My Success Story

by Felipe Sanchez

My name is Felipe Sanchez. I was born February 5, 1952 in Queretaro, Mexico. My story is one of an ordinary nature. In 1985 one of my brothers in law encouraged me to cross the river for the first time. I went ahead with the plan even though I was very sad to leave my family behind. I had never in my life been separated from my wife and children. It hurt me deeply to leave my beautiful brown wife behind. She gave me seven children, four boys and three girls. I will also tell you that trip was not easy. We walked for five days across wooded areas before we made it to the United States. The year was 1985 and I was in the United States for the first time. I missed my family very much and after three months decided to return to Mexico. I worked ten months in Mexico after which I resigned my job and once again decided to try to make it to the U.S. Once again I walked 5 days and thank God I arrived safely at 4:00 in the morning. The same day I arrived at Jacksonville, TX., I was at work at 7:00 that same morning. I have been lucky in that respect. Thank God I have always found work, my family is in good health and my children: Guadalupe, Rosa Maria, Consuelo Patricia, Felipe Junior, Ruben and finally Raul, all have been great. All my children have finished their schooling thanks to my being able to find work. From the time I first came here to now, I have always managed to go to Mexico two or three months a year. Lately I go two to three weeks a year and come right back because I have to attend to my job. My job makes it possible for bills to be paid and so my family can have what they need. I am happy to have been able to buy each of my children a plot of land for their homes. Each of my children has their own plot of land to build their own house thanks to the money I make working here in the United States. I always work with them on my mind. One thing that has made me very happy is that my oldest son graduated with a degree in industrial engineering. My daughter Rosy is a social worker for a social clinic and Consuelo studied cosmetics and Patricia is a public accountant. Felipe Junior and Ruben finished high school and finished one year of junior college. Raul only graduated from high school. I am very proud of my children. I have hopes of bringing my wife with me to the United States. Last year I petitioned for her. God willing I will take my test for citizenship this year. Hopefully I will be able to be reunited with my wife and have her by my side soon. My dream is to have her here with me, to take care of her. I am also very happy to be the grandfather to 13 grandchildren. They are also very studious. Oscar Becerra is in 5th grade, Diana Becerra is in 4th grade, Cristal Becerra is in 3rd grade, Valeria Gallegos is in 4th grade, Dennis Gallegos is in 3rd grade, Hatzziry Sanchez is 3rd grade, Ruben Junior is kinder and the rest are too young to be in school yet.

I must also tell you about my parents. My father’s name is Jesus Sanchez, and my mother is Nemoria Suarez. They could not give us education because we were so many in the family. There are twelve of us in all, seven boys and five girls. My father worked hard and long. He is now seventy nine years old. My mother is seventy four years old. I am the oldest in the family. Genoveba is next at 52, Jesus 50, Federico 48, Alicia 46, Francisca 44, Jose Carmen 42, Juana 40, Martin 38, Angelica 36, Pedro 34, and Manuel 32. As you can see we are a big family which is why in Mexico, it was hard to provide education for so many. But I am happy because my parents did everything they could to make sure that we always had food on our table. One of my goals is to work hard during my time in Austin in order to help my family move forward and likewise I want to be able to help my parents and my wife’s parents as much as I can. They are old now and can’t work so I pray I will always have work to be able to help them. I also want to continue studying English. I attend English classes at La FUENTE Learning Center. I really had not paid that much attention to this but now that I am going to classes, I am learning and am excited about becoming more proficient. I understand a lot of it, speak some of it, and I am learning to read and write it. I like the feeling of learning. I believe I can always do better if I learn more. I want my work to be the best. I want to be the best at what I do. I like going to class on the evenings and like making new friends. I make people laugh. I do my best to speak English with my classmates. I am doing very well. That is my story.

Thank you,
Felipe Sanchez

Felipe wrote the story in Spanish and the teacher Carmen Rodriguez translated.

LA FUENTE Learning Center
2115 E. 2nd St.
Austin, Texas 78702