Cristina Godinez is a former South Mountain Community College student. She was able to learn English as a young women and fight for her dreams of becoming a teacher.
Cristina was born in Mexico on December 24, 1950. She remembers a happy childhood, full of school and play. She found love for education and enjoyed going to classes and doing the assignments given by her teachers. At that young age, she decided that she wanted to be a teacher. This would become one of her life-long dreams. Christina lived part of her life in the city of Nogales, Mexico. She met her husband there and got married, together they moved to the United States.
Starting a new life in a different country was not an easy thing, but Cristina always had a great mentally on never giving up and always trying to be a better person. The first obstacle Cristina found was the language barrier. She did not like the idea of having someone to translate for her all the time. She wanted to be able to understand and speak English properly. Having to take her kids to the doctor and sometimes not being able to find someone who could translate for her was an issue. So, learning English was an essential task that Cristina had to get done.
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Before coming to Phoenix, Cristina and her husband lived in different states. She had several different jobs while she was traveling around the states. Despite of all the traveling, she never gave up on going to school to improve her English language skills. When they moved to Phoenix, she was looking around for a close place to study and keep pursuing her dream. With her husband’s help Cristina found South Mountain Community College. While at South Mountain she was also able to get a job with one of her teachers. That kept her motivated to continue pursuing her dream. With her young children in school, Cristina attended classes at SMCC. She was one of the first students to enroll in the new ESL program.
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After Cristina finished at SMCC, she got a job a Motorola. She worked for several years and gained a lot of experience. After retiring from that job, she finally applied at a school for a teacher assistant position. Cristina got the job of her dreams teaching little kids and learning from them.
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Cristina Godinez did all things possible in order to fulfill her dreams. She never gave up and always did her best to accomplish every goal that she set in her life. She is a clear example of that working hard will pay off every single time. With effort and passion in all the activities she did, Cristina found a way to reach her dream and become a successful person. There is no obstacle big enough to stop you if you have a winning mentally and work hard all time.
Works Cited
- Bruns, Roger. “Cesar Chavez and the Delano Grape Boycott.” The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2020, latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1868421. Accessed 27 Apr. 2020.
- Girod, Christina. “Movement Matures, 1966–1973.” The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2020, latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/33. Accessed 28 Apr. 2020.
- Girod, Christina. “New Waves of Latino Immigration Begin, 1977–1979.” The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2020, latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/36. Accessed 28 Apr. 2020.
- Thomas, Lauren. “A Changing Society, 2016-Present.” The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2020, latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/46. Accessed 28 Apr. 2020.
- Thornburg, Mika. “Populism, 2008–Present.” The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2020, latinoamerican2.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/45. Accessed 28 Apr. 2020.
- “Christina Godinez Interview.” Christina Godinez.mp4, Google Drive, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uG7_zB8W7gmRt86XUptiOO6FXYfdfykH/view. Accessed 28 May. 2020.
| Narrator | Cristina Godinez |
| Birthdate | December 24, 1950 |
| Place of Origin | Nogales, Sonora, Mexico |
| Place of Residence | South Phoenix, Arizona |
| Years Active in South Phoenix | 1983- |
| Role | Student/Educator |
| Recording Duration | |
| Date | November 5, 2019 |
| Location | South Mountain Community Library |
| Interviewed By | Student Interviewer: Ivonne Godinez Faculty Interviewer: Summer Cherland |
| Story Written By | Student Writer: Sergio Cortez, Spring 2020 |
| Notes |
South Phoenix Oral History Project 