{"id":548,"date":"2014-02-12T21:30:58","date_gmt":"2014-02-12T21:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/generationone.kera.org\/?p=548"},"modified":"2014-12-15T15:27:45","modified_gmt":"2014-12-15T15:27:45","slug":"fresh-start-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/generationone\/fresh-start-in-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"She Escaped Violence For A Fresh Start In Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the summer, Texas was in the spotlight for the tens of thousands of unaccompanied Central American children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. It\u2019s not a new phenomenon. A couple of years ago, Dilcia M. Asencio Mazariegos escaped a violent home life in Guatemala for a fresh start in North Texas. The 18-year-old is safe in Plano. But her new life in Texas is filled with challenges. She’s learning English, going to school, juggling jobs — and wondering about her future.
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\"Dilcia

Dilcia M. Asencio Mazariegos organizes paperwork in an ESL class at Plano East Senior High. Photo\/Christina Ulsh<\/p><\/div>\n

Dilcia M. Asencio Mazariegos can relate to many of the Central American kids coming to Texas. In her case, she wasn\u2019t escaping gang violence. The brutality she suffered in Guatemala came at the hand of her older brother \u2013 lashings, whacks, verbal assaults. The evidence? Scars on her back.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMy sisters have them, too,\u201d Dilcia says, speaking in Spanish. \u201cThe truth is he hit all of us \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you imagine? We have cattle and he loves the animals more than his own siblings. If something happened to one of them, he\u2019d get angry and blame us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The abuse began after her dad died a few years ago. That\u2019s when her brother, as she puts it, started acting \u201cmacho.\u201d<\/p>\n

To get away, Dilcia moved in with an older sister. Then her boyfriend died suddenly — he had a pulmonary embolism.<\/p>\n

Dilcia had enough. She decided to come north.<\/p>\n

She chose Texas so she could join relatives already living here.<\/p>\n

\"Life

Life back in Guatemala, where Dilcia M. Asencio Mazariegos is from. Photo courtesy Dilcia M. Asencio Mazariegos<\/p><\/div>\n

An uncertain journey<\/h6>\n

On Dec. 15, 2012, Dilcia and a family member boarded a bus in her hometown of Jutiapa. They traveled through Guatemala and Mexico. Then she arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I was going to have to cross the desert, but thank God I didn\u2019t,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Instead, immigrant smugglers led her across the Rio Grande.<\/p>\n

To stay warm during the journey, Dilcia wore pants, two long-sleeved shirts and a sweater.<\/p>\n

She carried 20 Mexican pesos and a small purse with candy to give her energy to make the crossing.<\/p>\n

Dilcia hopped on an inflatable raft with men covered in tattoos. They looked like they were on drugs and had been drinking. They crossed the river and entered Texas.<\/p>\n

She and her relative joined a group of about a dozen others. Exhausted, they found a sugar cane field and slept.<\/p>\n

On Christmas Eve, a helicopter hovered overhead and spotted the group. Border Patrol agents captured Dilcia and the others.<\/p>\n

She was placed in a detention center. Agents told her she had to leave all her belongings behind except for the shirt, pants and shoes she was wearing. They made her remove the shoelaces.<\/p>\n

She held onto the pesos.<\/p>\n

Dilcia was transferred to a shelter with other kids. They were fed and clothed. Shelter workers taught them.<\/p>\n

After about three months, a relative paid to fly Dilcia to North Texas.<\/p>\n

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Yes, it\u2019s difficult. But it\u2019s for a reason. Every sacrifice leads to a reward.
Dilcia M. Asencio Mazariegos<\/div>
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\"Dilcia

Dilcia M. Asencio Mazariegos, center, holds string and takes a break with friends outside school. Photo\/Christina Ulsh<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

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‘Every sacrifice leads to a reward’<\/strong><\/h6>\n

Dilcia eventually enrolled at Plano East Senior High School.<\/p>\n

\"Dilcia

Dilcia has “learned more in these eight months than a lot of students learn in two or three years,” says Steve Crouch, an ESL teacher at Plano East Senior High. Photo\/Christina Ulsh<\/p><\/div>\n

She\u2019s in 12th-grade English as a Second Language classes, where students are taught in English.<\/p>\n

One November morning, Dilcia sat in her math class. The teacher handed back tests on linear graphs. Dilcia got the second-highest score. She smiled.<\/p>\n

Students who come to the U.S. face myriad academic challenges, teachers say.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these students don\u2019t even have the foundation in their home language,\u201d said Steve Crouch, one of Dilcia\u2019s ESL teachers. \u201cWhen I have them give me a writing sample in Spanish, it looks like a third grader wrote it. So I feel like I\u2019m not just teaching English — they need to know basic language skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Dilcia lacked in education, she made up for with tenacity — in the classroom and with a tutor.<\/p>\n

Last spring, teacher Vincent Frost used his free period to work with Dilcia and another student. Frost doesn\u2019t speak Spanish, but with the help of Google Translate he learned about her life in Guatemala and here in North Texas.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cDilcia

\u201cDilcia \u2013 she\u2019s incredibly sharp,” says Vincent Frost, an ESL teacher at Plano East Senior High. Photo\/Christina Ulsh<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cDilcia \u2013 she\u2019s incredibly sharp,\u201d Frost says. \u201cShe\u2019s a very pragmatic girl. She learns pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

On top of a full schedule at school, Dilcia works. In one week in November, she spent 47 hours juggling two jobs at Arby\u2019s and Jack in the Box. Most days, she doesn\u2019t get home till 11 p.m. Then she\u2019s up early the next morning to get to school.<\/p>\n

Her only time off all week? After school on Tuesdays.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it\u2019s difficult,\u201d Dilcia says. \u201cBut it\u2019s for a reason. Every sacrifice leads to a reward. I\u2019m one of those people who believes that to have a good future, you have to work when you\u2019re young. That way you don\u2019t have to depend on anyone when you\u2019re older.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a lesson from her father. And for someone with her schedule, where does homework fit in?<\/p>\n

\u201cI do it at night or when I\u2019m not at work,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

She spends her Tuesday afternoons away from work and with a tutor. She practices her English by texting with her sister. She checks in with her mom, who hasn\u2019t left Guatemala.
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I\u2019m good at defending myself.
Dilcia M. Asencio Mazariegos on why she might become an attorney.<\/div>
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\"Photo\/Christina

When Dilcia M. Asencio Mazariegos isn’t in school, she works at Arby’s. Photo\/Christina Ulsh<\/p><\/div>\n

A strong work ethic<\/h6>\n

Dilcia’s work ethic doesn\u2019t surprise Paul Zoltan, a Dallas immigration attorney who took her case free of charge on the condition she would enroll in school.<\/p>\n

This year, he\u2019s opened 64 juvenile immigrant cases. Most of his clients are fleeing violence. When kids like Dilcia get here, they\u2019re willing to study and work hard.<\/p>\n

\""I\u2019m

“I\u2019m one of those people who believes that to have a good future, you have to work when you\u2019re young,” Dilcia M. Asencio Mazariegos says.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cShe wants to be a productive member of society,\u201d Zoltan says. \u201cShe was eager to finish her studies \u2026 in order to give back to those family members who\u2019ve supported her. I find that admirable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dilcia applied \u2013 and qualified \u2013 for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. It\u2019s applied in cases where a child has been abused or abandoned. For Dilcia, it was the physical abuse she suffered.<\/p>\n

\u201cDilcia is one of the fortunate few to qualify for something other than asylum and it\u2019s through that program that she\u2019s attained residency,\u201d Zoltan said.<\/p>\n

Not all kids are as lucky. Some have to wait years before finding out whether they get to stay or be sent to their home country. Many of the cases get caught up in the court system.<\/p>\n

Dilcia has a green card. She has permission to work and just got a Social Security number.<\/p>\n

At school, Dilcia thinks she may have to repeat 12th grade. But this native Spanish speaker is making progress with her English.<\/p>\n

\""She\u2019s

“She\u2019s trying to be independent. She has nobody to really lean on,” says Mike Fleming, an ESL teacher. Photo\/Christina Ulsh<\/p><\/div>\n

One of her teachers, Mike Fleming, worries she\u2019s working too much. With no parents around, she has few people to lean on outside of school, aside from some relatives and her boyfriend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen she comes here, it\u2019s a little bit of a safe haven,\u201d Fleming said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a social group. She can be with her friends and be kind of like a teenager. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t get the impression she gets to do that a lot outside of school.\u201d<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks ago, she quit her job at Jack in the Box.<\/p>\n

She\u2019ll have more time \u2013 time for school, time to study. And time for sleep.<\/p>\n

Dilcia hopes to go to college to study technology.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s thought about being an attorney.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m good at defending myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

She wants to become a U.S. citizen. She wants to bring her younger brother to Texas to learn English.<\/p>\n

She wants him to have a better life. The life she has now.<\/p>\n

\"Dilcia

Dilcia M. Asencio Mazariegos, right, hangs out with a friend outside Plano East Senior High. Photo\/Christina Ulsh<\/p><\/div>\n

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One district, many languages<\/h6>\n

Here\u2019s a sampling of some of the languages spoken by students in Plano ISD during the 2013-14 school year:
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Albanian<\/span>Arabic<\/span>Bengali<\/span>Mandarin Chinese<\/span>French<\/span><\/div>
Gujarati<\/span>Hindi<\/span>Indonesian<\/span>Japanese<\/span>Korean<\/span><\/div>
Nepali<\/span>Romanian<\/span>Spanish<\/span>Urdu<\/span>Vietnamese<\/span><\/div>
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Source: Texas Education Agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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