Maria Bravo with nephews, Diego and Luis, and sister, Elena |
Now fast-forward fifteen years and imagine yourself graduating with honors from a prestigious business school with a double major in accounting and finance and exemplary community service to your credit.
That is the story of Maria Bravo, 22, who graduated in May from the Moore School of Business. She also managed to find time to volunteer with the S.C. Hispanic Leadership Council and Hispanic Outreach, work as an interpreter for Communicar Language Service, and serve as vice president of the USC International Student Association.
Maria's father, Silverio Bravo, first came to this country as a migrant worker from Nayarit in northwestern Mexico in the early 1960s to pick peaches, and traveled to and from Mexico each growing season. Maria is the youngest of seven children ranging in age from 34 to 22. Though two of Maria's brothers came to live with her father, it wasn't until 1993, when Mr. Bravo worked for JCO Farms in Allendale and owner Jimmy Oswald offered him a house to live in, that he was finally able to bring his entire family to South Carolina.
Maria's struggles to adjust to a new life in a new country and the stories of four other Hispanic youths are profiled in Nuestro Futuro (Our Future), an ETV documentary — two years in the making—which aired May 4 as part of the public television station's series, Carolina Stories. "What I get from the video," Maria says, "is that there are a lot of Hispanics going through the same thing… although it was hard for me in the beginning, I just never gave up, and I want to emphasize that to other youths who are struggling at the moment." ETV aired an encore presentation of Nuestro Futuro on Thursday, May 25.
Helping other Hispanic youth has been the focus of Maria's community work. Through Hispanic Outreach, she has helped with a project called "Expresiones," a program that promotes creative expression among Hispanic youth through poetry contests, other creative writing and publishing, and artwork. She has also participated in REACH (Role Models Encouraging Academics & Challenging Hispanics), sponsored by the S.C. Hispanic Leadership Council and State Farm Insurance, which seeks to provide inspirational speakers for groups of Hispanic youth and to provide them with information about applying for college and scholarship opportunities. In recognition of her achievements, Maria herself received a scholarship from Hispanic Outreach in the amount of $3,000. She was also a LIFE Scholarship recipient.
Maria was seven at the time her family emigrated and didn't speak English. She credits educators, including her second grade teacher (who spoke a little Spanish) and several teachers she calls her "high school dads" with helping her to adjust to her new life and succeed in school. Maria has invited them all to her college graduation.
In fact, the Colonial Center may be a bit crowded for this year's festivities, because Maria wanted to include a host of others who have helped her along the way. She has invited District 91 Rep. Lonnie Hosey, who took an interest after hearing her story and has dined in her family's home; James Moore, Community Specialist for the 2nd Congressional District who helped her with the citizenship process (a sister and two brothers have also achieved citizenship, her mother will in a few months); and, of course, the Oswalds of JCO Farms.
Maria is the second in her family to attend college. Her sister, Ramona, graduated from USC in 1998 with a computer programming degree and is now employed with Chem-Nuclear in Barnwell.
As she was passing by Thomas Cooper Library recently, Maria was struck by the realization that she would no longer be making those daily treks across campus, and how much USC has meant to her. In the context of her life and the many changes that have taken place, Maria says she has developed the most at USC. "I thought about how much I've grown here, about USC and Columbia… I will remember and cherish it always."
Maria hopes to work in Houston or Atlanta and stay involved with Communicar.