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Valley woman hopes to head for UN
The Monitor
April 23, 2007 - 6:43PM
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Julie Gonzalez, left, an intern for state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, stands with Lucio at the Capitol in Austin. A graduate of Donna High School and the University of Texas-Pan American, Gonzalez aspires to work for the United Nations. Special to The Monitor |
She has graduated from college,
landed an Austin internship with a state senator and has
dreams of working for the United Nations.
But Julie Gonzalez couldn’t have achieved any of these goals without first being able to pick a strawberry.
Gonzalez, 22, grew up as a migrant worker, picking fruits and vegetables in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio with the rest of her family.
“My mom has a picture of me picking strawberries when I was five years old,” Gonzalez said. “Well, she said I mostly ate them.”
Now, Gonzalez is an intern at the Capitol for state Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr., D-Brownsville.
“I don’t think I could be where I am today if I didn’t understand the meaning of hard work that I learned at a very young age,” she said.
The Donna High School graduate became the first to complete college in her family in December, when she received a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Texas-Pan American.
But Gonzalez couldn’t decide what to do after receiving the diploma.
“I asked my political science professor what to do, and she gave me the Luna Scholarship application,” she said.
The Sen. Gregory Luna Legislative Scholar and Fellows Program offered Gonzalez the opportunity to work as an intern during the 80th legislative session, which began in January and is slated to end in May.
While filling out the application, she had to choose three issues that interested her most to determine for which legislator she would work. She chose higher education, women’s health and colonia and border issues, and was matched with Lucio.
Her interest in those specific issues was inspired by her experiences as a volunteer for Migrant Health Promotion services. Gonzalez taught colonia residents in the Rio Grande Valley about the political process, like how to vote, and who is eligible to vote.
“I learned about politics in books and then would go teach it,” she said.
Gonzalez grew up in an Edinburg colonia and spent many years without indoor plumbing or a sewage system.
The injustices she saw in her community have inspired her to help people in foreign countries who have been impoverished by national security situations. She would like to work for the United Nations as a conflict resolution specialist, or with UNICEF.
“I want to help people in places like Rwanda and Mozambique who are victims of genocide,” she said. “I want to help poor people.”
Gonzalez considers working for Lucio as her starting point, but sees no future in politics.
She plans to enroll in graduate school at either the University of Texas at San Antonio or St. Mary’s University and study international relations with a concentration in conflict resolution to achieve her goals.
“I appreciate my education, because I had to do so much to pay for my college,” she said. “I couldn’t afford a B or a C, and I can’t afford any in graduate school.”
Gonzalez also thinks a good education will end the cycle of poverty that her family has had to endure.
“I know that I learned so much from being a migrant worker and working in colonias, but I want more for my children, just like my mom wanted more for me,” she said.
“I don’t want to repeat the cycle of being a migrant worker.”
———
Ana McKenzie covers the state capital for Valley Freedom Newspapers. She is based in Austin and can be reached at (512) 323-0622.
But Julie Gonzalez couldn’t have achieved any of these goals without first being able to pick a strawberry.
Gonzalez, 22, grew up as a migrant worker, picking fruits and vegetables in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio with the rest of her family.
“My mom has a picture of me picking strawberries when I was five years old,” Gonzalez said. “Well, she said I mostly ate them.”
Now, Gonzalez is an intern at the Capitol for state Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr., D-Brownsville.
“I don’t think I could be where I am today if I didn’t understand the meaning of hard work that I learned at a very young age,” she said.
The Donna High School graduate became the first to complete college in her family in December, when she received a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Texas-Pan American.
But Gonzalez couldn’t decide what to do after receiving the diploma.
“I asked my political science professor what to do, and she gave me the Luna Scholarship application,” she said.
The Sen. Gregory Luna Legislative Scholar and Fellows Program offered Gonzalez the opportunity to work as an intern during the 80th legislative session, which began in January and is slated to end in May.
While filling out the application, she had to choose three issues that interested her most to determine for which legislator she would work. She chose higher education, women’s health and colonia and border issues, and was matched with Lucio.
Her interest in those specific issues was inspired by her experiences as a volunteer for Migrant Health Promotion services. Gonzalez taught colonia residents in the Rio Grande Valley about the political process, like how to vote, and who is eligible to vote.
“I learned about politics in books and then would go teach it,” she said.
Gonzalez grew up in an Edinburg colonia and spent many years without indoor plumbing or a sewage system.
The injustices she saw in her community have inspired her to help people in foreign countries who have been impoverished by national security situations. She would like to work for the United Nations as a conflict resolution specialist, or with UNICEF.
“I want to help people in places like Rwanda and Mozambique who are victims of genocide,” she said. “I want to help poor people.”
Gonzalez considers working for Lucio as her starting point, but sees no future in politics.
She plans to enroll in graduate school at either the University of Texas at San Antonio or St. Mary’s University and study international relations with a concentration in conflict resolution to achieve her goals.
“I appreciate my education, because I had to do so much to pay for my college,” she said. “I couldn’t afford a B or a C, and I can’t afford any in graduate school.”
Gonzalez also thinks a good education will end the cycle of poverty that her family has had to endure.
“I know that I learned so much from being a migrant worker and working in colonias, but I want more for my children, just like my mom wanted more for me,” she said.
“I don’t want to repeat the cycle of being a migrant worker.”
———
Ana McKenzie covers the state capital for Valley Freedom Newspapers. She is based in Austin and can be reached at (512) 323-0622.