Wednesday, October 24, 2001

Staff member finds new home, life in America
By Antoinette Vega
Skiff Staff

Maria Teresa Balcazar is the reason the second floor of Moudy Building South is always looking its best.

For 16 years, Balcazar has been the housekeeper for the second floor of the building. The small-framed woman with short, curly brown hair rides the city transit bus every morning to arrive to work at 6:30 a.m. On campus, students recognize her as one of the friendliest people because she has no trouble talking to anyone and everyone even though her first language is Spanish.

FILE PHOTO

Any attempt to move her from the second floor and the journalism department has been met by protests from the journalism faculty because of their love for her and the work she does.

“I remember a time when her supervisor tried to transfer her, but we fought to keep her here in the journalism department,” said Jack Raskopf, associate professor of journalism. “She is someone we do not want to lose.

“ If everyone on campus worked as hard as Teresa, we would be the Harvard of the Southwest,” Raskopf said.

But beneath Balcazar’s bubbly personality is a person who made great sacrifices to become who she is today.

Balcazar, an immigrant, was born and raised in the small town Moroleon in Guanajuato, Mexico. After the birth of her son Alvaro and a failed marriage, she realized it was time for a change. When she was 29 years old and her son was 2 years old, she decided to leave her family and the only home she knew for a whole new world. As she walked across the Rio Bravo border with her son in her arms, she created four goals for herself that she wanted to accomplish in her new country: seeing her son get a college education, becoming an American citizen, buying a house and seeing the Statue of Liberty. So far, Balcazar has managed to achieve three out of four of those goals.

A difficult journey

If you ask Balcazar where her home is, she will tell you without hesitation it is the United States, but she did not always feel this way.

Looking back, Balcazar remembers her bewilderment during her first day in Texas because all the street signs and billboards were in English.

Her first memory is of visiting a garage sale where she purchased her first book, a Spanish-English dictionary. She was amazed the first time she visited a grocery store because of the convenience and the variety of items available.

“In Mexico, the grocery stores are so complicated,” Balcazar said. “Here you can go into the store and quickly get what you want. If you want tortillas, you can go in, buy tortillas and leave.”

At times she would miss her family, but knew the United States was where she belonged.

“The times that I would feel sad remembering the past, I would look at my son and then look toward the future,” Balcazar said.

The goal of getting her son a college education provided her the momentum she needed to adapt as quickly as she could to the United States. She said the 22 years she has been in America has been a peaceful, happy time with no discrimination from Americans. In fact, she says the only discrimination she has noticed has been from her own race.

“It is usually other Mexicans who want to be rude to me. But when they are rude, I am just as rude back,” Balcazar said.

Blending two cultures

Balcazar has managed to maintain her culture and has also passed on her heritage to her son, Alvaro. She speaks Spanish to him, even though his first language is English, cooks Mexican food during the week and enjoys Mexican music.

Balcazar has adopted American culture as well. She enjoys American dances and likes to see the fireworks on the Fourth of July. One of her favorite things is watching movies and listening to the country music trio, the Dixie Chicks.

“During the week, I am Mexican, I make tortillas and all that good food,” Balcazar said. “But on the weekends I am American. I eat out with my friends at American restaurants and go watch American movies.”

The times she has visited her family and friends in Mexico, she has been accused of talking too much like an American when she uses phrases such as, “see you later,” and “okay.”

“My family has said that I am becoming too American, but I take that as a compliment,” Balcazar said.

Achieving her goals

Balcazar said the main reason she came to this country was to obtain a better life for herself and her son. She enjoyed living in her town in Mexico, but she wanted to go to the place she thought was the “best country in the world.”

Balcazar wanted her son to receive the best education he could and know two languages, but as a single mother in Mexico she would not have the funds to send Alvaro to college. Opportunities to attend college are available in Mexico, but because it is expensive, a large majority of the population cannot take advantage of them. She knew America would provide her the opportunity to realize her dream for her son.

In the 22 years Balcazar has been in this country, she has been able to see her son grow up into what she considers a good man. Alvaro attends TCU and will graduate in May 2002 with a dual degree in accounting and finance.

“I sacrificed a lot for my son, but now I am the proudest person in the world,” Balcazar said.

Balcazar achieved another one of her goals in October of 1996 when she became an American citizen. Her main reason for obtaining citizenship was to receive better benefits and to be able to vote. Voting is such an honor because each American gets to contribute to who will be in the elected offices, she said.

Becoming a citizen was important for Balcazar because she felt she could be taken more seriously and respected as an important part of the United States.

“I studied a lot for the test and many faculty members supported my efforts by giving me books on the United States to help me,” she said.

After she had obtained her citizenship, a party was held for her by the journalism department in celebration of her accomplishment.

“We held a party for her complete with American flags and banners and other decorations of red, white and blue. We even served American food and gave her patriotic gifts,” said Doris Wallace, journalism administrative assistant.

This year, Balcazar reached another of her goals when she and her son moved into their first house after living in apartments for more than 20 years.

She smiles proudly as she describes her home with a garden outside and carpet in every room.

“In Mexico none of the houses have gardens and only wealthy people can afford carpet in their homes,” she said.

Balcazar said it is a small, comfortable home, but she is very content with it.

The only goal left on Balcazar’s list is seeing the Statue of Liberty in person, but she is sure it will happen.

“After everything I have been through, I know anything is possible,” she said.

Balcazar says that she would never return to Mexico because the United States is her and Alvaro’s home now. She will always be fond of Mexico, but she feels she has gained so much from this country and has no intentions of ever leaving.

“I feel like I have been in a race just running and running,” she said. “But when I look around and see all that I have been blessed with I feel like I have finally made it to the finish line.”

Antoinette Vega
a.c.vega@student.tcu