Taking Hold: From Migrant Childhood to Columbia University (The Circuit Book 4)

Taking Hold: From Migrant Childhood to Columbia University (The Circuit Book 4) by Francisco Jiménez

By the time Panchito gets to graduate school at Columbia, his life becomes more typical and less unique to a migrant worker. He does start by sending some money back home, but his family is better able to care for themselves. He is more focussed on academics than the Vietnam-era protests going around Columbia. He finds himself called a "white boy" in Harlem, but also has real estate agents refuse him due to his hispanic last name. He gets married and initially lives with his wife in Staten Island (where she teaches). They later start a family and are able to move closer to Columbia. There are professors that are helpful and supportive as well as those that are not. They start a family and move closer to school. He struggles at first with teaching positions. He eventually completes his dissertation and is able to find a position at his Alma Mater, Santa Clara. It is the story of a hard working grad student who ditches the long distance relationship to marry his sweetheart and work through the challenges as his family back home gradually rises out of poverty.