Late bloomer has passion for helping people succeed

EDITOR'S NOTE: Face Time is a twice-monthly feature profiling local business people in a first-person format.

Maggie Perez

Age: 67

Business venture: Academic coordinator for Washington State University's nursing program, located at Yakima Valley Community College.

Education: Graduated from Sunnyside High, 1959; associate degree in chemical dependency, YVCC, 1993; bachelor's degree in psychology, Heritage University, 1998; master's degree in education with a specialization in therapy and counseling, Heritage University, 2000.

Family: Married to Patrick Perez; three grown daughters, Patsey, Debi, and Melissa.

STARTING OUT IN TEXAS

I was born in Eagle Pass, Texas. I'm the oldest of three children. When I was about 6 years old, my family decided to migrate to Washington state. My dad spoke very little English, but my mother, she spoke both languages, just perfectly.

I remember getting into a big truck with a canopy on top and they would just put a whole bunch of us into this truck and then, every now and then, they'd stop. Our parents would come back with Snyder's bread and some cheese and bologna. To this day, I do not like that. I do not eat that.

So, then, we came to a labor camp in Granger. And we lived there for many years. That's where I started school. I didn't speak very much English at that time, so I had to repeat the first grade.

I was about 13 when we moved to Sunnyside and my mother became a radio announcer -- the first Latina ever in Washington state -- in 1953.

At that time, there were very few Hispanic families in the area. There were only eight in Sunnyside. I graduated from high school in 1959 in Sunnyside and two years later I got married and had my girls.

WORKING IN THE FIELDS

I knew there had to be something better for me (than labor jobs in the field). That was horrible.

Back in those days, it was rutabagas and taking the weeds out of the mint rows. And the worst one was potatoes. I was only 13.

That job was horrible. You had to bend over with all these bags, they would be hanging down (on your sides) and you would have one in the front and you would be with your face down on the ground, putting the potatoes in there.

I did that for a while and I said, 'I don't want to do this anymore.' And (my mom) said, 'OK, then you have to drive the truck.'

The conditions were horrible. I'm happy that later on things changed with Cesar Chavez and Mrs. Huerta because they instilled in farmers to provide water and a bathroom area. (Chavez and Dolores Huerta were co-founders of the UFW.)

It was horrible because in the summertime it was so hot. And my face would be all red and I'd be perspiring and so uncomfortable, and guess what, there's no place to go to the bathroom.

There were men and girls working together and there was no place for you to go. So, you just had to hold it all day long.

I said, this is not for me. I'm smarter than that.

AFTER HIGH SCHOOL

After getting divorced in 1975, I realized for the first time what it was like to buy my own home. My three girls, each one had their own bedroom, and it was really nice.

Much of my life was a lot of work. I was very fortunate because all I had was a high school diploma, but I worked as an insurance agent for 14 years down in the Lower Valley. And then, I would get a phone call. I don't know how they got my name and I never bothered to ask. I'd be asked to teach Spanish as a second language. It was the Prosser High superintendent who called me.

And for two years I did that in the evenings. At that time, we were having more and more Latinos coming into the Valley. Certainly, it's nothing like what it is now.

We didn't have computers back then. So I went to the library and copied everything that I needed (to teach the class). We had a typewriter at home. So, I put together all my curriculum and started the class.

It went very, very well. The students were doctors and nurses and farm individuals -- lots of different kinds of people.

BACK TO SCHOOL

The interesting part is that I didn't go to college until I was in my latter 50s. I'm 67 now.

I must have been 55 or something like that when I went back to college. I already had my associate's degree from YVCC because I worked for YVCC for 14 years. It was free for me to go to school (because I worked there). It was an associate's degree in chemical dependency.

(By this time) I had already moved to Yakima. I was a single person and my girls were all pretty grown up and doing their own thing.

In 1995, I remarried. My husband said, 'Why don't you go and get your bachelor's degree?' He said, 'You're the kind of person that enjoys college. Give it a shot.'

So, the next day, I went and signed up and got started. I finished that degree in 1998 and graduated with a master's degree -- also from Heritage University -- in 2000.

NURSING PROGRAM

After 14 years with YVCC, I moved to this job in the school of nursing.

The reason I decided to move is because this was a university and it was in counseling and recruitment.

I love to go around and talk and do that kind of thing. At least once a week, I give presentations all over the place.

I love my job tremendously. I enjoy working with the students. We want them to be successful. I have a passion for helping people succeed. It's a very hard, very difficult program. The joy, to see them through their education and graduation, is enough for me.

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