Biography

My familiy is hispanic and both of my parents are from Mexico. Neither attended school long enough to get a good education. I was born in El Paso, Texas and raised in Chamberino, N.M. I am the youngest of five children. When I was three years old, my parents opened a restaurant in Las Cruces. Everyday we would drive half an hour to open the restaurant in the moring and we would get home late at night. I guess I can say I grew up in Las Cruces at the restaurant.

When I was in 6th grade my family sold their restaurant and I moved to school in Las Mesa where I attended La Mesa Elementary. Then I moved to Gadsden Middle School. My parents purchased another restaurant, but this time I was at home most of the time alone after school. When my parents sold the second restaurant, I was getting ready to start high school.I missed the socializing in the restaurant, but I enjoyed spending time at home with parents at night and on the weekends.

In my junior year, I became Secretary for Future Farmers of America, where I learned leadership skills and I got to know a lot more people. I also became Vice-President for the Chamberino Youth Group. My friend Denise Terrazas, who was Secretary, and I changed a lot of things in the youth group. We made sure we had a community service each month, and each year we raised our own money for our two-week summer camp. Our summer camp is for kids from Kindergarten to 6th grade. We provide snacks, indoor and outdoor games, and arts and crafts. We usually have about 80 kids attend our camp. The teens from the youth group are counselors and are in charge of the different activities.

In summer of 2005, our youth group was recognized for its work by State Senator Mary Kay Papen, and County Commissioner Dolores Saldana Caviness. In August 2005 I became involved with the civic engagement process through a series of focus groups facilitated by Michael Milam of New Mexico Civic Engagement. By late August, we had identified the need for a Multipurpose Center for Chamberino as the priority project. Mike helped us to focus on research, and potential presentations, and then invited us to participate in the New Mexico Civic Engagement Legislative Roundtable. We received good guidance from the legislators at the roundtable in November, 2005,and sponsorship from Senator Mary Kay Papen and Rep. Mary Helen Garcia.

By April 2006, the state allocated $150,000 to support the planning and design of the future center. Denise and I made presentations to the county commission and community between April and August, and by September we had formed a design team of adult volunteers who worked with us for four months on the identification of programs and design considerations.

We have received legislative sponsorship and county support for a $700,000 Capital Outlay request during the 2007 Legislative Session, and we have prepared presentations for any committee hearings we may attend. We are continuing to work with the county staff, and we continue to facilitate the public hearings required to address all community issues.

The most important lesson I have learned in the last three years is that the youth voice is not used enough. When it is used smartly, adults are willing to work with youth. I have decided to attend NMSU so I can stay local and involved in this project. I am committed to this project, as is my friend Denise Terrazas, and we now encourage our peers and the younger kids to learn how to "step up" for their community.