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Migrant
student goes from field work to White House Eighteen
years ago Daniel Garza was a After
dropping out in the 10th grade, Daniel secured his GED
diploma and started college. His family’s financial problems again,
however, caused him to drop out and return to the fields. At
age 20 Garza volunteered as a reserve police officer. His hard work and
good attitude led the police chief to hire him as a radio dispatcher.
"It was my ticket out of the fields," he recalls. Within a
year, he tested for a police officer position and was hired. Daniel
also became an avid reader of non-fiction -- absorbing ideas and
information that prompted him to become politically active. That led
Garza to successfully run for Toppenish City Council in 1995 and begin
working as a congressional staff assistant to Rep. Doc Hastings in the
congressman’s In
2001, following Bush’s election, Garza was appointed as Hispanic media
coordinator at the Department of the Interior, but was soon promoted to
deputy director. It
was a few months later that he caught the subway near the Pentagon to
travel to his office, where the television was already reporting the
Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the Then
out of the blue in 2003 Garza was asked to become the president’s
liaison to the Hispanic community. “I can’t even say it was a dream
come true,” he says, “because I had never dreamed it. It was beyond
the realm of possibility.” Daniel
has since left the White House and launched a Christian Coalition-type
organization for Hispanics -- trying to unite both the Catholic and
evangelical churches behind this effort to help young Hispanics return
to the traditional religious values many have abandoned. Garza
encourages migrant students not to let any obstacle keep them from
achieving their goals. And few students face more obstacles than Garza
did. But
life as a migrant student was one of "privilege,” according to
Garza – "the privilege of belonging to a family that overcame
barriers and challenges together, and the privilege of living in Mexico
for six months and then living in the United States for six months each
year." For
most students, the migrant lifestyle is anything but a
"privilege," but Garza says those experiences and his parents
religious values helped him set high goals, develop a strong work ethic
and eventually guided his political orientation. And,
ultimately, character is more important than circumstance, says Garza.
"Character will define your future" and "mark your place
in this world," he says. Garza
urges students to work hard, set high goals, develop their character,
and turn their obstacles into steppingstones to success. "Life
deals your cards," he tells students, "and you can either
whine about what you didn't get or you can begin to make use of the
individual talent and skill you do have" to serve others. And
serving others, he says, will lead to success. |