Opportunities made by those before


Arizona Daily Wildcat

Yvonne Condes

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I am scheduled to graduate this May from the University of Arizona, making me the fourth child in my family to do so.

Earning a degree was something that was expected of me, and it wasn't until recently that I began to understand what it means to my mother and my family.

When my mother was in high school in the 1950s, she received very good grades. After graduation, she wanted to continue her education and go to college, but living in a small border town meant she would have to move to a city by herself.

Her family would not allow her to do this; she was told it was because she was a woman. They had little money, and at that time, scholarships went mostly to men. If she had had the money she still would not have been allowed to go, because women did not move away from their family without a chaperone. Besides, what was the point of getting an education when she was going to stay home and be a housewife anyway, she was told.

When she was 19, she got married and subsequently had four kids. Raising children and then working day to day to pay bills took the place of getting a degree, yet she still hopes to someday have the time and money to go back to school.

My mother always stressed to me that I didn't have to get married, but I did have to go school. She worries about me all the time, but she never lets her fears overcome her aspirations for me.

I have met many intelligent women since I have been in college, but few are as bright as my own mother. I wonder what kind of a life she would have had given the chance to follow her dreams.

My mother is not alone in having hoped for the opportunities that I, my sister and my cousins may have taken for granted. All of my aunts wanted to go to college and could not for the same reasons as my mother. One aunt wanted to be a lawyer, like my sister. One a writer, like myself. And my mother would have liked to have been an accountant, like my cousin is studying to be.

In an interview with the author of "Songs My Mother Sang to Me: An Oral History of Mexican American Women," Patricia Preciado Martin said the influence of family before her helped her to succeed. There is a connection to our ancestors, and it is this connection that empowers us and gives us strength, she said.

The women in my family are the strength. They are the problem-solvers and they are the ones who make the sacrifices. The women of her generation and those who followed made it possible for my generation to have the opportunities that we do.

The responsibility of making sure that these opportunities are available for those to come has been passed on to me and my peers.

When the day comes for me to receive my degree, it is not only for myself, but also for the extraordinary women that have gone before me and their dreams that may not have been realized.

Yvonne Condes is assistant news editor for the Arizona Daily Wildcat and a journalism senior.

Yvonne Condes

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