Marisol: From the Campo to a Career

by Jan and Jerry Rife

by Jan and Jerry Rife

Marisol awakened in darkness to the sound of rain on the roof of her family's small home in Corral de Piedras, a rancho east of San Miguel de Allende. Quietly, carefully, she moved through the room she shared with eight of her eleven siblings.

She washed, dressed, brushed hair and teeth. Donning a heavy backpack, Marisol braced herself for the long, solitary walk through darkness to where she would catch the bus.

A steady rain was falling when she stepped from the house. She followed the unpaved road, which ran like a stream bed, filled with rocks and mud.  Slipping and sliding, she hurried toward the highway.

Suddenly, lightning split the darkness, turning trees into grotesque, dripping monsters looming overhead. Marisol recoiled, then adjusted her backpack and continued through the darkness.

Finally, an hour later, dawn was breaking as she climbed the steps of Pipila Preparatoria in San Miguel de Allende. She headed for the girl's restroom to change clothes. After a few falls in the dark, she’d learned to carry her school uniform neatly folded in her backpack.  Another day of prepa was about to begin.

Prepa -- high school in Mexico -- is a three-year program. For Marisol's first two years, she travelled from the rancho to school and back each day.  But the daily journey was only part of her struggle. Going against the grain of tradition in her home and community was even harder.

"In the country," she said, "it's hard to get an education. For women, it's especially hard. Women are supposed to be submissive."

From her mother, Marisol inherited a hunger for education and for a career of her own. "My mother was a nurse," Marisol said. "She completed just three years of primary school, but she was trained. “That was before she got married and had children." Her mother supported Marisol’s education from the start. Her teachers encouraged her as well. As she excelled, a dream began to grow: Marisol wanted a career. Her father was not supportive at first. What might happen to a daughter who bucked tradition? But her determination and her academic success won him over. "He saw my good grades, and he became proud. Both my parents are proud of me now," she says, with a smile.

For her third and final year of prepa, Marisol moved into her aunt’s home in San Miguel. She eliminated her long daily commute and gained the support of a woman who became, she says, like a second mother. She gained another luxury: a room of her own, a place to study.

Marisol used her new situation to great advantage. She studied hard and graduated from prepa with excellent grades. Now three adults were on her side: mother, father, aunt. But a seemingly insurmountable problem loomed. How to pay for a university education?

Enter Jovenes Adelante, a San Miguel organization that provides scholarships to promising students. Virginia Wheelwright, one of JA's founders, remembers interviewing Marisol. "She wasn’t one to make a splash or demand attention,” Virginia said. “Marisol never spoke a word more than was necessary. But it was obvious from the start that she was completely capable."

Marisol became one of JA's first scholarship students, and Virginia and her husband Farley became her sponsors. For the next five years, Marisol studied accounting at the University of Leon's San Miguel campus. She lived with her aunt during the week and returned to her family in the countryside every weekend. She worked at Hotel Real de Minas, which provided some income and allowed her to practice her growing accounting skills. "She proved herself as a dedicated student, daughter and worker," said Virginia. "She did everything right."

Marisol was a frequent dinner guest at the Wheelwright's home overlooking San Miguel. Virginia reciprocated by visiting Marisol's home in the rancho, "Her family had a small house on a plot of land where they grew beans and, when the weather was good, some corn,” Virginia recalls.  “Her brothers and sisters were all dressed up, the little girls wearing hand-crocheted dresses. Marisol's mother had certainly prepared for our visit."

Through grit and ability, the girl from the rancho worked hard to enlarge her world and increase her knowledge and power. For four years and eight months she studied, worked, and commuted home on weekends. Finally, in 2006, she achieved her goal: graduation. With it came a surprise."It was a complete shock," Marisol said, "when I learned I had graduated with honors." To achieve honors, a student's final grade point average must be 9.5 out of 10 points. Marisol's grades were an astounding 9.89. Cause for celebration!

"Marisol was in charge of the Jovenes Adelantes graduation party," says Virginia. "It was held at the Hotel Real de Minas, and we saw a completely new side to Marisol that night. She was entirely in control. She told the band when to play and when to stop. She told the servers when to serve the food. She was just completely and beautifully in charge of everything," Virginia said.

"Farley and I sat at the table with Marisol’s family. There was a dance for fathers and daughters. Marisol approached her father and asked him to dance. He stood up and removed his sombrero," Virginia said. "Then he took her into his arms and off they waltzed, around and around the room."

Today, Marisol, is married to Alfonso Garcia Gonzalez, a classmate she met in her accounting class. They are the proud parents of Alexa, who will turn two in a few months. Their little family lives in Queretaro. Both Marisol and Alfonso work for accounting firms; Alexa attends day care while her parents work. Like many young families, they struggle to balance careers and parenthood.

“Jovenes Adelante has completely changed my life.”  Marisol says. “I’m very grateful for the support I received for over four years of study,” 

When asked of her dreams for the future, she smiles. “My dream for Alexa is that she achieve, at the very least, a bachelor’s degree so she may choose a career she enjoys. For me, I would love to study for my master’s degree.” Her mother, she adds, has returned to school. “She has finished her primary education in an open enrollment program, as well as her first year of secundaria. She’s still going.”

Marisol’s story says much about the empowerment of women in Mexico. But Jovenes Adelante does more than empower women; it empowers the youth of Mexico -- and even promising students who are not so young. One student is a former nun, who turned policewoman and now, law student. Click on "Student of the Month" to read Virginia's story and those of other outstanding Jóvenes Adelante students.

If you like what you see here, please consider becoming a sponsor. Jovenes Adelante's policy is to have the full amount for five years ($6000 US) in the bank or pledged before they take on a new student. That way, they won’t have to suspend aid if something happens to the organization. Just $100 a month supports a student for one year, but any amount is appreciated.

Your financial support to JA is more than a donation.  It is an investment in Mexico’s future.