Maria De Jesus Perez (nee Gonzalez)

"Keep Moving Foward"

Maria De Jesus Perez (nee Gonzalez) -2014

Somerset, Texas

April 2015

Yaritza Cisneros

Palo Alto College

History 1302 - Spring 2015

 

INTRODUCTION
TRANSCRIPTION
ANALYSIS
TIMELINE

 

INTRODUCTION

Maria De Jesus Perez Gonzalez was born on July 23, 1961 in Queretaro, Mexico to Maria Luisa Gonzalez and Jose Jesus Perez. She is the oldest from 9 siblings. She has worked all her life since she was 7yrs. old. She went to kindergarten and after attended Heroes de Nacorazi Elem. School and Instituto 5 de Mayo Middle/High School but dropped out two years before she graduated. She had to choose to either go to school or work and she had no choice but to work as her family was poor. She started working at 7yrs. old, her jobs were making tortillas, selling shoes, selling tickets at a bus company called Omnibus, supervisor at a general and maternity hospital, supervisor at a urban bus company, nursing home, selling diet supplements from Herbal life, selling dietary things from Ardys, a nanny, and taking care of an elderly person which is still her present job. Married Benito Sanchez at 25yrs. old on Feb. 15, 1986 after she had all her six kids. When she was 36yrs. old she left her husband but did not divorce him. She came to the United States on Feb. 10, 2002 when she was 41yrs old to get a better life as she grew up poor. Got her first job in the US in Somerset Tx. and occasionally traveled from Somerset, Tx to San Antonio, Tx. With her present job, she gets paid really good and often sends money to her family and siblings. The interview was done in spanish and translated by Yaritza Cisneros.

 

 

TRANSCRIPTION

What was your childhood like?
"I was a happy fat little girl, always wanted to be eating and playing , but that was only when i was not working."

How much were you paid when you worked at a young age?
"The people I worked for would pay me $1 a day, sometimes even less."

Do you regret not finishing school? Why or why not?
"Of course I do, I wish I had finished because I could of been payed more at my jobs in Mexico."

Why did you get married after you had all your kids?
"Well...... now that I think about it, I don't even know why I did, but I wonder if it was because I wanted a perfect family."

Maria De Jesus Perez (nee Gonzalez)- 2000

Did you have a good marriage? Why or why not?
"No, my husband was abusive and not only my husband, but my children disrespected me a lot."

Did your kids go to school?
"They did but they only went up to middle school because they wouldn't listen to me, as much as i wanted them to finish school unlike me, they rebelled out and my husband always let then do whatever they wanted."

Why did you decide to immigrate to the US?
"I had to many problems with my family, especially my husband and I wanted to get away from it."

How was it that you crossed to the US?
"I crossed through the border, the Border Patrol just asked me where I was going and what I was carrying and they let me pass, I crossed with a bag of tortillas, it was a miracle."

Was is hard finding a job here in the US?
"No, not really because I already knew where to go and where they were hiring people with no papers."

Maria De Jesus Perez with Teresa Lopez and Miriam Guzman, Antonio, and Valentino (2013)

How is your life now in the US?
"Very good, I have a good job, met people which treat me as family that I love with all my heart."

Maria De Jesus Perez with Selena Cisneros and Giovanni

How do you like life here in the US?
"I really like living here, I have a better life here than when I lived in Mexico."

Maria De Jesus Perez (nee Gonzalez) at Sea World- Halloween (2013)

Do you have other family living here too?
"Yes, I have a brother and sister who live in Missouri with their families."

 

 

Maria De Jesus Perez with family (2012)

ANALYSIS

The most important points were that before people had to work really hard to achieve their goals. They weren't all given a easy life, some had to work at a really young age and some weren't able to finish school. Some things I learned from my interviewee were that i did not know she had a bad marriage and that it was the cause for why she came to the US, and that her kids disrespected her so much, her being a sweet and lovely lady. My view on this topic changed a lot, I learned so many things that I did not know about how tough people had it a long time ago so they could get somewhere in life. My intwerviewee expressed herself a lot, she put a lot of thought into her answers. Her stories taught me things like appreciate what I have and to work hard because not everyone is lucky to finish school and get a degree in college. The benefits from this interview are that I learned things and learned from them. The drawbacks are that some things are sad and sometimes wish I could of been their to help her. This oral history was effective in learning abough the past because I got to ask my interviewee questions that I learned from.

 

 

TIMELINE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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