Helping The Valley Rise Up

Karina Herrera, 12th Grade
Sunnyside High School, Fresno, CA
Central Valley

The San Joaquin Valley can be referred to as the nation's fruit basket. Drive to the outskirts of Fresno and you'll come across the grapevines, strawberry fields, peach trees that define many of the Fresno residents. A summer day of over 100°F is considered typical. Air quality in the valley is poor, as demonstrated by our high numbers of people with asthma. Just standing outside during a summer day is capable of drenching you in your own sweat. So who in their right minds would work under the conditions of extreme heat, poor air quality plus the addition of measly wages? My parents.

My parents at one point represented a small part of the large community of migrant farm workers. It might sound like a cliché to say they came to America for "a better life," but they truly did. My parents were born and raised in Mexico. They have taught me to love their hometowns Zacatecas and Leon, their native language Spanish, and our Mexican culture. But education does not hold the same value there that it does here.

To Americans, education represents the equalizer of social classes. Regardless of what background you came from, show them your college degree and you will be given the respect you deserve for having worked all those years for.

Many of my peers in school share similar stories of parents who started out picking grapes on the vines of Fresno, or who still are out there holding a constant fight with nature's extreme behavior. It can be unbearable to sit in a classroom with air conditioning when you know your parents are working under the blazing sun wanting their thirst quenched and ignoring the aching pain of their sore muscles.

But we are not in those classrooms just taking up space. We have been fully engaged in our classes, involved with our school and community, and strong enough not to give up. Every day we represent hope to our parents, to our families. Give us the opportunity to attend college and we will thrive. We will rise up to the challenge because through our parents we know what it is like not to have been given the opportunity to earn an education. Because our lives have seen tragedies, struggles, and pain, we will not use our degrees selfishly. I and my peers will help the agricultural community of the valley rise up.