Page 7 - Senior Link Magazine Spring 2025 - Online Magazine

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Senior
Senior

Josie Fuentes

A Positive Impact

on Others

by Micah Rios

osie Fuentes is the mother of one of my mom’s
childhood best friends. When I asked my mom
Jabout interviewing Josie, she encouraged me,
“That’s a great idea. She is a strong woman whom I’ve
always admired.” After talking with Josie, I realized
how strong she is and began to share my mom’s respect
and admiration for her. Through hardship, Josie has
always stayed positive. Her story is inspiring and leaves
a positive impact on others.
Josie was born in Pearsall, Texas in 1950. She was raised
by a single mother and had 13 siblings: nine boys and
four girls. Her mom wasn’t able to give her kids much
attention as they were growing up because she was so
busy working. So, Josie and her siblings lived with her eighth grade, she had to drop out of school to help her
aunt’s family through their childhood years. Her aunt mom work in the fields.
and uncle were very kind, helping her mom whenever
they could. Nevertheless, Josie doesn’t dwell on the disadvantages of
her childhood. Rather, she reflects fondly on those years.
While I was interviewing her, Josie expressed that she She had lots of siblings and pets to play with and enjoyed
had always loved learning and school. As a child, she games like tag and hide and seek. She sought more
had big dreams and high expectations for the future. She learning from an older cousin who had been in school a
wanted to finish school and go to college to learn more, little longer than her. That led Josie and her siblings to
but from the start, she had many obstacles to overcome— regard their older cousin as a mentor and a role model.
one of which was that Josie and other Spanish-speaking
students were instructed to sit at the back of the class Josie has worked lots of different jobs throughout her
because, as Josie put it, “The teachers didn’t know life. In her early twenties, she had her first child and,
Spanish, and we didn’t know English.” This led to as a single mother, she needed to work two jobs at a
not just a language barrier, but also a physical barrier time. Early on, she worked hard labor jobs picking and
between those students and their teacher. Then, in the harvesting crops. Then she became a city bus driver, a job

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