Ansberto Vallejo has turned his struggles as an immigrant student into a guiding light for others who follow in the same path.
By LETITIA STEIN
Published October 29, 2004
BRANDON - As a child, Ansberto Vallejo rose before dawn to pick strawberries. After the last school bell sounded, he returned to the fields to help his parents.
His priorities were clear: family first. School was a very close second.
The balance has not changed. At 28, Vallejo still calls his mother every day, and he has found in education a powerful tool to help his community.
A graduate of East Bay High, Vallejo now works with students at his alma mater who are coming through school as he did - one season at a time.
"The way I see my role in working in education is kind of like a business person," Vallejo said. "It is necessary to invest in our students, so they can come back and be role models in our community."
Being bilingual and from the community has helped Vallejo to build trust. But perhaps more importantly, he can inspire through example.
Born in Mexico, Vallejo migrated with his family to the United States at the age of 3. They found their way to Florida, where work was plentiful during the winter harvest months.
His family followed the seasons to Ohio, North and South Carolina and Michigan. Two younger sisters were born in the United States.
"Since I was the oldest in my family, I felt a lot of pressure to help my parents," Vallejo said. "So I found myself maybe more mature than some of my peers growing up."
By the time he reached high school, Vallejo had attended 15 schools. He never considered dropping out, because his parents pushed him to seize opportunities they never enjoyed in Mexico.
"I knew that I had to graduate, but I didn't really know what I was going to do," said Vallejo, who knew no one who had attended college. "I was very scared."
He sought advice from East Bay High teachers, who explained how to take standardized tests and apply for college admission. Vallejo worked his way through two years at Hillsborough Community College, then finished a bachelor's degree in social work at the University of South Florida. He wanted a career that would let him give back to his community.
"I felt that there was a great need for role models in our community," he said.
During college, Vallejo worked part time as a teacher's assistant at East Bay High. He said work showed him the positive influence that he could have with a career in education.
Around the time he graduated, East Bay needed a drop-out prevention specialist. The job involved coordinating outreach efforts with the migrant community in southeast Hillsborough. Vallejo went to work at the school where he had been a student only a few years earlier.
"It was awkward at first," Vallejo said. "I always was more mature than my peers."
As students came to trust him, Vallejo worked on getting their parents involved by organizing career planning nights at churches in the Wimauma area. His pet project was a mentoring program that he could have used in his own school days.
Last year, Vallejo started a program that paired Latino and migrant seniors with students from USF and HCC. He wanted to demystify higher education so more students would consider pursuing it. They did in overwhelming numbers. Forty-five of the 60 students in the first mentoring class went on to higher education, including out-of-state colleges.
Vallejo, who became a guidance counselor this year, still checks in with those students to share their successes. And his efforts have garnered honors.
Last spring, teachers at East Bay High recognized Vallejo as the school's nominee for minority educator of the year. He sat at a table with superintendent Earl Lennard, who spoke of his own childhood experiences working on a farm in Riverview. Vallejo especially appreciated that his coworkers had nominated him.
"Obviously, I was doing something right," Vallejo said.
These days, the father of three still is balancing family, school and work. In December, he will finish a master's degree in education.
By then, it will be strawberry season. But Vallejo will relax by working in a rose garden at his Brandon home. He takes pride in raising plants and flowers on his own.
"I'm going on the right track," he said. "I'm going the right way."
FAMILY: Wife, Alma, 31; daughters, Vanessa, 5; Viviana and Victoria, both 21 months. Parents Macario and Melania Vallejo, both 47, live in Wimauma. Sister Rosalva Serrano, 27, lives in Wimauma; sister Elizabeth Dahdal, 25, lives in Land O'Lakes.
WHEN THE CHILDREN GO TO BED: Vallejo and his wife enjoy watching foreign films. A favorite is City of God.
ALTERNATIVE CAREER: In college, Vallejo thought about turning his passion for drawing into a career, but his father advised him to pursue a more stable profession.
LEAST FAVORITE CROP TO PICK: Eggplants, because of the sticky substance on the skin.
FAMILY FIRST: "If I don't call my mom, she gets upset," he said.
