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.

Reaching Out

Reaching Out (The Circuit book 3) by Francisco Jiménez

The third book in this autobiographical series covers the undergraduate experiences at Santa Clara. The whole family drove up to drop him off at school, though father was feeling reluctant. His younger brother took over his jobs to help support the family. Additional challenges happened back home that would test his resolve. Their father moved back to Mexico. He was suffering and felt bad that he could not support the family. The family house also burned down. His family did not tell him about either of these until he came home. They didn't want to negatively impact his schooling.

At school, he had a football-playing roommate from Woodland, California. They bonded with their hard-working bootstrap background, though they had differences. Francisco was not into school spirit and sports. He preferred to focus on academics. He struggled initially with English and Spanish and needed to work hard at school. He also needed to find a way to support himself and his family. He had a great deal of help from teachers and priests at school. They saw some of his struggles and helped counsel and encourage him. They also found opportunities for him to work and better support himself as well as thrive in service-minded extra-curricular activities. Toward the end of his time, they nominated him for a graduate fellowship and helped him through the process, even getting him a suit to make it through the interview. We may have lost a lot as religious schools are dropping much of their religious character and requirements. There is value in the higher purpose and service. It seems that he may have benefited significantly by ending up at a small Jesuit institution instead of a large public school.

Breaking Through (The Circuit Book 2)

Breaking Through (The Circuit Book 2) by Francisco Jiménez

The second book in Francisco Jiménez's autobiographical series focuses primarily on his high school experience. It begins with his family's deportation. His father did have a green card and his little siblings were born in the USA. However, his mother, his older brother and Francisco were all in the US illegally. Their immigration experience would advocate for a policy that differs from both the Republican and Democrat one today. When three family members were caught, the whole family decided to leave. They willingly deported themselves to Mexico. However, once in Mexico, there was a path for them to apply for legal immigration status. They were able to get it within a short time frame and return to the United States. This seems the ideal balance. Don't give extra rights to those that are here illegally as the Democrats are want to do. And don't permanently banish workers as Republicans prefer. Instead, encourage all to remain as legal contributors to society.

Once back, the family tried to hide their deportation experience. However, this  time away did cause the older brother to lose his job. (Luckily, the replacement didn't work out and he was hired back.) They did eventually recover from the time off from school.

The author had a number of friends and mentors that encouraged him through his high school career. The value of hard work instilled by his family was also important. He and his brother were working hard to support themselves while the rest of the family was away. He had friends that encouraged him to perform in a school variety show and later run for school office. He helped lead a Spanish club and led a Christmas food drive. Teachers and counselors helped him to excel in academic areas and go down a path where he could be a teacher. He also had those that helped support him to find a job. It was not all rosey. There were families that did not want him to be seen with their daughter after they learned he was Mexican. He did need a few special pushes. His loyalty to work and family led him to consider working to support them rather than going to college. School officials helped push him to apply. He missed some scholarship opportunities, but was able to get into Santa Clara and between loans and scholarships afford the initial tuition.

The appropriate support is very important for success. Some people may feel unwilling to receive handouts. Finding a way to help in that way can be beneficial. (As an example, rather than just give him a typewriter, a man charged him $5 for typewriter and ribbon.) There are many people that are hard workers that can achieve more in different fields. They just need support. 

I wonder how things are different today. There is much more of a safety net available for immigrant families. Do they take advantage of it? Or is the loyalty to family and hard work still of prominent importance? Do child labor restrictions hurt? It feels that people would be evicted from some of these habitations today. Cigarette smoking is also not as prominent. How is life different for modern immigrant farmworkers? How is it the same?