:  Yeah.

 Hazelton: What um, so what did you do after? When did you graduate when, what did you do after that?

 Gutierrez:  So, I graduated 2015, 2014? 2015. My bachelors in Psychology and bachelors in sociology um, I did a dual major. So, um, I really enjoyed traveling abroad, studying abroad and TAMIU has an excellent program and I started doing study abroad I believe my sophomore going into my junior year and when I found out about it um, I really liked it. I don’t know um, how I registered for that or, when I started or why I started but I just know that when I started I just never wanted to stop and I ended up going to seven different programs. Going to 26 countries um, and then I actually postponed, sounds bad but I postponed my graduation um because I wanted to continue studying abroad um so I added a second major which added more, more hours and but it was all for a good cause. Because I wanted to, you know, have that second major, you know, to back me up and then, I mean, continue traveling and well my major was in sociology so everything had to do with race, ethnic relations, I was all for it. And if I could be, in you know, in that culture, you know that country, it was way better to get that first-hand experience and um so yeah and then I ended up doing a, the BAMA program here at TAMIU. The bachelors, master’s program so I did dual enrollment or, dual courses with my undergraduates’ and my master’s degree. So, I graduated I, again I think it was 2014? I honestly don’t remember when I graduated with my bachelors but I remember I graduated with my masters in 2016 so it must have been around that area 15, or something like that. Um, I graduated with my masters in sociology um, and then that’s it. I graduated with my masters and then I started working. In Laredo.

 Hazelton:  What uh, what was your sort of first job after college?

 Gutierrez:   Um, I started, no I started working, I was a social worker here in Laredo um, I started working there actually during my graduates’ program. So, I believe it was a semester before graduating I, I got the job. I just wanted to make sure that I had that secure by the time I graduated and I ended applying and I got the job as a social worker um, actually when, when I first came in to the university in 2009, that’s what I wanted to do. Social work. But they did away with the program that year so well, I decided to just major in sociology and then psychology kind of similar I guess. And then yeah, so I ended up doing social work during my graduate’s degree.

Hazelton:  Where was that, that you were working?

 Gutierrez:  Here in Laredo.

 Hazelton:  But where?

 Gutierrez:  I was at Border Region.

 Hazelton:  Oh, okay.

 Gutierrez:  Yeah, MHMR.

Hazelton: Yeah. Um, when did you start working as a recruiter for TAMIU? How did you get… how did that happen? Gutierrez:  Yeah, so um, after being there for about a year I decided that I had to go back home for personal reasons and, and then I had seen the posting for recruitment, um, Office of Recruitment here at TAMIU for a while and nobody applied, nobody applied and I’m like you know what I’m gonna apply. So, I’ll apply and hopefully get the job and then go back home and be with family. And um, so yeah, I got the job and ended up going so now I’m a regional recruiter for TAMIU.  

Hazelton:  How long have you been doing this?

Gutierrez:  Two years.

Hazelton:  Two years?

Gutierrez:  Yes, going to my third year.

Hazelton:    What’s that like having, having gone from um, coming from where you come from and then sort of recruiting in the Valley um, which is going home turf?

Gutierrez:  Yeah, well first of all I never really wanted to go back to the Valley. It was never an option for me. I swear to God that I was not coming back to the Valley, I was never going uh, back to my hometown because I just felt that people there are just um, um… I just feel like people are close minded, I guess. And I’m just, you know I’ve been, I’ve travelled to 26 countries, you know I did my masters and all that stuff and then I ended up back to the Valley. Like to me it was just like a big no, no. Like you did so much and you ended up back in the Valley, back where you started and then I didn’t want people looking at me and being like “hey didn’t you get your masters and now you’re back home, how did that even happen? Didn’t you go to 26 countries?” Like, if you only knew what happened. Um, so I had actually um, during, during my time at TAMIU um, at the Office of Career Services I, I um, went into a session and said you know what, I want to know what it’s like to live and work abroad. Because that’s what I actually wanted to do, just be abroad, specifically in Asia. So, they’re like “okay, we’ve never done something like that but we’ll go ahead and do our research and we’ll have a second session and by the time you come back we’ll have, you. know, kind of like internships lined up for you.” And I came back for the second session and they found um, several internships for me and I chose one in Beijing, China as an English teacher. So, I was teaching English, um, for about six months in Beijing and um I said, “you know what, I really like this.” I was a kindergarten English teacher, I said “I really like this, this is what I really want to do after I graduate.” So, once I graduated with my master’s degree I, you know, instantly started applying for the THINK program that I was in, in Beijing and the school was like you know what we’’ give you the job, like we will help you out. So, I was supposed to go from Border Region to China but then um, you know, I had family issues um, and I had to postpone that and I had to come back to the Valley. So, if people only knew that I was not planning to come back but I just hate explaining myself like okay, who cares. Yes, I’m back in the Valley and that’s pretty much it.

  Hazelton:    What um, you keep coming back to the number of countries you’ve been to and the extensive study abroad. What kind of pushed you to do that, why did you?

 Gutierrez:   I don’t know I think, I think it all started with being a migrant, just traveling. I, I think, I’ve never thought of this before but I think it has a lot to do with me having to move from place to place a lot and just having the experience. I never, I never thought of traveling as a negative thing. Um, I just, I just as a child leaving um, on a road trip to Maine was awesome. We would stop at all these different states and we would get to enjoy, you know, even if it was a rest area I was like “Where are we, this is so cool, look at that, look at this.” Um, and then um I guess it just stuck with me, traveling wasn’t an issue for me. I, I did the study abroad program and then I saw you know, the culture shock. Usually the culture shock is a negative thing but for me it was like “Oh wow, like this is crazy, like I want to continue doing this.” Um, I think one of my memorable moments for study aboard and I think what push me as well to continue traveling, it was a such a negative experience but I turned it into a positive experience. Um, my class uh, so, so I started, my very first program was in London. I did a Forensic Psychology class in London, so we were studying at the University of London um, and then after that I remember contacting the Study Abroad Office and letting them know that I wanted to continue traveling so if I could um, please submit an application for the next program that same summer. And they’re like “Well the next program is a multi-culture, multi country program and it has a course that you need to take so if you want to do it, you can apply for it. We’ll do everything.” I said “Okay, let’s do it.” So, I applied for that program and I had to fly from London to um, the Netherlands because that’s where um, we we’re gonna initiate our trip um, with the, with the class. They were all gonna land the same day. So, turns out um, my professor contacts me and she says “Hey Jerry, we’re actually not going to make it tomorrow. The whole entire class is still in Laredo because there are some weather issues um that are preventing the flight from taking off, so we’re gonna have to take another flight. So, you’re going to be on your own,” and my heart dropped. I was like “what are you talking about, I’m gonna be alone, I’m gonna fly into the country. No one is gonna be there, what do I do?” and she’s like “Don’t worry about it, just uh, grab a train, go to the city center and get a hotel and you’ll be fine.” Well, yeah easy for her to say um, she’s actually a native from uh, she’s Dutch so she’s familiar with the area so, in her mind, she’s like well it’s a very safe city I’m sure you can get around. If I can get around, you can get around but I had never been in the Netherlands, I have never been in Europe and she just made it seem so easy. And I’m like “okay, sure” so I hung up with her and got off the flight in Netherlands and uh, I remember getting off the flight and just looking around and I’m like what do I do now? She told me to get a ticket but where am I going to get a ticket? So, as soon as I got off the flight um, I remember seeing a Burger King there at the airport, I felt like I was at home. I was just, I saw that Burger King and I went straight to that Burger King. I mean at this point in time, that was the only thing that reminded me of home and that was the only thing that was keeping me sane. Um, so I went to Burger King, I grabbed a Whopper, I knew what I was ordering because I knew what a Whopper is and um, so I sat there at least an hour, trying to eat my burger as slow as I can. Um, because I, I didn’t want to leave there and then um, in my head I was thinking if I can stay here longer, that will, that will give me you know, that would give me more time to think about what I am going to do and I don’t have to move from here. I was safe. And then eventually, I had to move I, I ended up, you know, finding the, I, I just met some people, some random people that were buying tickets for the City Center and I’m like “Oh, I need to go to the City Center, so let me go talk to them. And they’re like “Oh yeah you do, you do it here, you can buy it here,” and stuff like that. I went to go exchange money, the first time I exchanged money by myself. I got the ticket and we got on the same uh, train together and then at one point they thought I was weird because I kept on following them like a lost puppy and they um, I asked them if I could borrow their phone, they were a little hesitant. They were like “okay dude I don’t know if I should lend you our phone, you’re a little weird,” and I’m like “I’m so sorry, I’m just really lost and I don’t know what to do.” So, we got off the, the train at the city center and then thankfully my worked um, and I googled hotel and I found, I think it was a hostile and I found it and I got there and that was my first experience alone and I managed to do it myself and after that, once the group came I was, I was like so independent. I was like “Oh, why are you scared, this is really cool like, I’ll, I’ll lead the group.” And I would start leading the groups because I had already been on the train, I knew how it worked and ever since then I just took initiative. I just like to be the leader of the group and, and I just like exploring. And I always told the students, “you’re not lost, you’re just exploring,” and I just think about it that way and that when I first and ever since then I just started traveling. And then after that I went to Hong Kong after a whole semester, I ended up being in Hong Kong for a whole year and um, that’s how I ended up wanting to, to teach in China because I love Hong Kong, I love Asia. Um, and I just didn’t stop traveling ever since then. That was a long story.

 Hazelton:  No, it’s great, where, where have you been most recently?

 Gutierrez:  Uh, Hong Kong.

 Hazelton:  Yeah?

 Gutierrez:  Yeah. Hong Kong and Thailand.

 Hazelton:  Where do you want to go next?

 Gutierrez: Um, I’m actually going back to Hong Kong in December. Um, it’s because um, I lived in Hong Kong for a year and I’ve been able to build so many relationships um, that it’s just hard for me not to go back. It’s just I just have these, these really close friends and I mean I’ve been invited over to their homes and um, thinking back I just, being a migrant student really opened up a lot of doors for me and I just never thought as a migrant student that I would, you know, be able to travel the world, get a master’s degree um, you know, be that, that example for other students. Um, also just because of all the negative comments along my path you know, from teachers telling me I won’t amount to anything from teachers not letting me do what I want to do um, academically um, you know, my parents not having an education, you know, higher than middle school. Um, I just, I just look back at it and think to myself like “Wow I have accomplished so much,” and my parents have, have just done so much for us that it would be such a waste of their time, their energy um, to just be at home not doing anything. I’ve always taking that um, you know, I’ve always used my parents’ um, as that, as that push, as that example. Because my parents are very, very hardworking people. I mean my mom um, she would work pregnant. When she had my oldest brother um, she worked until, until the last week um, before delivering and then she started working um, months after she had him. She started working and she would put him in a little basket and she would tie him to her back and she would work with him… on, on her back. Yeah, so, I mean they, they just work really hard for us not to do anything or be anything in life. I, I feel like I owe it to them um, to be successful. To, to do what I’m doing now and my, I know my parents are um, very happy and grateful for everything I’ve done for them um, and I will continue doing for them, yeah.

Hazelton:  I want to thank you uh, very much for, for taking the time today to, to come in and I’m gonna go ahead and stop the recording uh, but thank you for, for sharing these stories with, with us today.

Gutierrez:  Thank you for having me. 

Dr. Hazelton: The following interview is conducted on behalf of Texas A&M International University’s Laredo Border History Project. It took place on April 17th, 2019 at TAMIU, uh, in the interviewer’s office. The interviewer is Andrew Hazelton and I am speaking today with Maria Montalvo. Um, go ahead and state your name and your date of birth for us.

Montalvo: Um, my name is Maria Montalvo, I'm from November third, nine… ugh.

Dr. Hazelton: That’s fine. There’s no… you’re good, go ahead. 

Montalvo: My name is Maria Montalvo. My date of birth is November 3rd, 1993.

Dr. Hazelton: Um, To start us off, can you describe a little bit, um, sort of your life in, in, your life growing up as a migrant. Where you were mostly living and then where you would go?

Montalvo: Well, I am from a little small town [on the] border [called] Rio Grande City which has a smaller town [called] Garciasville, Texas, which is probably about ten minutes away from the bigger city RGC. Um, we literally, well where I live is literally actually like thirty minutes away walking distance from the border, from the river. Um, we used to travel to Colorado, Rocky Ford. Um, that’s mainly where we would always go. My dad and my brother still travel though. So my dad would travel to Carrizo Springs, [TX] in the summers then to Colorado again and my brother travels to North Dakota and Minnesota and they still work over there. 

Dr. Hazelton: Um, okay, so Colorado but also some seasonal work in Carrizo Springs, [TX] and also you have extended family going off to Minnesota and to other places? Um, what was it like, um, growing up as a migrant kid?

Montalvo: Well, the difficult part is having to take all of the [State of Texas Standardized] exams earlier than everybody else just because we have to leave. So if everybody ends up testing by May, we’re testing in April more or less cause by May we’re about leaving already. Um, I mean luckily the beginnings we wouldn’t really like have to enroll in other school. But, um, when we did it was really bad because you’re like with different people with different cultures, different races, so we have like some issues there.  

Dr. Hazelton: What was that like? What kind of issues?

Montalvo: Well, my little sister was actually the one that went through them. When she got enrolled in Colorado, she had to go to this, um, well it was this school, an elementary/middle school like everybody was tied together. But mainly, um, the population over there is White, so they would always bully her telling her that, um, “Hispanic people are not supposed to be smart.” So she didn’t have no friends, they were constantly bullying her. Until she actually made friends with one of the coaches there and she would be the one that would help her out. She would have to go eat lunch with her [the coach] in her office and all of that because nobody else would want to hang out with her. And they were constantly, like she didn’t want to go to school. So during that year I didn’t end up leaving with them. I stayed behind because I would play sports, um, so I had volleyball all year round. And, um, my mom would constantly be calling me and she would be like, “try to convince her [my sister] to go to school. Try to convince her. Like your dad has been taking her and she doesn’t want to stay. We’ve been having trouble. She doesn’t want to wake up. She doesn’t want to go. She doesn’t want to be there.” Um, so that was the only year that she ended up going there. I mean, she was alone. My brother around this time was in middle school, so he would have been there with her, but he ended up coming home early cause he would do football. So [we] left her there alone and it was really tough for her, it was really really hard for her.  

Dr. Hazelton: And uh, or were some of the… how big was the town where you would go? This was in Rocky Ford?

Montalvo: Rocky Ford, um, it wasn’t like it wasn’t super super big. Like, we would have to travel like about forty five minutes to go to a grocery like a huge grocery store and stuff like that or else we would get stuff at those meat market places which everything was super overly priced over there, extremely. But no it was really really tiny place. 

Dr. Hazelton: Were uh, were some of the kids responsible for the teasing and the bullying, um, also the children of the owners of the farms in the community?

Montalvo: No not really, they were just regular kids from there basically. No, not really.

Dr. Hazelton: Um, what was the work itself like? What do you remember about that? How many seasons did you go up through whatever point you…

Montalvo: I went my freshman year which was in 2009 I believe? That’s whenever I went. Um, So it was like one whole summer that I ended up going. So what I was doing at that time was I would help like take care of the younger kids. Cause I mean you have, you can still work but obviously 16 is the [legal] age. So if you were to work they would just like pay you with any little thing. So basically I would just end up staying with the younger ones like my sister. Like I probably like ended up like babysitting like about six children. So I would just, i would be there with them but I would just be taking care of them. Cause we would stay in housing like they would allow us to like--they would either rent us some, um, they would pay for some apartments and sometimes it would be hotels. It would all just depend. But at this point we were staying in apartments. So they weren’t furnished so we were sleeping on the floor in like mattresses and, um, we would just be there. So I would just end up waking up super early cause my mom would go in earlier because she was in the fields, so she had to be there by like five in the morning and then later on my dad would go. But since like you still have some kids that their parents are working in the fields so I would just end up leaving with my mom and I would start there then I would end up with my dad inside after that with all the little kids.

Dr. Hazelton: Was it, um, was it just your family that you were looking after or were there [other families as well]...

Montalvo: No it was like every other ones, yeah everybody else's. I mean cause anybody from like ages ten, they would still have them working like my brother. My brother around this time, he would help around like he would go. Like he would be inside the bodega and he would help around like he would go either like help someone like cause you had elderly people as well working still. So he would go help them like pick up the sacks and put them in where they had to go. Or he would help them like put the little stickers so people would just pay him with like, “Oh we’ll just bring you lunch, we’ll give you like five dollars.” Like they would just give him something cause he wasn’t of age to be getting paid for it. So, but he was just out yeah.

Dr. Hazelton: Um, what uh, did the… did the owners or managers of the place kind of allowed that stuff to happen?

Montalvo: Yeah they would. They would as long as there was no injuries going on. And so that’s why they weren’t allowed to do any heavy work like go in there. Cause the machines whenever they would be packing them the machines go fast, so they’re just throwing, throwing like melons, watermelons, whatever it is onions, and they’re just quickly packing it and packing it. So they weren’t allowed to be there. But if it ended up being like something with like oh let's into both of us lets carry this into here that was fine, or if it was like putting stickers on the produce, then that was fine. Other than that, they weren’t allowed to do anything else.

Dr. Hazelton: Um, so you, you talked a little bit about the disruption to the, um, to the education that you would experience, um, and it was just the one season that you went? What were you doing the other, like before that? Would you stay in town while your folks went or would somebody stay with you or?

Montalvo: Well, I would stay with my grandma actually. So whenever, like that year that I went I ended up going cause I believe that was the first year we all went as a family. Um, my freshman year was the first year we went as a family. So, um, I ended going with them I was like, “why not?” So I gave it a try. Then after that volleyball came along and I was like I am not going to stay behind, I was like, on the team and stuff. So I just kept staying with my grandma. But it was still difficult because I wasn't there with my parents, so it was hard for my mom to be working and then having to call me all the time to see if I'm okay and all of that. And then having to send me money for my stuff over here. So, sometimes it was super super hard. I mean, and even at that like my, um, senior year she wasn't there for parents night. So I walked in like to all my sports alone cause she was away over there working. But yeah it’s difficult.

Dr. Hazelton: What… did you in your high school years, did you take part in any, um, obviously you had to do testing at certain times and things like that, but um, did you have access to any migrant student services at the high school level?

Montalvo: Yes, we actually did. Um, one they would actually they had like the migrant lab, which is basically if you ever needed any help there was always like a teacher there for us to help. Or if we were, um, they were there basically if we were to fall behind on our credits they would help us like, we would stay there and makeup hours. Um they would help us with like, keeping up with our grades and stuff like that. When it came to college, um, they would like I came with the migrant people over here [to TAMIU] with like the counselors and everything. We came to see TAMIU actually. 

Dr. Hazelton: So the high school program brought you to the…  

Montalvo: Yeah, brought us over here, mhm. They like got all the migrant students that they had, which we weren't a lot actually. We weren't really like a bunch of us in there in that group, and they brought us over here to see the colleges and everything. 

Dr. Hazelton: What was that, well what kind of, we talked a little bit around this but, um, what barriers interfered with your education before going to college that resulted from your parents migrating, or in some cases you? 

Montalvo: What would you mean by that barriers like? 

Dr. Hazelton: Um any, what was difficult about being a migrant kid at the highschool level or having migrant parents? 

Montalvo: Well, I mean, we were limited to everything. I mean basically falling behind in our grades and stuff. Well not technically on our grades, but like on our work cause I mean if we were to leave early we weren't allowed to, we weren't how can I explain it? Um, I don't know how to explain it. It’s like everyone else had more chances, like more time to prepare themselves for stuff while we had to do it all like in a hurry before we left because we had to complete the exams. We had to complete any final exams we had also for a class besides those TAKS tests they would make us do and all of that. Um, so that would, I would think that that is like the biggest barrier that we actually had. I mean other than that, um, everything else was just not, it wasn't so difficult. I mean no. But, um, being away from your friends as well, leaving them all behind.

Dr. Hazelton: Um, did you, you talked a little bit about um the counselors taking you to TAMIU, was that sort of uh, was that the first time that you thought, “yeah i'm going to do that,” or you know, what was college like as a possibility in your mind in high school?

Montalvo: Well, college was always a possibility only because that’s what my mom always enforced on us. Cause since my mom came to the United States, um, she always worked in the fields. That’s what she worked in as soon as she got over here. She, um, she became, um, she got her papers and everything to be over here and she started working in the fields. So, she was working there for I would probably say till I was five? Yeah till I was five years old thats, she was working there. Um. 

Dr. Hazelton: Where is that? 

Montalvo: There in Rio Grande City. Like they have little fields there. Well there used to be a lot more work, now they don't have any. Um, so she used to work there for the onion, yeah the cebolla. She used to work on that, um, mainly it was just that. And my dad always worked as well with a company there it was called produce company? He used to do always, my dads always done like labor work. So he's always been working in bodegas for like watermelon, melon, cebolla, all of that stuff. That's what, he's always been working there. So they used to have that one company so that’s where he used to work there and packed produce. And, um, she used to always tell us “I don't want you guys working in the fields.” Like, “I don't want you guys like being in the sun, I dont want u guys, um, being the same as we are,” and stuff. So she would always tell us like, “education doesn't matter, whether you go to the community college that's there.” So, um, when I ended up like getting there to my senior year I didn't really know where I wanted to go. I was like, “Okay,  San Antonio, like that's probably where I wanna go. UTSA, Texas State,” but then after that they ended up telling me they're like, “Oh well, TAMIU actually is in Laredo and they have a CAMP program.” And I was like, “Oh really?” I was like, “What is it about?” So then, I believe at that time the person that was in charge of recruiting was Isela? I think her name was Isela. She's the one that went down to the high school, to RGC high school. And she spoke to me, like she um, called me out, and she spoke to me, and shes like “Yeah, we have this program all you have to do is write an essay about your experience over there. Um, we can only get, um, thirty students into the program. Um, she’s like, “So try to get in all your paperwork we just need proof of you being a migrant and everything.” And then I was like, “Oh, okay.” “So, we pay your freshman year off. As soon as you do your financial aid you get your freshman year paid off and everything.” And I was like, “Oh, okay, like that actually sounds like a good like… and I was just still iffy about it, but then one of my other friends she was all like, “Well, I am going to apply for it too and see if i get it.” And i was just like, “Oh, okay.” So then I applied for it and everything and I mean they were really helpful. Like they were always honest. And everything, um, so she would constantly be going over there and she’s like, “Okay, you're still missing this.” Like, “let me get it for you,” and all of that. Then after that that's whenever the migrant lab there at the high school brought us over to come and visit the school. 

Dr. Hazelton: So you were iffy on the location, you wanted a big city?

Montalvo: Yeah, I wanted a big city, wanted to get out of the small little town and everything. I mean its cause everyone knows everyone there like you can't do anything without everybody finding out about it. So no, I needed to leave somewhere. 

Dr. Hazelton: Um, was it mostly the CAMP thing that kind of sold you on TAMIU or? 

Montalvo: Yes pretty much it was the CAMP yeah.

Dr. Hazelton: What was it like, um, what was it like transitioning to college? Um, going from the community you were in and kind of making that transition into your first year freshman?

Montalvo: It was very intimidating at first cause now you're like surrounded by a larger group in a bigger city. Um, I didn't even have a vehicle at that time, so, that was like something stressing that I was like, “Oh, how am i going to get stuff if I need some?” and everything. But I mean, um, with the CAMP program we actually had advisors and we were all divided into our advisors. Um, with our advisors we had mentors. So, our advisors had like, um, they were prior, um, CAMP students as well, they would be, um, our mentors. So we had two mentors, it was a female and a male. And, um, they would actually guide us through it. So, it was a lot better cause every week we had to come meet up with our mentor, so we would set up a location and time we wanted to meet with them and everything. So, that was like every week that we would meet up with them. They would just ask us, “How are you doing with work? Do you need help with anything?” So they would help us out with homework if we needed anything. Um, they would just try to see if we were okay all the time. And then our advisor was always available at the lab too. Cause we had a lab, we would print, we would get school supplies. So, they would hand us over school supplies, pencils, scantrons, all of that. Um, we were able to print, um anything. So if we had homework to do and we had a gap between class we were at the migrant lab doing our homework. We were at the ? lab like last minute printing or something we didn't want to go to the library. So, it was always really really good things to do. Um, And if we needed to talk to like our advisors would always be there. Like the ones that would take care of us they were always there. We would get backpacks, like everything. It was really nice. And then from aside from that we also had the, another organization was Campos. Um that was the name of it and that's where we would do a lot of community service. Basically was just paying back to the community for the scholarships that they would grant us. So, we would like participate in a lot of community services. We went to the orphanage, um, we ended up doing the big event, um we did the uh, I think it was, I don't remember, but we were cleaning near the river I just remember. It was in habitat humanity somewhere there and then, uh, we would always participate in the Cesar Chavez march. We had the blood drive, um, Jalapeno festival we would be there too. Um, feast of sharing, we would do a lot of community service there. So it was like really, like it was, they guided us through our transition which was good. Then at the end they would reward us with like the dinner and then, um, kind of like, how can I say it, like it’s more of like, they would, um, reward us for like the person that had like the most community service hours made and all of that stuff. So it was, it was good, I mean it was really really good. I mean having our mentors and everything there. And then we were also required to do, um, well we weren’t required, but we would get a stipend to go, um, do tutoring. So it was just dedicating like fifteen minutes of our time. We had to like, I don't remember how much it was or how many hours we had to do in a week and they would like give us a stipend like every like 15 days if we were to go. A lot of people wouldn't do it. But I would take advantage of it. I mean I would go to the tutoring center, well mainly I would go to the writing center cause I am the type of person that has to be like alone. So, at the writing center they would let you like read or do your stuff alone while in the tutoring center well you would have to get a tutor. But we would just have to do hours for that. So that was also helpful with our grades, keeping them up. 

Dr. Hazelton: Um, it sounds like you, um, talking about kind of going to the office and things like that, that you would, that you had a strong kind of sense of a cohort or a community, um, there. Did you kind of feel part of sort of the migrant community at TAMIU vs, um, kind of the broader community, did it help to have that? 

Montalvo: Yeah, it actually did because it was a big difference. Like when i was in high school with the community we had over there for the migrant students we wouldn't all talk. Like it wasnt something that we were super close to because everybody was just so different I would say. But here like, um, coming in into this community, like we were all together. Like it was I believe at this time we only had twenty five, we didn't even get the thirty. So, we were like super close to each other because we all had like different stories of like how we migrated, what we did and all of that. So, it was, it was really interesting cause at the beginning when we came in we all kind of like got to say a little story about us, like about each other. And were we migrate and everything. We even made a shirt, um, I should of taken a picture of it. We actually had a shirt were, um, it had the United States, um,map on it and each little star that was in there represented were our family went to go travel, so we all had a little star of were we ended up going to, which was really nice. But yeah we were all super close to each other there at the program. 

Dr. Hazelton: Did … was it a lot of, um, how different were the experiences that people would share?

Montalvo: Well, some of them would be like mostly like their parents would be the only ones going. Like, um, I had a close friend of mine her mom would be the one that was doing like the farm working. That’s all she's worked all her whole life. And even till today she still works there. Like she's still going. She would travel sometimes, but it was just there with in our town, but she was still doing like farm working the whole time. And then other ones would end up going to like Michigan, um, it was for the, uh, we all had different things we would all work into. Um, you had some in New Mexico, other ones in Carrizo Springs that would just stay there, Colorado, Minnesota, North Dakota, Washington, everybody just would go to different places and do different things.  

Dr. Hazelton: Um, did anything, did going to college kind of changed any of your, um, relationships with your family at all or, um, anything like that? 

Montalvo: No, not really, I mean if anything I'm the first one to graduate. I'm the first one that graduated from my entire family. So, um, I feel like it just gave like that little, um, it just made it like kind of harder cause my brother my sister now wanna like be there as well. So I mean, my brother is actually attending here in TAMIU right now. He’s currently enrolled and hopefully my sister will be coming in in the CAMP program, um, this coming fall. So it will be exciting, but no nothing has changed. They’ve…

Dr. Hazelton: Is your brother also in the CAMP program?

Montalvo: No, um, my brother actually went straight on after his, um, senior year to Kingsville. The CAMP program had been shut down at that moment, that year. So then by the time he came back well they had, uh, I believe that he left and then one of the semesters they actually opened it up for like one semester only, then closed it down again, then they brought it back again. So he wasn't able to, but my sister is the lucky one though.

Dr. Hazelton: They call that legacy at the fancy schools. You've started a legacy at TAMIU its interesting. What… we've talked a little bit about kind of your experience. Um, do you think the CAMP program kind of helped you navigate the adjustment and, um, I mean we spoke a little bit about kind of what it did in terms of having a place to go and hang out and make friends. Um, did it help you adjust to college?

Montalvo: It did a lot. It actually did, um, cause here we are freshmen in a bigger university. Well big compared to like what we are used to back home, and, um, not knowing where to go, what to do and yeah it was actually like, they were really helpful with it cause any question we had we’d just go to the CAMP office. Um, “Oh, where is this building at?” they would tell us or they would like take us. And stuff like that. So yeah, they made the process a lot like, they made us kind of fit in with all the freshmen in the university pretty much. But yes, it was a good adjustment with them. 

Dr. Hazelton: It sounds like you, um, we spoke a little bit about the advisor and the mentoring program. Um, was that something that you enjoyed or found useful? 

Montalvo: Yes, um, I mean it's always useful like to have like somebody there with us like all the time. Um, and then with our mentor it was like, I think that that was a great idea. I mean, because our advisor is just there from eight to five. That's just it. Our mentor we would meet up with our mentor at any hour, we would just set it up once. Like once every week we would be meeting up with them. So, I mean it was always great because our mentors were actually like students themselves. So, it's like we needed help with something we could just text them and be like, “Hey, do you think you can help us?” and they would come over and help us. Or they would do this or they would do that. So it was always that and then, um, other than that we would meet whenever we would have meetings for the other organization. We also had meetings for the Campos organization and, um, but no it was great taking advantage of that. The fact that they were always there our mentors were there 24/7 basically with us. And they knew the experience because they went through it. They were CAMP students at one point. Um, they went through the whole freshman year experience. They were still going, most of them were already graduating so they knew what was coming along as we went. So, it was a lot helpful for them to tell us like, “Okay, if you do this route, it might affect you this way. But it's better if you do it this way.” and they would kind of give us that kind of advice. So it was always helpful to have them. 

Dr. Hazelton: That's great. Um, did you have any, was there anything that the program, um, you thought might have done differently or, um, was there anything that you were, that looking back you think, “I wish I had had that,” on top of the … 

Montalvo: Probably like extending the grants more. That's probably one of the things. Other than that no, I think it was great. Like overall I think it was like great actually. But if anything, I mean St. Edwards has a four year program for the CAMP it would of been nice if they would of extended it a little bit more. I mean other than that they would advice for us to like sign up for TRIO, basically like the aftermath of CAMP. So TRIO would still be there to help us actually. I didn't end up applying for it but I know some of them that actually did. 

Dr. Hazelton: Yeah, cause the CAMP it's the first year, that's the federal money for it. 

Montalvo: Mhm, the first year yes. Yes. 

Dr. Hazelton: Um, what was it like, um, continuing after that first year?

Montalvo: Well, after the first year, I still ended up getting involved because after that they still had the CAMP program again. So you would still see me at the office cause we still had that you could still get supplies because you were apart of it before. So the school supplies like  helping us out with that that didn't really stop. The office being there and everything it was just we were not getting the grant for it anymore. That was the only thing that changed. They still had the Campos program organization. So, I was still there I would still, um, be involved with it. Doing the community service and all of that. I believe the third year that I was there it wasn't there, my junior year, thats whenever it wasn't there anymore. They didn't have it anymore the program. But I mean I still continued being involved with them. It was always great. 

Dr. Hazelton: Um, so what happened, um, what happened after graduation? 

Montalvo: Well, after graduation I ended up leaving back home. Um, was there for six months before I finally was able to get a job. Um, I came back to Laredo. I was trying to look for a job outside of my hometown. So it was like San Antonio, I applied at San Antonio areas, Laredo areas, cause for some reason my mind was like, “I need to come back to Laredo,” cause I like Laredo. Now that I'm here, I'm like, “Okay Laredo is a little too small for me now.” But, um, I ended up getting a job here six months later, um, as a social worker. So I was working as a social worker. I worked there for a year with a non profit organization here in Laredo that, um, it was just like surrounded by disabilities. Anybody who had a disability from diabetes to schizophrenia, um, down syndrome, anything like that. Um, and it was great because the organization helped a lot. Like being able to, um, how can i say, uh get involved and a lot of other programs in Laredo have like down syndrome awareness month and stuff like that. So we would always be like connected to like border reagent and we would always be participating in events like that. Um, then now, um, a year later, I ended up going towards my degree. I have a Bachelor's degree, um, in psychology and a minor in criminal justice. So, um, a year from there I ended up finding a job as a parole officer. So i'm an institutional parole officer at the Cotulla unit. So i'm a parole officer on the inside of the units. Cause you have the dpo’s which is the district and then you have the institutional. So, as of now I am working as a parole officer. 

Dr. Hazelton: Um, what was the name of the non profit that you worked for after you graduated?

Montalvo: Um, Valley Association for Independent Living. Their main, um, their main branch is in McAllen, which is in the valley, where I am from. Um, But they have a smaller one here in Laredo. 

Dr. Hazelton: You are currently, um, pursuing a masters, right?

Montalvo: Yes. 

Dr. Hazelton: What led to that, um, decision? 

Montalvo: Well, it was actually really random. It wasn't something that I actually thought about. Um, after graduating I was like, “No, I am just going to get my bachelors that's all.” But then I came once to one of their open houses they had, um, and they're like, “Oh, we’ll wave your fee for the application,” so then I was like okay. So, I believe that the first requirements for the criminal justice was a ten page essay and I had just gotten the job. I had just gotten the job and I was like okay everything is due in November. I started the job in November. So I was like I don't have time to do a ten page essay on something that interests me from criminal justice. So I was like no I'll just put it on hold and I'll reapply the following year depending on how it goes. But then we ended up hitting January and I got, um, I got an email from one of the recruiters and, um, from admissions, and she was like, “You're still pending your statement,” and I think we believe we needed like three letters of recommendation and I only had one. So then, um, I was like ugh I don't have enough. So then she was like, “you're still pending your… another letter of recommendation and your statement,” and I was like “you mean the ten page paper.” She’s like, “Oh no, we switched the requirements for it. It's just a statement. It's just like your own personal statement.” And I was like, “Oh, okay.” And then she’s like, “And you already have one letter of recommendation you just need another one.” And I was like, “Oh, okay easy.” So I quickly ended up messaging my advisor and I was like, “Do you think you can do like a letter of recommendation for me?” She's like, “Yeah, I got you.” So then she did it for me and then I did my statement real quick and I didn't hear anything from them. And I was like, oh, I believed school started January twenty … twenty some… last year, um, and I was like, “ah school already started. I don't have a chance I didn't make it.” So then, um, not knowing that actually grad students started in February fifth. So then whenever I went up to the like, um, the app that they have to check your status it said accepted. And I was like, “awe i'm in it!” I mean like, well I was in… I entered, um, in probation though cause my GPA wasnt super high. I was like at a 2.8 I believe, so they needed a 3.0. So then I was like now I had that pressure. Now I'm going in and i'm gonna have that pressure of “ you have to pass your classes.” But no it's been great. I mean, and I don't regret it. I mean i'm just like, “Its great, its great.” I’ve learned a lot. I was intimidated by it too, especially at the beginning when i had to take elective classes. I don't know why I decided to take an english class as an elective. So I was surrounded by english students and I was like wow I don't belong here. I was the only criminal justice one, but I had a great professor though and she was great for everything though. So it's been a good experience and I don't regret it, I mean it led me here for a reason. 

Dr. Hazelton: Yeah exactly. If you had to… if you had to describe what the value of CAMP is to migrant students and to an institution like TAMIU how would you do that? 

Montalvo: Uh, the value like the meaning of it kinda? 

Dr. Hazelton: Yeah, or what does it mean to you to have a program like that exist and why is it important?

Montalvo: I mean, um, to me I feel like it is important because its a way to help guide migrant students. I mean, there's some of them that all they've done most of their life is just migrate to different places. So they don’t settle down at one place. Like you have some traveling to Washington, Colorado. They don't stay, they don't just go straight to that same place all the time, so I mean obviously when it comes to education they have to understand the fact that if their parents are still migrating that means they are left in a university while their parents are away during the summer. So they can't go back home to them. Its like their education has to keep going. But it's always great having, um, the CAMP program cause 1) it allowed us with, um, school supplies, like they were just there to guide us basically. Like it's a way were you fit in and you're like, “Okay, like i'm not alone in this. Like I'm not the only one who comes from a low income family that has to migrate to get more money out of it.” It’s like you are there surrounded by other people who have the same story as you, they went through the same experience as you and you are able to go through it like together. You are not there alone with them. And then you have great people behind you like backing you up and helping and guiding you. Like this is the way you are supposed to this, this is the way you do this, and that’s always great. Thats always great to be able to have them for us. 

Dr. Hazelton: Um, you mentioned in that response that, um, that there's sort of two kinds of migrants. That there's those who are sorta rooted and go to the same place every year, uh, and then there are those that are constantly moving. Um, did you… did you notice those kinds of two constituencies or two groups in CAMP? Or was it mostly one or the other or? 

Montalvo: It was I would say half and half. I mean cause um, like me, I fall under the going to the same place all the time, but then we still had others one that they're like, “Oh we get done here, and we have to migrate this way now to continue the season over here. And then come this way.” So we had like, we had much both of them practically, um, in there. And I mean it didn't, it didn't separate us only because it was still the same experience. Just those people moved more to different places that was just it. 

Dr. Hazelton: Did, um, did those more intensely migrating students have… what kind of barriers did people have? Um, in, in throughout the year, um, did anybody have any disruption because of, of, their family situations or anything like that?

Montalvo: Not that I know of. Not that I was aware of other than technically the people who actually traveled the most are the ones that leave way earlier from school. So you’ve got some of them leaving by March instead of May or April. So that would be the only difference but not that I am aware of. I didn't hear of anything that kinda was bad for them. 

Dr. Hazelton: Your cohort was together all the time?

Montalvo: Mhm, yes. 

Dr. Hazelton: That's one of the advantages right? Again it lets you do that.  

Montalvo: Yes. 

Dr. Hazelton: Um, If you don’t mind, I would like to ask just a little bit more about, um, about your, uh, really kind of the beginning, uh, the beginning question that I asked you, which was sort of about your family’s experience. You described, um, some of the work that your immediate family did. Um, but did you say your brother is still migrating or was migrating?

Montalvo: Is he still? Um, Well my great, my grandpa, my dad’s father, actually he used to migrate when he was a little boy too with his family. He used to go to West Texas, thats were they used to go. Um, so they used to migrate then after that, as he got older my, uh, grandpa still would end up going to Colorado, Colorado springs I believe. That was were it was called that one. He would go there and, um, Carrizo Springs. So my grandpa would do that too. So, he used to travel over there and then after that as he got older he just ended up, I believe like two years ago he stopped actually. And it was only because of social security. They literally were like, “You need to stop working or else we are going to take all your benefits away cause of what you are making.” So he stopped, um, then my dad still does that. My dad still goes to Carrizo Springs, um, he’ll be there for two months, and then he leaves to Colorado after that. He’ll be over there two more months. Um, he used to go, he used to work at New Mexico. New Mexico was like the onion and then my brother currently till this day he still travels and like he still migrates during the summers. He goes to North Dakota and Minnesota for the potato. So they pack potato into sacks and all of that. But he still does that though.

Dr. Hazelton: For the summer? 

Montalvo: Mhm the summers. He goes over there. 

Dr. Hazelton: The summer money. 

Montalvo: Mhm, pretty much. But even at that, um, whenever he was still in high school, during the summer he used to work back home, there in Rio Grande City. They used to have a bodega, um, not too far from the house and they used to do, um, watermelon. So that's where he started off after that. He would work there all summer and then until he, until they closed down that bodega and then he ended up leaving to Minnesota and North Dakota.  

Dr. Hazelton: You mentioned, um, that there is not as much going on in RGC anymore. Um, what was that transformation like, when did that shift take place?

Montalvo: Um, I would probably say about five years ago? Cause they used to still have the bodegas up there. The bodegas stopped a long time ago though. I believe that I was still probably in middle school at the time that they stopped with those. Cause that's where my dad used to work constantly. Um, that was like his full time job working there, and my grandpa as well. Thats were they used to work. Um, those were probably like ten- fifteen years ago that they probably stopped with those. And then they still had the fields. So my dad used to still go to the fields and work there, um, but I believe that that’s been like five-six years probably that like the jobs kind of slowed down, slowed down and now you don't even see anything. Like literally it was ten - five minutes away from my house. They used to have like a huge, huge like field. And that’s were usually you would have a lot of people work. Onions, um, they would have onions, they would have, uh, the corn, they would have cotton, but not anymore they stopped. 

Dr. Hazelton: Is it, what happened to the land? Is it just sitting there?

Montalvo: The land is just there. Like the land is just there. Recently they had, um, they were trying to… they had pipeliners there working recently on the land. But other than that it's just there. Nothing, nobody using it nobody nothing. It's just there. 

Dr. Hazelton: Interesting. Um, what’s that been like, um, for the community?

Montalvo: I mean, well actually, like it affects them cause you still had like meaning like the, uh, the people you would see constantly working there were elderly. Like not elderly elderly, but they were older people, like 50s and on. They would still work there because some of them didn't have education and they weren’t gonna go and work at a Mcdonalds, or work at a store, something. That's what they knew, that’s how they were brought up when they were younger. That’s the only thing they knew how to work in. So you mostly have those work there, but I mean it’s affected them a lot. I mean less jobs and everything for them. 

Dr. Hazelton: You mentioned, um, at the beginning, um, that you said your mom got her papers. Um, what were you referring to when you said that?

Montalvo: When she, what is it? the residency?

Dr. Hazelton: Her residency?

Montalvo: Yeah her residency. Cause she first got the one to be able to work. Um, I believe that thats the first one they give you, the one to be able to work. Then after that you upgrade. So ever since she came here, she would just work in the fields. That's all she would do. 

Dr. Hazelton: Where were they from originally? 

Montalvo: My mom is originally from Galeana, Nuevo Leon. That's in Mexico. Its like deep in Mexico. Like two hours away from Monterrey [Mexico]. But Its ranch land, so that's what they would too over there. They would work in the fields, work with the cattle and that’s that was their lifestyle. 

Dr. Hazelton: Was it the same for your father?

Montalvo: Yeah, my father has always been working in the fields. That’s all he does till today.

Dr. Hazelton: Is that were he's from there too?  

Montalvo: He, no, my dads from RGC. My dad’s actually from RGC but that’s all he’s been doing. Thats… he would work in the bodegas like I stated before and then now that he travels, well he migrates over there to Carrizos. Cause after we stopped we ended up stopping migrating, oh well actually after I came to college cause she didn't want to leave me alone. That's the reason why they stopped. So my dad would just go alone. So my dad started doing alone. 

Dr. Hazelton: So your mom was nearby while you were in college? 

Montalvo: Yeah. Yes. 

Dr. Hazelton: Um, I think that's more or less everything that I have for you, unless there is anything that you want to add? Or anything that you’d like to tell me that I didn't ask.

Montalvo: No, no. 

Dr. Hazelton: That's fine, I really appreciate you taking the time. Um, I know it's a long day and it's, it's, uh, it's nice to its nice to be willing to share your little piece of yourself, so I appreciate you taking that time. Um, I am going ahead to stop the recording.