- My parents biggest dream
was that their children
get a chance to achieve higher education,
and that's why they decided
that they wanted to come to America.
There is no way that I could
be standing here if it wasn't
for my parents and all their sacrifices.
My dad, you know, there's times when
he can hardly bend his fingers
because his work is so demanding,
and to think that he's doing that,
every single day for over
twenty years for his children,
so that I can get the
opportunity to go to school
and to become something.
It is amazing.
And I say, Ceci, if he can wake up every
single day and go to work
and do the job that he does,
then, heck I better wake
up and go to classes,
and hey, I better do good,
and if I don't know something
I better go get help.
And my mom as well.
For a couple of years, she worked
cleaning the schools and there
was a time when you know,
at schools a lot of the
teachers, would wear
their son's and daughter's
buttons with their pictures
whether they be in a sport or something.
The principal said, "Maria,
why aren't you wearing
your daughter's buttons?"
And she said, "I'm embarrassed"
And he ask her, "You're
embarrassed of your daughters?"
She said, "Oh no not of my daughters.
I'm embarrassed of what I do."
And I just want to say that
I'm not embarrassed to say
that she cleans schools.
I'm very thankful for her, her hard work,
and everything that she's done for us.
- [Male Announcer] Cecilia
Guadalupe Perales Garcia
- There's no way that I
could be standing here
if it wasn't for my parents
and all their sacrifices.
It's almost surreal to
me, that I'm at the place
that I'm at now.
So, now that I graduated
from a four year college,
I'm like wow, well maybe then
I could do other things too.
So I would really love to,
work at a very diverse setting,
like in a school that's very diverse.
The reason why I want to go to
a school that's very diverse
is because I want a lot of
the students to look at me
and say "Hey, you know,
if Mrs. Perales can do it,
then I can do it too."
And hopefully I can be a mentor
to a lot of those students.
You know, if you work hard enough,
you can achieve anything that you want to achieve.
 
