March 18, 2024 • 48 mins
Thomas Ray Garcia is a writer, educator, and entrepreneur from Pharr, Texas. He is the author of the award-winning short story collection, The River Runs: Stories and co-author of El Curso de la Raza: The Education of Aurelio Manuel Montemayor. He is the founder and board chair of the College Scholarship Leadership Access Program (CSLAP), a lead coordinator for the Hidalgo County Prosperity Task Force, an adjunct professor at South Texas College.
Summary:
Ever wondered how one's roots can weave a tapestry rich enough to transform lives and communities? Thomas Ray Garcia joins us from the Rio Grande Valley, a place where cultural currents flow deep, to share his remarkable journey from a humble upbringing to the halls of Princeton University. His narrative isn't just about personal triumph; it's a beacon of possibility for first-generation, low-income students. Thomas's unwavering commitment to educational access through the College Scholarship Leadership Access Program (CSLAP) is testament to the idea that with the right support and mentorship, success is a language we can all speak.
Navigating the intricacies of identity and heritage, Thomas reveals how growing up on the border shaped his character and his life's mission. His transition to an Ivy League setting threw his Latino heritage into stark relief, challenging him to dig deeper into his fronterizo identity. Thomas's return to his roots after graduation speaks to the pull of home and the desire to uplift and empower his community. From establishing mentorship programs to contributing to regional growth, his story is a powerful reminder of the impact one individual can have when they choose to invest in where they come from.
Pull up a chair and listen to the rhythm of Thomas's pen as he discusses "The River Runs" and "El Curso de la Raza," literary endeavors that paint the Rio Grande Valley in strokes far removed from stereotype. His writing process, a testament to discipline and passion, and his journey through the labyrinth of publishing, underscore the resilience and diverse narratives of borderlands communities. As Thomas weaves tales into his memoir, he redefines success not as a destination, but as the ability to invoke change and inspire—a success that resonates beyond the page in real-world action and transformative community work. Join us for an episode that's sure to ignite your drive and perhaps even redefine your own measure of success.
See more at www.successinspanglish.com
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Episode Transcript
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Raul Lopez (00:04):
This is Raul Lopez, and you're listening to.
How Do you Say Success inSpanish?
The path to success isn't easyFor minorities and people of
color.
Many attempt to journey withlittle to no guidance.
Join me as I sit down withindividuals who share their
stories of perseverance so that,together, we can learn how to
say success in Spanish.
What's good me, it's your boy,raul.
(00:32):
Welcome back.
Thank you for joining me today.
Today's guest is Thomas RayGarcia.
How's it going?
Thomas Ray Garcia (00:41):
Hey, raul, I'm doing very well.
Thanks so much for having me on.
Raul Lopez (00:43):
Of course I appreciate you taking the time.
I know we kind of connectedthrough a mutual friend and I'm
looking forward to kind of getinto your journey.
Just to kind of start off, letme give a little background
about you.
Thomas Ray Garcia is a writer,educator and entrepreneur from
Far Texas.
Thomas is the author of theaward-winning short story
collection the River RunsStories and co-author of El
(01:06):
Curso de la Raza the educationof Orillo Manuel Montemayor.
He is the founder and boardchair of the College Scholarship
Leadership Access Program,cslab, a lead coordinator for
the Hidalgo County ProsperityTask Force and an adjunct
professor at South Texas College.
Welcome, thomas.
I really appreciate you takingthe time to talk to us today.
Thomas Ray Garcia (01:29):
Thanks for having me on, and it's great to
come onto the podcast after ourbrief arctic blast down here in
the Rio Grande Valley, so I'mwearing my coat and tie to keep
warm.
It's great to be inside andtalking to someone from across
the country.
Raul Lopez (01:42):
Yeah, and we've been dealing with colds for a while
now north, and obviously Texansdo not deal well with the cold,
so I'll try not to keep you frombeing too cold for the rest of
this meeting.
But I guess to kind of startoff, you know, tell me a little
about who you are.
Thomas Ray Garcia (01:57):
I always consider myself a writer first
and foremost.
I grew up without books in thehouse.
I grew up in a single parent,low-income household and I knew.
Going into high school andcollege and storytelling always
motivated me to want to be more,to learn from others, to learn
about other cultures, to learnabout how other people could
(02:18):
live their lives outside the RioGrande Valley.
Basically, storytelling was myway to learn more about the
world I couldn't access growingup, so I write fiction and
nonfiction.
Currently I focus on writingstories about the Texas-Mexico
borderlands and showing theworld what the Texas-Mexico
border is really about, in allits realism, greediness and
(02:39):
lyricism.
I'm also a non-profit leader andit's funny because I majored in
English and college, so I neverwould have imagined founding my
own business, working in alocal government and doing a lot
of the economic developmentwork I do today.
But it started with education.
It started with me becomingeducated, learning more about my
own story, about growing upalong the Texas-Mexico border,
(03:02):
going to Princeton University asa first-generation low-income
college student and trying tofind out who am I and how can I
give opportunities like this toother people just like me.
When I was in college, I becameinterested in college access
and filling in gaps forfirst-gen low-income students so
they too could accessopportunities like going to a
(03:23):
Princeton University orgraduating from a two or
four-year university, whenotherwise they're ridden off in
high school because of their zipcode or because of their income
level, like I almost was.
So college scholarshipleadership access program C-SLAP
has been my main program andproject for the past 10 years.
It started as a volunteer-ledsummer institute when I was 19
(03:44):
years old.
I created this institute at myalma mater school district to
help the class of 2013 begingetting ready for college early
and to start getting ready forthe college admissions essay.
Writing the financial aidprocess, finding scholarships
and connecting to near peermentors are those of us who are
ready in college and ready tohelp them on the next step of
(04:07):
their journey.
C-slap became my high schoolcourse.
Right after college, I became ahigh school teacher at Farsan
Juan LMOISD, and C-SLAPessentially became a year-round
curriculum that I was able tosharpen using the Texas
Essential Knowledge and Skills,the TEACS, which are our
statewide learning standards.
From there, I gave thecurriculum and the program to
(04:30):
Farsan Juan LMOISD.
Then, a couple years later, in2019, I decided C-SLAP is still
needed in our community.
There's still many collegereadiness gaps and they're
different at each of the schooldistricts we have here in
Hidalgo County along the border.
So that's when we foundedC-SLAP as a 501c3 nonprofit,
where I served as executivedirector for four years and I
(04:51):
currently serve as the chair ofthe board.
Now I do economic developmentwork at our local government, at
Hidalgo County government, butpart of my work still is focused
on getting students through andthrough college.
Now it's more so.
How can I give them moreopportunities when they reach
the other end of the line, oncethey graduate from college?
Can we make sure that theworkforce is ready and the jobs
(05:13):
are tomorrow here in HidalgoCounty?
Raul Lopez (05:16):
Yeah, and it's an interesting journey you've taken
from where you grew up to allthe going of Princeton and then
coming out, as you said, writingbeing your main focus, and then
, ultimately, we make ouradjustments in our process.
So all that kind of starts, andI think one of the things you
mentioned is what kind of reallyaffected you was better
(05:38):
understanding about your cultureand where you are.
So can you kind of explain alittle bit about what the Rio
Grande Valley is, because that'sa very, very unique location
and environment for people togrow up in it.
Really, you know from everybodyI've been there a couple of
times and it's a great place,but it's very unique.
Can you tell me a little bitabout that?
Thomas Ray Garcia (06:00):
Yes, the Rio Grande Valley is the true South
Texas.
When I got to college and Isaid I was from South Texas,
people assumed San Antonio orCorpus Christi.
But we're right along theTexas-Mexico border.
The Rio Grande Valley is fourcounties on the southernmost tip
of Texas and we have a uniqueculture because we're so close
to Mexico.
Hidalgo County, for example, isabout 93% Latino and if you
(06:25):
live in anywhere in HidalgoCounty you'll notice that our
culture is not just Tejano butit's very much Mexican-American.
It's parts of the Americanculture, it's parts of the
Mexican culture and it's abeautiful mixture of both.
You commonly hear Spanish beingspoken at local businesses and
schools.
You commonly listen to ConJunto on the radio.
(06:48):
You commonly see mixed statusfamilies and multi-generational
families going out for a nighton the town.
It's a beautiful sight to beable to see two different worlds
and two different culturesmerged together in this space.
That was the world I grew up in.
I didn't know about anythingelse until I popped that bubble.
(07:08):
Going to college, I didn't quiteunderstand what it meant to be
a Latino or a Fronterizo, whichis a borderlandsman a literal
translation until I was put in asituation where I encountered
other Latinos from all over theworld at Princeton.
An anecdote I often share is myfirst semester at Princeton.
I joined this studentorganization called Princeton
(07:30):
Latinos y Amigos.
I walked in, put on my name tag, met everybody and I noticed
how everyone kept on calling meamigo.
I just thought, oh, that's whatyou do at Latinos y Amigos.
I realized they weren't doingthat to everybody the
brown-skinned folks.
They were just calling them byname.
To black, asian and whitepeople.
(07:51):
They were emphasizing the amigoas if we were the allies.
People thought I was justsomebody's friend.
They invited to Latino y AmigosUntil I explained to them no,
I'm actually from the Rio GrandeValley, right along the border.
My name's Thomas Garcia.
Since I'm a white-skinned man,they assumed you must not be
Latino.
My grapple between being Latinoenough, being white enough, not
(08:15):
being white of either, beingsomewhere in between that was my
experience at Princeton.
I had to come into my own beinga Borderlands man, a frontariso
, by learning more about borderculture, history and literature.
I never had to own thatidentity.
Just growing up here in the RioGrande Valley it was leaving to
college and coming back andrealizing the world is not like
(08:35):
the border.
I have to start defining myselfin more clear terms.
That way I can start to see theworld through the lens of a
frontariso.
Raul Lopez (08:44):
Yeah, I think we tend to walk a thin path between
identity sometimes, where wefeel we're too Latino for one
section, we're too Americanized,or we're too light-skinned or
too dark-skinned to fit into anyother group.
Sometimes it takes time, Ithink, for all of us to build
(09:10):
ourselves and accept who we areand accept the culture we are
and how we want to distinguishourselves.
How did that affect your timeat Princeton?
Because lots of times, peoplego to college and they do their
stuff.
You went to Princeton, you wentto get your master's at UCLA
(09:31):
but then ultimately ended upcoming back.
Lots of times when we leave, wedon't want to come back because
we're like I'm done, I'mlearning who I am and I want to
get far away.
What kind of how did learningabout your culture and drove you
to come back and do the changesthat you're looking to do in
the Rewritten Valley?
Thomas Ray Garcia (09:49):
My freshman year of high school I was almost
ridden off as not collegematerial because I came from an
unaccredited private school.
I struggled a bit in middleschool and I needed to prove as
a freshman in high school that Idid want to learn more about
college.
Back then my freshman class wasover 800 students and it
whittled down to about 500 bythe time I became a senior.
(10:11):
So in terms of capacity, myhigh school counters this
thought based on the numbers onthe page.
Don't waste time giving thestudent Explanations on how to
get to a U T Austin or a Texas Aand M university, much less a
Princeton University.
So I had a research on my ownhow to get into college.
I had to Google how to get intoU T, how to get into A and M
(10:32):
when I go, how to get into theIvy League schools.
I found out about Princeton andI learned that because I made
less than $40,000 householdincome, I would go to Princeton
for free, completely debt free,if I were to only get accepted.
So, starting early my freshmanyear, I worked hard in high
school to become the wellrounded student that would be
competitive for Princeton.
(10:53):
I had the courage to apply andvery much.
It was on my own.
I didn't have a near peermentor.
I was the first of my family togo to college.
My counselors were spread, thenI really had to find out
information and write my essaysand do everything on my own.
So by the time I got toPrinceton I turned back to my
community and I wanted to giveback in ways I wish I would have
(11:13):
received that help when I was ahigh school student, and that's
where C Slop was born.
So at Princeton I always hadone foot on the border and one
foot at Princeton.
Even when I was taking myclasses and being a full time
student, c Slop was stilloperating in the background.
We weren't simply a summerinstitute.
We provided year round nearpeer mentorship in which I was
(11:34):
mentoring high school studentswho were completing the CS S
profile, who were applying tothe Gates Millennium Scholarship
, who were looking at out ofstate colleges for the same
reasons I did.
It would be much cheaper forthem to go to a private
university out of the state Then, in most cases, going to a
public university in the statebecause of their income level.
So for a few years I dedicatedmyself to uplifting my community
(11:58):
and in that process I startedto learn more about what really
is a front that is.
So that's when I becameinterested in my own identity,
my own connections to the border, I started to become more
interested, not just from asociological lens but also a
cultural lens, of how I cancarry the borderlands with me
and how that influences my timeat Princeton.
(12:18):
Naturally I didn't quite feelcomfortable with the white
majority student body.
I could easily fit in thosespaces because I was a white man
, but the socioeconomic dividealready excluded me as an other.
I couldn't go to the samerestaurants as them.
I couldn't do the same socialactivities as them.
My parents had a very differentbackground than their parents
so I felt other than front ofthem and with the minority
(12:41):
groups I often felt otherbecause I didn't quite fit in, I
didn't look like I belong there.
So the Latino see me go store.
I think is a perfect example ofunwittingly feeling not quite
Latino enough, even though I'min a Latino space and I should
feel comfortable.
Naturally that's where I becamecomfortable with this liminal
space of not quite being thatenough, not quite being this
(13:03):
enough, and I had to becomfortable with that hyphen in
between Mexican American.
Yeah, like we said, before.
Raul Lopez (13:11):
It's always a hard challenge to overcome those
obstacles, especially when yougo so far away from where you're
at and what your comfort zoneis.
And I think for a lot of us wedon't realize college is going
to be very different, no matterwhere we are.
I mean, I only went to Bostonfrom Rhode Island, which is like
a 45 minute drive away, and itwas a completely different
(13:33):
environment that I grew up withand that took some time to get
used to it, and so obviously wedeal with these.
You mentioned, while applyingfor colleges you didn't have the
resources that would help youget into college.
I was fortunate enough to beinvolved with a program called
Upward Bound, which is a trioprogram that help guide kids
(13:55):
first generation collegestudents to get into college and
succeed in college, and sosaying that you didn't you
didn't have that resources isthat kind of what helped guide
some of what you do with CESA.
Thomas Ray Garcia (14:09):
At Princeton , I saw the amazing resources my
peers took advantage of and, toan extent, took for granted,
and I wanted to give a versionof that back to my community.
So CESA to me is aboutincreasing capacity at local
school districts, providingyoung people a platform to give
back to their school districtsthrough mentorship and
redistributing their socialcapital back to young people who
(14:32):
need it, and so we're seeingoperating models that work
effectively when it comes toteaching about college essays,
scholarship, research, careerreadiness and many other
components that often add burdento local go.
Centers are what we call thecollege centers here at our
local high schools.
We understand, because of our Kthrough 12 public school system
(14:55):
here in Texas, we are severelyunderfunded and we simply don't
have the personnel and thecapacity to reach every single
student.
College access for all, whichis the C slap mission, means
providing every single student,no matter their zip code, their
income or their academiccapacity, access to college
readiness opportunities,understanding that not every
(15:17):
single student is going to go tocollege, but at the very least
we're going to give them accessto the resources, the mentorship
and the opportunities that theydeserve so they can make a
ready made decision with theirfamilies is college the right
choice for me.
So no student can say, while Iwas in tone XYZ when I was a
high school student, I wish theywould have believed in me.
(15:37):
I wish I would have known thatearlier.
We aim to eradicate thatsituation.
Raul Lopez (15:43):
With, with, with kids, with high school kids, you
know, getting them, I think,especially for Latino kids.
I think one of the big reasonsI did I created this podcast is
very similar to what yourreasons are is that we did.
We see people and we hear thestories of people on their path
to success in higher education,and so we're having someone that
(16:03):
guided them, help them and,like you said, they might not
even take advantage of itbecause they don't realize how
valuable that information is.
And a lot of us are growing up,doing this up for the first
time is our first time going tocollege.
We're paving our own path withtrailblazers and doing things
for the first time without anyresources.
What are some of the challengesthat you see that some of your
(16:24):
students are dealing with whenit comes to getting access to
college?
Thomas Ray Garcia (16:32):
In 2013, the a and our title actually stood
for awareness.
Currently it's access, and Ithink that illuminates the key
difference that our studentsused to face and what they face
now.
From 2013 to about 2017, we sawthat awareness about
opportunities was our number oneobstacle.
Students simply didn't knowabout certain colleges, how
(16:54):
their financial aid programsworked and how scholarships
operated, and so much more.
Now we see, because of socialmedia primarily, there's a
overflow of information and alot of misinformation out there.
So access to equitablementorship and resources has
become our key focus.
In other places, families havetoo much information and it's
(17:15):
too much to digest, and we needto make sure the information is
provided at the right time inthe right place along the
students journey.
So we aim to work now withstudents earlier in their
journey.
We've begun reaching out tomiddle schools.
That way, awareness is done inthe middle school level and the
access is done at the highschool level.
Raul Lopez (17:36):
I had a very strict parents who college was kind of
our focus from early on.
So I think since, like I canimagine, third grade, I knew I
was going to go to college.
I think that was my only optionreally, and so obviously there
wasn't much resources, but Iknew I knew I did so.
So seeing that you guys arekind of even reaching out to the
(17:56):
younger kids is great.
I think that's a very valuablething.
But I think, to touch upon oneof the things you mentioned is
that your C-slap was a summerprogram I guess that you guys
originally had and theneventually converted to kind of
like a full time nonprofit.
So this is the process forstarting a nonprofit and
(18:19):
creating something that you've.
You know the type of businessthat you've created.
Thomas Ray Garcia (18:26):
We decided the non-profit route was the
best route for us because wewere very strong program
programmatically, we knew how toassess the quality of our work,
we saw the metrics.
It was just a matter of scalingand expanding and it was hard
to do that within a schooldistrict because of the turnover
.
So when we were a summerprogram we actually had three
(18:48):
different college readinessdirectors at the central
administration and every timethere was a new director we had
to essentially resubmit what ourprogram was, our aims, our
goals, and it was hard for us togrow internally.
We also hit roadblocks in termsof our operating model and what
we could teach and how we couldteach it and how we could reach
(19:09):
students.
So it became natural for usevery single summer as we
expanded slowly, to notice if wewere completely independent,
these are the kind of things wecould do.
We could grant scholarships, wecan do more service activities,
we can do more with our staffand that's naturally where we
decided to go after expandingoutside of a school district and
(19:31):
now we're working from theoutside in as a 501c3 non-profit
.
So we already had the program.
It was just a matter of doingall the business side of things,
which is implementingfundraising board oversight,
looking at how do you make surethat your staff is highly
trained and doing all the thingswe need to do to make all the
(19:51):
wheels turn, not simply theprogramming.
We also have to be communityoriented and reach out for
partnerships, work together notonly with school districts now,
but also other nonprofits andgroups that work with high
school families.
So it's been a real journey andevery year I see as a journey.
Every year is basically onepiece of the puzzle that we've
(20:13):
tried to put together in thisbigger puzzle of how do we fit
into the community and serve asa pillar of college access while
also making sure our studentscan get to the next level, fully
serviced.
So we can't do everything.
We can get the students to andthrough college, but on the
other end, we want to make sureour community partners can
receive our students as a readyto enter the workforce or into
(20:35):
the military or enter anotherfield of interest, and they're
fully prepared to be received byour community partners.
Raul Lopez (20:42):
And with how many kids have you guys worked with
throughout the years and whatwas some of the success stories
that you've had so far?
Thomas Ray Garcia (20:51):
From 2013 to 2020, we directly impacted a
thousand four hundred and twentyone students, and that includes
students who either attended atleast three of our workshops,
at least two of our collegecoaching sessions, or who
received a scholarship from usor who were part of our summer
institutes when we first started.
Those students have sincegraduated from college.
(21:15):
We have a ninety nine percentcollege graduation rate.
We have a ninety eight percentcollege graduation rate over six
years.
We have a sense that we want tomake sure our students are
fully serviced even after theyleave high school and college,
so they come back to C-slab andthey're able to become near peer
mentors.
So the students we service from2013 to 2019 are active near
(21:39):
peer mentors in our program.
That means that I can lean onthem to do things that we cannot
hear on the ground.
These near peer mentors knowthe college experience.
They understand what it meansto be a young person living
alone in Austin or going out ofstate and attending a liberal
arts college.
So we lean on our studentsexpertise and the willingness to
give back to their schooldistricts, especially using
(22:01):
C-slab as the platform.
So when ninety nine percent ofour students end up enrolling in
college in ninety eight percentend up graduating over a six
year period.
We have a lot of human capitalto work with and naturally these
students understand howbeneficial it was to have a
program like C-slab and they'rewilling to help us out in any
way, shape or form.
So it's really exciting to beable to see that we created a
(22:25):
network and we've created a realcommunity of young people who
want to uplift each other.
Raul Lopez (22:30):
That's awesome.
It's amazing, I mean, theprogram I was in upper bound.
You build some of theselifelong connections and even
now, you know, it's been 20something years since I
graduated from high school and Istill communicate with my upper
bound friends as if they're myfamily.
So there's an impact that's, Ithink, everlasting.
(22:51):
And I think when they see thevalue of it, you know they want
to come back and support.
You know I do the same thing Igo back and support, and so I'm
very it's nice to hear that andit's, you know, I'm sure for you
it's great to come back and seethe kids that you.
You know I've had upper bound.
I also worked in upper bound.
I had upper bound students whowere high school kids and now
(23:11):
they're almost 30 with a careerand a family.
You look back at them.
You're like, oh my God, I can'tbelieve you went from.
You know this little annoyinglittle kid and now you're a
grown man, that's, you know, adirector at a company, you're
doing really great in life, andso it gives you, you know, a lot
of hope and you know a lot ofpositive inspiration, aspiration
(23:31):
to what you're doing.
So I'm really happy to hearthat.
And so I know, with nonprofitsand these things you know it
gets.
It tends to sometimes getreally political because you're
essentially doing everythingwith the government.
So is that what kind of droveyou to get involved with the
prosperity task force forHidalgo Conti?
Thomas Ray Garcia (23:53):
In 2020, we had just incorporated as a 501c3
non-profit and we wereessentially trying to do
everything.
We felt like an island in astormy sea.
We saw that our families werenot being serviced by their
school districts, their collegesand their local governments.
Especially in spring 2020, whenwe saw C-slot become a digital
(24:16):
literacy center, a mutual aidprogram, a mental health
referral, we literally savedlives and college access became
the least of our concerns.
And that was when we felt weneeded to do more in our
community.
We needed to service ourfamilies fully, not simply doing
(24:37):
a service of getting studentsto and through college.
So, post pandemic, we startedmore outrantly, facing the
community, forming partnershipsand working with local
governments In between us,getting involved with the task
force.
Post COVID, I ran for the stateboard of education in 2022.
There was an open seat in ourstate board of education and I
(25:00):
ran in a five way primary in theDemocratic primary, and my
whole reason for running wasbecause of the pain and
suffering I saw during thepandemic from our students and
our educators, and I understoodthat we were operating in a
broken system.
It was one thing to fill in thegaps, but I wanted to start
closing the gaps.
So at age 28, I ran a 14 countyrace 2 million people and I
(25:24):
came in third in a five wayprimary and in the process I was
able to look at our communityfrom a bird's eye view.
I met so many like mindedpeople and realize the campaign
was merely a means for me tounderstand my community better
and now I have more platforms tomake a more effective change In
early 2023, that's when C slopejoined the Hiddle County
(25:47):
prosperity task force as apartner entity.
Our job was simply providementorship and identify funding
sources for residents seekingeducational opportunities, which
is something we already do forour students.
We simply didn't do for thecommunity at large.
And the purpose of the taskforce, which is an anti poverty
(26:07):
initiative situated in theeconomic development office at
the Hiddle County judges officeand I should note that in Texas
the county judge is not judicial, it's more executive, it's
almost like a mini governorphysician this prosperity task
forces consist of over 160community leaders, over 50
(26:28):
entities.
The primary goal is to identifyresidents in poverty and place
them on a job placement pathway,and that often involves tapping
into wraparound services groupslike ours to do our thing for
residents that otherwise fallthrough the cracks or don't have
community partner relations.
On the long term, we want tofocus on economic development,
(26:49):
so by developing human capital,we then attract the jobs of
tomorrow to meet the workforceof today.
The involvement with the taskforce was through C slap until
September 2023, where I appliedfor a new position at the county
government focusing on theprosperity task force,
coordinating, executing strategyand making sure that we got
(27:11):
things done, and that'scurrently what I do.
So I made a huge career changefrom executive director of my
nonprofit to working at countygovernment economic development,
where C slap is still an activepartner and a crucial partner
in identifying residents andplacing them on our job
placement pathway.
I'm able to receive theseresidents on the other end and
making sure that they get fullyserviced on their way to getting
(27:34):
a job.
So I'm proud to still be verymuch involved with C slap as the
board chair, in which I focuson the more systemic things like
fundraising and communitypartnerships, and I also have a
foot at the county government tomake sure that groups like C
slap can get more involved andwe can service families by
working together.
So there's no need to reinventthe wheel and to do everything
(27:57):
within one entity.
We can simply have the entitieslean on one another, join
together, collaborate, innovate.
We need, to our part, to reducethe poverty rate, which is
close to 27% in Hidalgo Countyand it's close to 14% statewide.
So we have a long ways to go.
What I often say at the countyis we are doing good things, but
(28:19):
we're not doing enough if wehave a 27% poverty rate.
So the solution is not to askgroups like C slap to do more.
We simply have to do thingsdifferently, and that means
looking to our communitypartners, tracking our students
as they go to and throughcollege to make sure they
actually do get into a highpaying job, and reaching
students and residents thatotherwise don't get into a high
(28:41):
paying job by a group like Cslap, yeah, I think you you kind
of recognize the, the, thetrend that there's always
something before that can helpelevate the thing in front.
Raul Lopez (28:53):
So like the horse before the carriage kind of deal
where it's like, yeah, we wantto give them college access, as
well as college access ifthey're living in poverty and
you know, and then set worldfrom there so that evolution,
you know, has grown for you.
And so when, when you look atwhat you're doing with the
(29:13):
Hidalgo County prosperity taskforce, and the stuff you're
doing with, with, with C slap,you know, is there room for
people who are trying to starttheir own nonprofits?
And gets it like is itnecessary to get involved with
politics If you want yournonprofit to be successful?
(29:35):
Is it kind of one that you needto kind of dip your hands in
everything in order if youreally want to make an impact?
Thomas Ray Garcia (29:42):
I would say getting involved in local
government is key, whether it'sschool boards which we had
direct contact with as anonprofit and as a school
program and local cities andcounty governments, in order to
make the most impact.
And what I saw was it wasn'tsimply going to these, the
government entities, and seekinghelp, it was us offering our
(30:06):
services to them, understandingthat we're a community and in
order for us to service theresidents that need the most
help, we should go to thehighest places and to the local
officials, who also want tosupport students and uplift
residents.
It's just a matter of what toolsdo they have at their disposal,
and I see that at the countyjudge's office now, where we're
(30:28):
trying to understand all thedifferent assets in our
community and how to tap them todo the most good that we can,
given our limited capacitylevels, limited funding and so
many other obstacles.
So I do encourage nonprofits tomake that leap and not just to
simply submit a proposal or tosubmit an RFP, but to actually
(30:49):
sit down with local leaders andexplain.
Here's the work we do, here'swhy it's important and here are
the things that we'd like to doin order to do more good work.
Sometimes we can reduce it tosimple things like funding
requests, but at the prosperitytask force a lot of it is simple
innovation and partnershipsthat should have existed many
years ago that now exist becausewe have an entity bringing
(31:11):
people together from the topdown.
So I do encourage nonprofits toget more involved with the
local government because younever know what kind of needs
need to be filled and you can bethat entity that can fill that
need.
Raul Lopez (31:23):
Yeah, that's awesome and I think it's something
maybe a lot of people don'tnecessarily.
I mean, I didn't know it.
I wouldn't have known that if Iwanted to start nonprofit.
I'm also like when you touch,get involved with government.
So thank you for that.
And so, with everything you do,you still write, and you even
mentioned writing is probablyyour biggest passion.
(31:43):
So it's amazing the competencydone and everything that you've
created and you built and theimpact you're making on your
community and that's you'restill writing, you know.
Can you tell me a little bitabout what writing is like and
getting?
You know I think you got acouple of books published what
that process is like?
Thomas Ray Garcia (32:06):
Yes, I was an English major, believe it or
not.
So in English I learned how tolearn.
I learned how to readcritically, write critically and
think critically, and when Iused to take various etheric
courses, like Beowulf, an entireseminar on the Beowulf poem.
I don't actually use Beowulf inmy day to day work at C slapper
(32:26):
at the county government, butwhat it did for me is enable me
to sharpen my brain and toundergo some mental exercises
that apply to everything I dotoday, and writing is one of
those exercises.
Nowadays I have to wake up alittle earlier, get to the
office about 30 or so minutesearly to do my writing for the
(32:47):
day, and right now I'm currentlyon Mexico.
In what it means to be fromhere, both in fiction and
fiction, in my main audience isactually not Borderlands
residents, but people who arenot from the border.
Understanding that, people fromthe border have a sense of I
see what's on the news, I kindof get what the border is about,
(33:09):
and so they project fantasiesof what it's like to be from the
US Mexico border based on otherpeople's stories.
But what we're trying to dodown here in the Valley is tell
our own stories, and that's whatI hope I can do as a writer.
So I published two books in2023.
One of them is a short storyvolume called the river runs.
These are 11 short storiesabout life along the Texas
(33:29):
Mexico border, and the otherbook that was published just a
few months later from Texas A&MUniversity Press is a nonfiction
historical memoir that I workedwith on with a Chicano movement
activist named a month of my or.
These two projects I've beenworking on for years and it was
a complete coincidence that theygot published months from each
(33:52):
other in 2023.
But it made my dream come trueas a writer to actually get my
stories about the border out insuch an important year and such
an important time in my life, asI was transitioning between
C-Slab and county government.
So I still consider writing mymain occupation, even though I
don't dedicate eight hours a dayto it.
I like to think that I puteight hours of work into about
(34:13):
30 minutes of work when it comesto writing, and I hope my
output shows that.
So the river runs and El Cursode la Raza are both about South
Texas.
It's just about what element ofSouth Texas are we talking
about?
Are we talking about the impactof education on South Texas
students in El Curso de la Raza.
Are we talking aboutimmigration, growing up along
(34:34):
the river and a border, what itmeans to be brown or what it
means to be a white skin MexicanAmerican in the river runs?
What I like to do is tacklethese issues that otherwise are
somewhat taboo or otherwisearen't talked about enough, I
think, in our fiction andnonfiction about the border,
tackle them directly and thenput a spin on them.
So the river runs is titledsuch because we don't pretend
(34:59):
that there's no river there.
We abide by the fact that welive right along the Rio Grande
Valley.
It runs through two cultures,countries and communities.
How do we then live along theriver?
So that is the goal of mywriting to take what it means to
be from the US Mexico border,infuse it in our stories and
(35:19):
show people who are not fromhere here's the reality of what
it's like to be from the USMexico border.
Raul Lopez (35:25):
What's something you you know, if you could tell
anybody one thing you'd reallywant them to take away from,
like your stories of andsomething to know about the Rio
Grande Valley is what's onething you'd like them to take
away with.
Thomas Ray Garcia (35:40):
The Rio Grande Valley has a resilient
culture.
We live between two cultures,two worlds, two countries
divided by a river.
We are often the recipients offantasies, both political and
otherwise, and we must then livewith the fantasies projected
(36:02):
onto our people.
So there's a certain resiliencethat's born from that.
When I talk about the US-Mexicoborder to someone who's never
been from here or never visited,and they've simply heard
stories about it, there's a lotof relearning that happens in
those few minutes ofconversation.
What's it really like to be fromthe Rio Grande Valley that is
(36:25):
right next to Mexico?
Is it really like what the newsportrays as a dangerous, unsafe
place, or is it actually aplace of beautiful culture,
resiliency and such a vibrancythat I haven't seen anywhere
else in the country?
What's unique to me about theborder is that it's different
everywhere.
The Rio Grande Valley cultureis different from Laredo culture
(36:47):
, different from El Paso culture, different from San Diego
culture in California.
To be from the border means youcarry the borderlands with you,
and that alone breeds a certainresiliency that you bring with
you into every area of your life, whether you stay in the border
or you leave the border.
Raul Lopez (37:06):
Yeah, everybody I know from the border they're
very proud about telling youthey're from the border.
Everybody from that area that Iknow.
I mean it's just a pride ofwhat they call home.
And so, as far as your writinggoes, I guess the process of
getting a book published yousaid it took you like a year or
(37:28):
more from what you were writingto actually get them released
and published what is theprocess like for getting a book
from an idea to writing it andgetting it published?
Thomas Ray Garcia (37:42):
The River Runs was pretty unique.
I actually started the earliestshort story in that volume in
2015.
I've had short stories over anumber of years and I never
thought of putting them togetherin a volume until I saw the
America O'Bernadette's LiteraryArts Prize for Fiction hosted in
2022.
So I put my short storiestogether in a collection, I
(38:03):
determined their order and thenI had to come up with a title
and I realized every single oneof these stories features the
real around it in either adirect or an indirect way.
The River Runs through thesestories, the border runs through
these stories, and I'm going tocall it the River Runs.
So in October 2022, I submittedthe manuscript to this contest.
In July 2023.
(38:24):
These stories were officiallyreleased and I won the award.
I was able to learn here's whatit means to be from the border.
I need to be able to representmy culture in clear, effective
ways to readers who might not befrom here.
So I didn't want to simply makeparole real or regional
literature.
I wanted to make literatureabout the region In El Cursa de
(38:47):
Orozza that was also a long timecoming where that was a
standard application andsubmission process.
I worked with a co-author onhis life story on that book from
2016 to 2020.
We submitted queries touniversity presses.
We were sending them outeverywhere and we heard back
(39:07):
first from Texas A&M UniversityPress, right before the pandemic
struck.
So when through the pandemic,we did very slow revisions,
edits, some scholarship work andthat book took the standard
route of getting publishedthrough a clear application and
submission process without acontest in between.
(39:29):
So those two books have taughtme very different things about
writing and publishing.
One is you never know when theopportunity is going to arise to
get your stuff published.
So if you have a collection ofpoems or short stories or
fiction that you think is worthy, I would think of it as ready
to be published at any time,especially when you're Google
searching academic or fictioncontests.
(39:51):
When it came to El Cursa deOrozza, I knew publication was
coming.
I just didn't know when or whena university press was going to
bite.
But I was always prepared totake it to the next step in
getting a cover artist, gettingan editor, getting the indexer
and being ready to distributethe book, which is the fun part,
in my opinion.
Once you've done the hard workof getting it published, how
(40:14):
then do you make sure thatpeople aren't reading it and
people are gaining insights toyour book.
So that's been pretty fun withthe past year and getting both
of these books out on tour.
Raul Lopez (40:24):
Nice.
Is there anything else you'reworking on in the future when it
comes to your writing?
Thomas Ray Garcia (40:31):
I'm currently working on my own
memoir actually.
So, after working with AurelioMontemayor on El Cursa de Orozza
the education of Aurelio ManuelMontemayor I started thinking
about my own educational journey.
These are stories I often wouldtell my C-slap students.
These are also stories I toldon the campaign trail for State
Board of Education about what itwas like to go to an
(40:54):
unaccredited private school,struggle in public school and
then go to Princeton Universityas what I call a scholarship boy
, which is someone who isn'tquite immersed in the university
life and not quite immersed inhis home life either because of
the growth he's experiencing inthe academic world.
(41:14):
So in this liminal identity anda liminal space of not quite
fitting in in your universitylife, not quite fitting in at
home anymore, I started toreflect on writing my stories so
other scholarship boys canlearn from.
So I'm writing a memoir basedon that educational journey and
I'm about halfway through thefirst draft and it's basically
(41:34):
stories from kindergarten allthe way to my college years.
Raul Lopez (41:37):
Nice, I mean it seems like, you've had an
amazing journey and I'm surethere was going to be very
interesting stories to read, soI'm looking forward to it.
And so you know, witheverything that you've gone
through, everything that you'vebeen through, you know, we kind
of sometimes get to a certainpoint in our life and we look
back and say, man, I wish Iwould have known this, I wish
(41:58):
somebody would have told me this.
You know, if you go back intime and talk to the younger
version of yourself and giveyourself a piece of advice,
what's something you tellyourself?
Thomas Ray Garcia (42:10):
I wish I could tell my college freshmen
self to meet more people, and Iemphasize this at C-SLAP.
The true education you will getin college is not necessarily
in the lecture hall from theprofessor, but it's in the
lecture hall from your classmatesitting next to you, especially
if you attend a smalluniversity like Princeton, where
(42:31):
you can meet every singleperson in your graduating class.
If you made the effort in yourfour years I feel like I didn't
make quite the effort to meet asmany people as I could and
learn their life stories.
Princeton was a melting pot andit's only become more diverse
since 2012 to 2016 when Iattended.
So I encourage young people andI would encourage my younger
(42:52):
self to simply get out more,learn more people's stories and
learn about the world throughpeople's lived experiences, not
just in the classroom.
Raul Lopez (43:02):
Thanks.
Yeah, the amount of people youmeet at college that you didn't
realize you were going to meetin the different, like there was
people I met who weremillionaires from Europe, who
family owned like a sailing,comes like when else could I say
I've ever met someone like that, you know?
So it's like, yeah, take it.
And it's like, yeah, takeadvantage of the time there.
And so you know, ultimately,this podcast, you know it's
(43:24):
called.
How do you say success inSpanish?
Thomas Ray Garcia (43:26):
you know, success.
Raul Lopez (43:28):
The idea of success varies per person.
You know what is success, sohow do you say success in
Spanish?
Thomas Ray Garcia (43:40):
I would say it's impact.
I'm a utilitarian so I believein making a difference.
When I get to work on something, I believe in results seeing
the impact my work has made inthe real world and tracking
those results and seeing how Ican scale them to do even more
(44:01):
good work.
That's where CSOP was born,that's where my current work in
economic development is born andto an extent it's why I write
every morning.
I hope every story I write,whether it's fiction or
nonfiction, makes an impactevery time someone picks up that
story.
I know it did for me when Ipicked up the Seawolf by Jack
London, age 13.
(44:22):
I grew up without books in thehouse, so when I was forced to
do silent reading in my publicschool in seventh grade and I
didn't have a book on me, I wentto my English class as small
library, picked up a tatteredcopy of the Seawolf because the
cover looked cool.
So I came back to my desk and Istarted reading the Sea
Adventure Story and although Ididn't have the capacity and the
(44:45):
ability at the time, Iunderstood something was
happening underneath the words.
I understood this wasn't simplya sea adventure.
It was also a philosophicalrumination on the nature of man
versus nature and that reallytouched me as a 13-year-old and
it made a significant impact onme.
And whenever I pick up a book ora new author that changes my
(45:05):
way of being or thinking, Ithink back to the power of
storytelling and how we canchange other people's lives
through sharing our stories withthem.
When a near peer mentorconnects to a student, for
example, or we write our ownstories after owning our
identity and our culture, or wemake an impact through people's
lives, whether it's throughhuman capital development or
(45:26):
economic development, and we cansee those people rise out of
poverty and then come back andhelp other people through their
shared experience.
So to me, that is success.
Raul Lopez (45:36):
Nice, very true and well.
Tom, I really appreciate youcoming on this podcast and
telling us your journey.
I think you've dropped somegreat wisdom and helps the
knowledge when it comes to likeC-SLAP.
What are things people could doto help support your
organization?
Thomas Ray Garcia (45:56):
Two different ways.
One is any resources you thinkwould be relevant for young
Latino students, send them ourway.
Our email is info atcslapofficialcom and our website
is cslapofficialcom.
We aim to give as manyresources and opportunities to
(46:18):
our students as possible, andoften that involves popping the
Rio Grande Valley bubble andgetting resources from the
outside in.
Individuals can also donate,and every time people donate to
our nonprofit we make sure thatthat money goes straight to
services for students.
So $25, for example, enables astudent to attend one of our
(46:39):
workshops or classes for free,and that has the potential to
change that student's life.
So cslapofficialcom is ourwebsite, in which we have a list
of our near peer mentors.
We have a list of freeresources and more information
on our programming, as well asoptions to donate.
Raul Lopez (46:55):
Awesome, yeah, and I'll definitely post everything
on our site as well and for thepodcast, so hopefully you get
some additional support and I'mreally glad I got a chance to
meet you.
I'm really glad we got a chanceto connect and I'm really like
you and I.
The idea of leaving an impact,leaving something that's gonna
(47:16):
make a difference, is reallyimportant to us, so I really
wish you and cslap all the bestin your success.
Thomas Ray Garcia (47:24):
Well, thank you for giving me the platformer
.
And today, I think, is alsoexemplifying success, because
this is storytelling, it'sconnecting Latinos from across
the country and hopefully,through the stories I've shared
today, it impacts someone whootherwise I wouldn't have
impacted without you giving methis platform.
So thank you for that.
Raul Lopez (47:42):
Yeah, no, thank you, yari.
I appreciate that, and so, onceagain, thank you very much for
being here and for everyone elselistening.
I appreciate you guys showingup as well and listening to the
podcast, and I hope you'll joinme again next time as we
continue to learn how to saysuccess in Spanish.
This is Raul Lopez, and you're listening to.
How Do you Say Success inSpanish?
The path to success isn't easyFor minorities and people of
color.
Many attempt to journey withlittle to no guidance.
Join me as I sit down withindividuals who share their
stories of perseverance so that,together, we can learn how to
say success in Spanish.
What's good me, it's your boy,raul.
(00:32):
Welcome back.
Thank you for joining me today.
Today's guest is Thomas RayGarcia.
How's it going?
Thomas Ray Garcia (00:41):
Hey, raul, I'm doing very well.
Thanks so much for having me on.
Raul Lopez (00:43):
Of course I appreciate you taking the time.
I know we kind of connectedthrough a mutual friend and I'm
looking forward to kind of getinto your journey.
Just to kind of start off, letme give a little background
about you.
Thomas Ray Garcia is a writer,educator and entrepreneur from
Far Texas.
Thomas is the author of theaward-winning short story
collection the River RunsStories and co-author of El
(01:06):
Curso de la Raza the educationof Orillo Manuel Montemayor.
He is the founder and boardchair of the College Scholarship
Leadership Access Program,cslab, a lead coordinator for
the Hidalgo County ProsperityTask Force and an adjunct
professor at South Texas College.
Welcome, thomas.
I really appreciate you takingthe time to talk to us today.
Thomas Ray Garcia (01:29):
Thanks for having me on, and it's great to
come onto the podcast after ourbrief arctic blast down here in
the Rio Grande Valley, so I'mwearing my coat and tie to keep
warm.
It's great to be inside andtalking to someone from across
the country.
Raul Lopez (01:42):
Yeah, and we've been dealing with colds for a while
now north, and obviously Texansdo not deal well with the cold,
so I'll try not to keep you frombeing too cold for the rest of
this meeting.
But I guess to kind of startoff, you know, tell me a little
about who you are.
Thomas Ray Garcia (01:57):
I always consider myself a writer first
and foremost.
I grew up without books in thehouse.
I grew up in a single parent,low-income household and I knew.
Going into high school andcollege and storytelling always
motivated me to want to be more,to learn from others, to learn
about other cultures, to learnabout how other people could
(02:18):
live their lives outside the RioGrande Valley.
Basically, storytelling was myway to learn more about the
world I couldn't access growingup, so I write fiction and
nonfiction.
Currently I focus on writingstories about the Texas-Mexico
borderlands and showing theworld what the Texas-Mexico
border is really about, in allits realism, greediness and
(02:39):
lyricism.
I'm also a non-profit leader andit's funny because I majored in
English and college, so I neverwould have imagined founding my
own business, working in alocal government and doing a lot
of the economic developmentwork I do today.
But it started with education.
It started with me becomingeducated, learning more about my
own story, about growing upalong the Texas-Mexico border,
(03:02):
going to Princeton University asa first-generation low-income
college student and trying tofind out who am I and how can I
give opportunities like this toother people just like me.
When I was in college, I becameinterested in college access
and filling in gaps forfirst-gen low-income students so
they too could accessopportunities like going to a
(03:23):
Princeton University orgraduating from a two or
four-year university, whenotherwise they're ridden off in
high school because of their zipcode or because of their income
level, like I almost was.
So college scholarshipleadership access program C-SLAP
has been my main program andproject for the past 10 years.
It started as a volunteer-ledsummer institute when I was 19
(03:44):
years old.
I created this institute at myalma mater school district to
help the class of 2013 begingetting ready for college early
and to start getting ready forthe college admissions essay.
Writing the financial aidprocess, finding scholarships
and connecting to near peermentors are those of us who are
ready in college and ready tohelp them on the next step of
(04:07):
their journey.
C-slap became my high schoolcourse.
Right after college, I became ahigh school teacher at Farsan
Juan LMOISD, and C-SLAPessentially became a year-round
curriculum that I was able tosharpen using the Texas
Essential Knowledge and Skills,the TEACS, which are our
statewide learning standards.
From there, I gave thecurriculum and the program to
(04:30):
Farsan Juan LMOISD.
Then, a couple years later, in2019, I decided C-SLAP is still
needed in our community.
There's still many collegereadiness gaps and they're
different at each of the schooldistricts we have here in
Hidalgo County along the border.
So that's when we foundedC-SLAP as a 501c3 nonprofit,
where I served as executivedirector for four years and I
(04:51):
currently serve as the chair ofthe board.
Now I do economic developmentwork at our local government, at
Hidalgo County government, butpart of my work still is focused
on getting students through andthrough college.
Now it's more so.
How can I give them moreopportunities when they reach
the other end of the line, oncethey graduate from college?
Can we make sure that theworkforce is ready and the jobs
(05:13):
are tomorrow here in HidalgoCounty?
Raul Lopez (05:16):
Yeah, and it's an interesting journey you've taken
from where you grew up to allthe going of Princeton and then
coming out, as you said, writingbeing your main focus, and then
, ultimately, we make ouradjustments in our process.
So all that kind of starts, andI think one of the things you
mentioned is what kind of reallyaffected you was better
(05:38):
understanding about your cultureand where you are.
So can you kind of explain alittle bit about what the Rio
Grande Valley is, because that'sa very, very unique location
and environment for people togrow up in it.
Really, you know from everybodyI've been there a couple of
times and it's a great place,but it's very unique.
Can you tell me a little bitabout that?
Thomas Ray Garcia (06:00):
Yes, the Rio Grande Valley is the true South
Texas.
When I got to college and Isaid I was from South Texas,
people assumed San Antonio orCorpus Christi.
But we're right along theTexas-Mexico border.
The Rio Grande Valley is fourcounties on the southernmost tip
of Texas and we have a uniqueculture because we're so close
to Mexico.
Hidalgo County, for example, isabout 93% Latino and if you
(06:25):
live in anywhere in HidalgoCounty you'll notice that our
culture is not just Tejano butit's very much Mexican-American.
It's parts of the Americanculture, it's parts of the
Mexican culture and it's abeautiful mixture of both.
You commonly hear Spanish beingspoken at local businesses and
schools.
You commonly listen to ConJunto on the radio.
(06:48):
You commonly see mixed statusfamilies and multi-generational
families going out for a nighton the town.
It's a beautiful sight to beable to see two different worlds
and two different culturesmerged together in this space.
That was the world I grew up in.
I didn't know about anythingelse until I popped that bubble.
(07:08):
Going to college, I didn't quiteunderstand what it meant to be
a Latino or a Fronterizo, whichis a borderlandsman a literal
translation until I was put in asituation where I encountered
other Latinos from all over theworld at Princeton.
An anecdote I often share is myfirst semester at Princeton.
I joined this studentorganization called Princeton
(07:30):
Latinos y Amigos.
I walked in, put on my name tag, met everybody and I noticed
how everyone kept on calling meamigo.
I just thought, oh, that's whatyou do at Latinos y Amigos.
I realized they weren't doingthat to everybody the
brown-skinned folks.
They were just calling them byname.
To black, asian and whitepeople.
(07:51):
They were emphasizing the amigoas if we were the allies.
People thought I was justsomebody's friend.
They invited to Latino y AmigosUntil I explained to them no,
I'm actually from the Rio GrandeValley, right along the border.
My name's Thomas Garcia.
Since I'm a white-skinned man,they assumed you must not be
Latino.
My grapple between being Latinoenough, being white enough, not
(08:15):
being white of either, beingsomewhere in between that was my
experience at Princeton.
I had to come into my own beinga Borderlands man, a frontariso
, by learning more about borderculture, history and literature.
I never had to own thatidentity.
Just growing up here in the RioGrande Valley it was leaving to
college and coming back andrealizing the world is not like
(08:35):
the border.
I have to start defining myselfin more clear terms.
That way I can start to see theworld through the lens of a
frontariso.
Raul Lopez (08:44):
Yeah, I think we tend to walk a thin path between
identity sometimes, where wefeel we're too Latino for one
section, we're too Americanized,or we're too light-skinned or
too dark-skinned to fit into anyother group.
Sometimes it takes time, Ithink, for all of us to build
(09:10):
ourselves and accept who we areand accept the culture we are
and how we want to distinguishourselves.
How did that affect your timeat Princeton?
Because lots of times, peoplego to college and they do their
stuff.
You went to Princeton, you wentto get your master's at UCLA
(09:31):
but then ultimately ended upcoming back.
Lots of times when we leave, wedon't want to come back because
we're like I'm done, I'mlearning who I am and I want to
get far away.
What kind of how did learningabout your culture and drove you
to come back and do the changesthat you're looking to do in
the Rewritten Valley?
Thomas Ray Garcia (09:49):
My freshman year of high school I was almost
ridden off as not collegematerial because I came from an
unaccredited private school.
I struggled a bit in middleschool and I needed to prove as
a freshman in high school that Idid want to learn more about
college.
Back then my freshman class wasover 800 students and it
whittled down to about 500 bythe time I became a senior.
(10:11):
So in terms of capacity, myhigh school counters this
thought based on the numbers onthe page.
Don't waste time giving thestudent Explanations on how to
get to a U T Austin or a Texas Aand M university, much less a
Princeton University.
So I had a research on my ownhow to get into college.
I had to Google how to get intoU T, how to get into A and M
(10:32):
when I go, how to get into theIvy League schools.
I found out about Princeton andI learned that because I made
less than $40,000 householdincome, I would go to Princeton
for free, completely debt free,if I were to only get accepted.
So, starting early my freshmanyear, I worked hard in high
school to become the wellrounded student that would be
competitive for Princeton.
(10:53):
I had the courage to apply andvery much.
It was on my own.
I didn't have a near peermentor.
I was the first of my family togo to college.
My counselors were spread, thenI really had to find out
information and write my essaysand do everything on my own.
So by the time I got toPrinceton I turned back to my
community and I wanted to giveback in ways I wish I would have
(11:13):
received that help when I was ahigh school student, and that's
where C Slop was born.
So at Princeton I always hadone foot on the border and one
foot at Princeton.
Even when I was taking myclasses and being a full time
student, c Slop was stilloperating in the background.
We weren't simply a summerinstitute.
We provided year round nearpeer mentorship in which I was
(11:34):
mentoring high school studentswho were completing the CS S
profile, who were applying tothe Gates Millennium Scholarship
, who were looking at out ofstate colleges for the same
reasons I did.
It would be much cheaper forthem to go to a private
university out of the state Then, in most cases, going to a
public university in the statebecause of their income level.
So for a few years I dedicatedmyself to uplifting my community
(11:58):
and in that process I startedto learn more about what really
is a front that is.
So that's when I becameinterested in my own identity,
my own connections to the border, I started to become more
interested, not just from asociological lens but also a
cultural lens, of how I cancarry the borderlands with me
and how that influences my timeat Princeton.
(12:18):
Naturally I didn't quite feelcomfortable with the white
majority student body.
I could easily fit in thosespaces because I was a white man
, but the socioeconomic dividealready excluded me as an other.
I couldn't go to the samerestaurants as them.
I couldn't do the same socialactivities as them.
My parents had a very differentbackground than their parents
so I felt other than front ofthem and with the minority
(12:41):
groups I often felt otherbecause I didn't quite fit in, I
didn't look like I belong there.
So the Latino see me go store.
I think is a perfect example ofunwittingly feeling not quite
Latino enough, even though I'min a Latino space and I should
feel comfortable.
Naturally that's where I becamecomfortable with this liminal
space of not quite being thatenough, not quite being this
(13:03):
enough, and I had to becomfortable with that hyphen in
between Mexican American.
Yeah, like we said, before.
Raul Lopez (13:11):
It's always a hard challenge to overcome those
obstacles, especially when yougo so far away from where you're
at and what your comfort zoneis.
And I think for a lot of us wedon't realize college is going
to be very different, no matterwhere we are.
I mean, I only went to Bostonfrom Rhode Island, which is like
a 45 minute drive away, and itwas a completely different
(13:33):
environment that I grew up withand that took some time to get
used to it, and so obviously wedeal with these.
You mentioned, while applyingfor colleges you didn't have the
resources that would help youget into college.
I was fortunate enough to beinvolved with a program called
Upward Bound, which is a trioprogram that help guide kids
(13:55):
first generation collegestudents to get into college and
succeed in college, and sosaying that you didn't you
didn't have that resources isthat kind of what helped guide
some of what you do with CESA.
Thomas Ray Garcia (14:09):
At Princeton , I saw the amazing resources my
peers took advantage of and, toan extent, took for granted,
and I wanted to give a versionof that back to my community.
So CESA to me is aboutincreasing capacity at local
school districts, providingyoung people a platform to give
back to their school districtsthrough mentorship and
redistributing their socialcapital back to young people who
(14:32):
need it, and so we're seeingoperating models that work
effectively when it comes toteaching about college essays,
scholarship, research, careerreadiness and many other
components that often add burdento local go.
Centers are what we call thecollege centers here at our
local high schools.
We understand, because of our Kthrough 12 public school system
(14:55):
here in Texas, we are severelyunderfunded and we simply don't
have the personnel and thecapacity to reach every single
student.
College access for all, whichis the C slap mission, means
providing every single student,no matter their zip code, their
income or their academiccapacity, access to college
readiness opportunities,understanding that not every
(15:17):
single student is going to go tocollege, but at the very least
we're going to give them accessto the resources, the mentorship
and the opportunities that theydeserve so they can make a
ready made decision with theirfamilies is college the right
choice for me.
So no student can say, while Iwas in tone XYZ when I was a
high school student, I wish theywould have believed in me.
(15:37):
I wish I would have known thatearlier.
We aim to eradicate thatsituation.
Raul Lopez (15:43):
With, with, with kids, with high school kids, you
know, getting them, I think,especially for Latino kids.
I think one of the big reasonsI did I created this podcast is
very similar to what yourreasons are is that we did.
We see people and we hear thestories of people on their path
to success in higher education,and so we're having someone that
(16:03):
guided them, help them and,like you said, they might not
even take advantage of itbecause they don't realize how
valuable that information is.
And a lot of us are growing up,doing this up for the first
time is our first time going tocollege.
We're paving our own path withtrailblazers and doing things
for the first time without anyresources.
What are some of the challengesthat you see that some of your
(16:24):
students are dealing with whenit comes to getting access to
college?
Thomas Ray Garcia (16:32):
In 2013, the a and our title actually stood
for awareness.
Currently it's access, and Ithink that illuminates the key
difference that our studentsused to face and what they face
now.
From 2013 to about 2017, we sawthat awareness about
opportunities was our number oneobstacle.
Students simply didn't knowabout certain colleges, how
(16:54):
their financial aid programsworked and how scholarships
operated, and so much more.
Now we see, because of socialmedia primarily, there's a
overflow of information and alot of misinformation out there.
So access to equitablementorship and resources has
become our key focus.
In other places, families havetoo much information and it's
(17:15):
too much to digest, and we needto make sure the information is
provided at the right time inthe right place along the
students journey.
So we aim to work now withstudents earlier in their
journey.
We've begun reaching out tomiddle schools.
That way, awareness is done inthe middle school level and the
access is done at the highschool level.
Raul Lopez (17:36):
I had a very strict parents who college was kind of
our focus from early on.
So I think since, like I canimagine, third grade, I knew I
was going to go to college.
I think that was my only optionreally, and so obviously there
wasn't much resources, but Iknew I knew I did so.
So seeing that you guys arekind of even reaching out to the
(17:56):
younger kids is great.
I think that's a very valuablething.
But I think, to touch upon oneof the things you mentioned is
that your C-slap was a summerprogram I guess that you guys
originally had and theneventually converted to kind of
like a full time nonprofit.
So this is the process forstarting a nonprofit and
(18:19):
creating something that you've.
You know the type of businessthat you've created.
Thomas Ray Garcia (18:26):
We decided the non-profit route was the
best route for us because wewere very strong program
programmatically, we knew how toassess the quality of our work,
we saw the metrics.
It was just a matter of scalingand expanding and it was hard
to do that within a schooldistrict because of the turnover
.
So when we were a summerprogram we actually had three
(18:48):
different college readinessdirectors at the central
administration and every timethere was a new director we had
to essentially resubmit what ourprogram was, our aims, our
goals, and it was hard for us togrow internally.
We also hit roadblocks in termsof our operating model and what
we could teach and how we couldteach it and how we could reach
(19:09):
students.
So it became natural for usevery single summer as we
expanded slowly, to notice if wewere completely independent,
these are the kind of things wecould do.
We could grant scholarships, wecan do more service activities,
we can do more with our staffand that's naturally where we
decided to go after expandingoutside of a school district and
(19:31):
now we're working from theoutside in as a 501c3 non-profit
.
So we already had the program.
It was just a matter of doingall the business side of things,
which is implementingfundraising board oversight,
looking at how do you make surethat your staff is highly
trained and doing all the thingswe need to do to make all the
(19:51):
wheels turn, not simply theprogramming.
We also have to be communityoriented and reach out for
partnerships, work together notonly with school districts now,
but also other nonprofits andgroups that work with high
school families.
So it's been a real journey andevery year I see as a journey.
Every year is basically onepiece of the puzzle that we've
(20:13):
tried to put together in thisbigger puzzle of how do we fit
into the community and serve asa pillar of college access while
also making sure our studentscan get to the next level, fully
serviced.
So we can't do everything.
We can get the students to andthrough college, but on the
other end, we want to make sureour community partners can
receive our students as a readyto enter the workforce or into
(20:35):
the military or enter anotherfield of interest, and they're
fully prepared to be received byour community partners.
Raul Lopez (20:42):
And with how many kids have you guys worked with
throughout the years and whatwas some of the success stories
that you've had so far?
Thomas Ray Garcia (20:51):
From 2013 to 2020, we directly impacted a
thousand four hundred and twentyone students, and that includes
students who either attended atleast three of our workshops,
at least two of our collegecoaching sessions, or who
received a scholarship from usor who were part of our summer
institutes when we first started.
Those students have sincegraduated from college.
(21:15):
We have a ninety nine percentcollege graduation rate.
We have a ninety eight percentcollege graduation rate over six
years.
We have a sense that we want tomake sure our students are
fully serviced even after theyleave high school and college,
so they come back to C-slab andthey're able to become near peer
mentors.
So the students we service from2013 to 2019 are active near
(21:39):
peer mentors in our program.
That means that I can lean onthem to do things that we cannot
hear on the ground.
These near peer mentors knowthe college experience.
They understand what it meansto be a young person living
alone in Austin or going out ofstate and attending a liberal
arts college.
So we lean on our studentsexpertise and the willingness to
give back to their schooldistricts, especially using
(22:01):
C-slab as the platform.
So when ninety nine percent ofour students end up enrolling in
college in ninety eight percentend up graduating over a six
year period.
We have a lot of human capitalto work with and naturally these
students understand howbeneficial it was to have a
program like C-slab and they'rewilling to help us out in any
way, shape or form.
So it's really exciting to beable to see that we created a
(22:25):
network and we've created a realcommunity of young people who
want to uplift each other.
Raul Lopez (22:30):
That's awesome.
It's amazing, I mean, theprogram I was in upper bound.
You build some of theselifelong connections and even
now, you know, it's been 20something years since I
graduated from high school and Istill communicate with my upper
bound friends as if they're myfamily.
So there's an impact that's, Ithink, everlasting.
(22:51):
And I think when they see thevalue of it, you know they want
to come back and support.
You know I do the same thing Igo back and support, and so I'm
very it's nice to hear that andit's, you know, I'm sure for you
it's great to come back and seethe kids that you.
You know I've had upper bound.
I also worked in upper bound.
I had upper bound students whowere high school kids and now
(23:11):
they're almost 30 with a careerand a family.
You look back at them.
You're like, oh my God, I can'tbelieve you went from.
You know this little annoyinglittle kid and now you're a
grown man, that's, you know, adirector at a company, you're
doing really great in life, andso it gives you, you know, a lot
of hope and you know a lot ofpositive inspiration, aspiration
(23:31):
to what you're doing.
So I'm really happy to hearthat.
And so I know, with nonprofitsand these things you know it
gets.
It tends to sometimes getreally political because you're
essentially doing everythingwith the government.
So is that what kind of droveyou to get involved with the
prosperity task force forHidalgo Conti?
Thomas Ray Garcia (23:53):
In 2020, we had just incorporated as a 501c3
non-profit and we wereessentially trying to do
everything.
We felt like an island in astormy sea.
We saw that our families werenot being serviced by their
school districts, their collegesand their local governments.
Especially in spring 2020, whenwe saw C-slot become a digital
(24:16):
literacy center, a mutual aidprogram, a mental health
referral, we literally savedlives and college access became
the least of our concerns.
And that was when we felt weneeded to do more in our
community.
We needed to service ourfamilies fully, not simply doing
(24:37):
a service of getting studentsto and through college.
So, post pandemic, we startedmore outrantly, facing the
community, forming partnershipsand working with local
governments In between us,getting involved with the task
force.
Post COVID, I ran for the stateboard of education in 2022.
There was an open seat in ourstate board of education and I
(25:00):
ran in a five way primary in theDemocratic primary, and my
whole reason for running wasbecause of the pain and
suffering I saw during thepandemic from our students and
our educators, and I understoodthat we were operating in a
broken system.
It was one thing to fill in thegaps, but I wanted to start
closing the gaps.
So at age 28, I ran a 14 countyrace 2 million people and I
(25:24):
came in third in a five wayprimary and in the process I was
able to look at our communityfrom a bird's eye view.
I met so many like mindedpeople and realize the campaign
was merely a means for me tounderstand my community better
and now I have more platforms tomake a more effective change In
early 2023, that's when C slopejoined the Hiddle County
(25:47):
prosperity task force as apartner entity.
Our job was simply providementorship and identify funding
sources for residents seekingeducational opportunities, which
is something we already do forour students.
We simply didn't do for thecommunity at large.
And the purpose of the taskforce, which is an anti poverty
(26:07):
initiative situated in theeconomic development office at
the Hiddle County judges officeand I should note that in Texas
the county judge is not judicial, it's more executive, it's
almost like a mini governorphysician this prosperity task
forces consist of over 160community leaders, over 50
(26:28):
entities.
The primary goal is to identifyresidents in poverty and place
them on a job placement pathway,and that often involves tapping
into wraparound services groupslike ours to do our thing for
residents that otherwise fallthrough the cracks or don't have
community partner relations.
On the long term, we want tofocus on economic development,
(26:49):
so by developing human capital,we then attract the jobs of
tomorrow to meet the workforceof today.
The involvement with the taskforce was through C slap until
September 2023, where I appliedfor a new position at the county
government focusing on theprosperity task force,
coordinating, executing strategyand making sure that we got
(27:11):
things done, and that'scurrently what I do.
So I made a huge career changefrom executive director of my
nonprofit to working at countygovernment economic development,
where C slap is still an activepartner and a crucial partner
in identifying residents andplacing them on our job
placement pathway.
I'm able to receive theseresidents on the other end and
making sure that they get fullyserviced on their way to getting
(27:34):
a job.
So I'm proud to still be verymuch involved with C slap as the
board chair, in which I focuson the more systemic things like
fundraising and communitypartnerships, and I also have a
foot at the county government tomake sure that groups like C
slap can get more involved andwe can service families by
working together.
So there's no need to reinventthe wheel and to do everything
(27:57):
within one entity.
We can simply have the entitieslean on one another, join
together, collaborate, innovate.
We need, to our part, to reducethe poverty rate, which is
close to 27% in Hidalgo Countyand it's close to 14% statewide.
So we have a long ways to go.
What I often say at the countyis we are doing good things, but
(28:19):
we're not doing enough if wehave a 27% poverty rate.
So the solution is not to askgroups like C slap to do more.
We simply have to do thingsdifferently, and that means
looking to our communitypartners, tracking our students
as they go to and throughcollege to make sure they
actually do get into a highpaying job, and reaching
students and residents thatotherwise don't get into a high
(28:41):
paying job by a group like Cslap, yeah, I think you you kind
of recognize the, the, thetrend that there's always
something before that can helpelevate the thing in front.
Raul Lopez (28:53):
So like the horse before the carriage kind of deal
where it's like, yeah, we wantto give them college access, as
well as college access ifthey're living in poverty and
you know, and then set worldfrom there so that evolution,
you know, has grown for you.
And so when, when you look atwhat you're doing with the
(29:13):
Hidalgo County prosperity taskforce, and the stuff you're
doing with, with, with C slap,you know, is there room for
people who are trying to starttheir own nonprofits?
And gets it like is itnecessary to get involved with
politics If you want yournonprofit to be successful?
(29:35):
Is it kind of one that you needto kind of dip your hands in
everything in order if youreally want to make an impact?
Thomas Ray Garcia (29:42):
I would say getting involved in local
government is key, whether it'sschool boards which we had
direct contact with as anonprofit and as a school
program and local cities andcounty governments, in order to
make the most impact.
And what I saw was it wasn'tsimply going to these, the
government entities, and seekinghelp, it was us offering our
(30:06):
services to them, understandingthat we're a community and in
order for us to service theresidents that need the most
help, we should go to thehighest places and to the local
officials, who also want tosupport students and uplift
residents.
It's just a matter of what toolsdo they have at their disposal,
and I see that at the countyjudge's office now, where we're
(30:28):
trying to understand all thedifferent assets in our
community and how to tap them todo the most good that we can,
given our limited capacitylevels, limited funding and so
many other obstacles.
So I do encourage nonprofits tomake that leap and not just to
simply submit a proposal or tosubmit an RFP, but to actually
(30:49):
sit down with local leaders andexplain.
Here's the work we do, here'swhy it's important and here are
the things that we'd like to doin order to do more good work.
Sometimes we can reduce it tosimple things like funding
requests, but at the prosperitytask force a lot of it is simple
innovation and partnershipsthat should have existed many
years ago that now exist becausewe have an entity bringing
(31:11):
people together from the topdown.
So I do encourage nonprofits toget more involved with the
local government because younever know what kind of needs
need to be filled and you can bethat entity that can fill that
need.
Raul Lopez (31:23):
Yeah, that's awesome and I think it's something
maybe a lot of people don'tnecessarily.
I mean, I didn't know it.
I wouldn't have known that if Iwanted to start nonprofit.
I'm also like when you touch,get involved with government.
So thank you for that.
And so, with everything you do,you still write, and you even
mentioned writing is probablyyour biggest passion.
(31:43):
So it's amazing the competencydone and everything that you've
created and you built and theimpact you're making on your
community and that's you'restill writing, you know.
Can you tell me a little bitabout what writing is like and
getting?
You know I think you got acouple of books published what
that process is like?
Thomas Ray Garcia (32:06):
Yes, I was an English major, believe it or
not.
So in English I learned how tolearn.
I learned how to readcritically, write critically and
think critically, and when Iused to take various etheric
courses, like Beowulf, an entireseminar on the Beowulf poem.
I don't actually use Beowulf inmy day to day work at C slapper
(32:26):
at the county government, butwhat it did for me is enable me
to sharpen my brain and toundergo some mental exercises
that apply to everything I dotoday, and writing is one of
those exercises.
Nowadays I have to wake up alittle earlier, get to the
office about 30 or so minutesearly to do my writing for the
(32:47):
day, and right now I'm currentlyon Mexico.
In what it means to be fromhere, both in fiction and
fiction, in my main audience isactually not Borderlands
residents, but people who arenot from the border.
Understanding that, people fromthe border have a sense of I
see what's on the news, I kindof get what the border is about,
(33:09):
and so they project fantasiesof what it's like to be from the
US Mexico border based on otherpeople's stories.
But what we're trying to dodown here in the Valley is tell
our own stories, and that's whatI hope I can do as a writer.
So I published two books in2023.
One of them is a short storyvolume called the river runs.
These are 11 short storiesabout life along the Texas
(33:29):
Mexico border, and the otherbook that was published just a
few months later from Texas A&MUniversity Press is a nonfiction
historical memoir that I workedwith on with a Chicano movement
activist named a month of my or.
These two projects I've beenworking on for years and it was
a complete coincidence that theygot published months from each
(33:52):
other in 2023.
But it made my dream come trueas a writer to actually get my
stories about the border out insuch an important year and such
an important time in my life, asI was transitioning between
C-Slab and county government.
So I still consider writing mymain occupation, even though I
don't dedicate eight hours a dayto it.
I like to think that I puteight hours of work into about
(34:13):
30 minutes of work when it comesto writing, and I hope my
output shows that.
So the river runs and El Cursode la Raza are both about South
Texas.
It's just about what element ofSouth Texas are we talking
about?
Are we talking about the impactof education on South Texas
students in El Curso de la Raza.
Are we talking aboutimmigration, growing up along
(34:34):
the river and a border, what itmeans to be brown or what it
means to be a white skin MexicanAmerican in the river runs?
What I like to do is tacklethese issues that otherwise are
somewhat taboo or otherwisearen't talked about enough, I
think, in our fiction andnonfiction about the border,
tackle them directly and thenput a spin on them.
So the river runs is titledsuch because we don't pretend
(34:59):
that there's no river there.
We abide by the fact that welive right along the Rio Grande
Valley.
It runs through two cultures,countries and communities.
How do we then live along theriver?
So that is the goal of mywriting to take what it means to
be from the US Mexico border,infuse it in our stories and
(35:19):
show people who are not fromhere here's the reality of what
it's like to be from the USMexico border.
Raul Lopez (35:25):
What's something you you know, if you could tell
anybody one thing you'd reallywant them to take away from,
like your stories of andsomething to know about the Rio
Grande Valley is what's onething you'd like them to take
away with.
Thomas Ray Garcia (35:40):
The Rio Grande Valley has a resilient
culture.
We live between two cultures,two worlds, two countries
divided by a river.
We are often the recipients offantasies, both political and
otherwise, and we must then livewith the fantasies projected
(36:02):
onto our people.
So there's a certain resiliencethat's born from that.
When I talk about the US-Mexicoborder to someone who's never
been from here or never visited,and they've simply heard
stories about it, there's a lotof relearning that happens in
those few minutes ofconversation.
What's it really like to be fromthe Rio Grande Valley that is
(36:25):
right next to Mexico?
Is it really like what the newsportrays as a dangerous, unsafe
place, or is it actually aplace of beautiful culture,
resiliency and such a vibrancythat I haven't seen anywhere
else in the country?
What's unique to me about theborder is that it's different
everywhere.
The Rio Grande Valley cultureis different from Laredo culture
(36:47):
, different from El Paso culture, different from San Diego
culture in California.
To be from the border means youcarry the borderlands with you,
and that alone breeds a certainresiliency that you bring with
you into every area of your life, whether you stay in the border
or you leave the border.
Raul Lopez (37:06):
Yeah, everybody I know from the border they're
very proud about telling youthey're from the border.
Everybody from that area that Iknow.
I mean it's just a pride ofwhat they call home.
And so, as far as your writinggoes, I guess the process of
getting a book published yousaid it took you like a year or
(37:28):
more from what you were writingto actually get them released
and published what is theprocess like for getting a book
from an idea to writing it andgetting it published?
Thomas Ray Garcia (37:42):
The River Runs was pretty unique.
I actually started the earliestshort story in that volume in
2015.
I've had short stories over anumber of years and I never
thought of putting them togetherin a volume until I saw the
America O'Bernadette's LiteraryArts Prize for Fiction hosted in
2022.
So I put my short storiestogether in a collection, I
(38:03):
determined their order and thenI had to come up with a title
and I realized every single oneof these stories features the
real around it in either adirect or an indirect way.
The River Runs through thesestories, the border runs through
these stories, and I'm going tocall it the River Runs.
So in October 2022, I submittedthe manuscript to this contest.
In July 2023.
(38:24):
These stories were officiallyreleased and I won the award.
I was able to learn here's whatit means to be from the border.
I need to be able to representmy culture in clear, effective
ways to readers who might not befrom here.
So I didn't want to simply makeparole real or regional
literature.
I wanted to make literatureabout the region In El Cursa de
(38:47):
Orozza that was also a long timecoming where that was a
standard application andsubmission process.
I worked with a co-author onhis life story on that book from
2016 to 2020.
We submitted queries touniversity presses.
We were sending them outeverywhere and we heard back
(39:07):
first from Texas A&M UniversityPress, right before the pandemic
struck.
So when through the pandemic,we did very slow revisions,
edits, some scholarship work andthat book took the standard
route of getting publishedthrough a clear application and
submission process without acontest in between.
(39:29):
So those two books have taughtme very different things about
writing and publishing.
One is you never know when theopportunity is going to arise to
get your stuff published.
So if you have a collection ofpoems or short stories or
fiction that you think is worthy, I would think of it as ready
to be published at any time,especially when you're Google
searching academic or fictioncontests.
(39:51):
When it came to El Cursa deOrozza, I knew publication was
coming.
I just didn't know when or whena university press was going to
bite.
But I was always prepared totake it to the next step in
getting a cover artist, gettingan editor, getting the indexer
and being ready to distributethe book, which is the fun part,
in my opinion.
Once you've done the hard workof getting it published, how
(40:14):
then do you make sure thatpeople aren't reading it and
people are gaining insights toyour book.
So that's been pretty fun withthe past year and getting both
of these books out on tour.
Raul Lopez (40:24):
Nice.
Is there anything else you'reworking on in the future when it
comes to your writing?
Thomas Ray Garcia (40:31):
I'm currently working on my own
memoir actually.
So, after working with AurelioMontemayor on El Cursa de Orozza
the education of Aurelio ManuelMontemayor I started thinking
about my own educational journey.
These are stories I often wouldtell my C-slap students.
These are also stories I toldon the campaign trail for State
Board of Education about what itwas like to go to an
(40:54):
unaccredited private school,struggle in public school and
then go to Princeton Universityas what I call a scholarship boy
, which is someone who isn'tquite immersed in the university
life and not quite immersed inhis home life either because of
the growth he's experiencing inthe academic world.
(41:14):
So in this liminal identity anda liminal space of not quite
fitting in in your universitylife, not quite fitting in at
home anymore, I started toreflect on writing my stories so
other scholarship boys canlearn from.
So I'm writing a memoir basedon that educational journey and
I'm about halfway through thefirst draft and it's basically
(41:34):
stories from kindergarten allthe way to my college years.
Raul Lopez (41:37):
Nice, I mean it seems like, you've had an
amazing journey and I'm surethere was going to be very
interesting stories to read, soI'm looking forward to it.
And so you know, witheverything that you've gone
through, everything that you'vebeen through, you know, we kind
of sometimes get to a certainpoint in our life and we look
back and say, man, I wish Iwould have known this, I wish
(41:58):
somebody would have told me this.
You know, if you go back intime and talk to the younger
version of yourself and giveyourself a piece of advice,
what's something you tellyourself?
Thomas Ray Garcia (42:10):
I wish I could tell my college freshmen
self to meet more people, and Iemphasize this at C-SLAP.
The true education you will getin college is not necessarily
in the lecture hall from theprofessor, but it's in the
lecture hall from your classmatesitting next to you, especially
if you attend a smalluniversity like Princeton, where
(42:31):
you can meet every singleperson in your graduating class.
If you made the effort in yourfour years I feel like I didn't
make quite the effort to meet asmany people as I could and
learn their life stories.
Princeton was a melting pot andit's only become more diverse
since 2012 to 2016 when Iattended.
So I encourage young people andI would encourage my younger
(42:52):
self to simply get out more,learn more people's stories and
learn about the world throughpeople's lived experiences, not
just in the classroom.
Raul Lopez (43:02):
Thanks.
Yeah, the amount of people youmeet at college that you didn't
realize you were going to meetin the different, like there was
people I met who weremillionaires from Europe, who
family owned like a sailing,comes like when else could I say
I've ever met someone like that, you know?
So it's like, yeah, take it.
And it's like, yeah, takeadvantage of the time there.
And so you know, ultimately,this podcast, you know it's
(43:24):
called.
How do you say success inSpanish?
Thomas Ray Garcia (43:26):
you know, success.
Raul Lopez (43:28):
The idea of success varies per person.
You know what is success, sohow do you say success in
Spanish?
Thomas Ray Garcia (43:40):
I would say it's impact.
I'm a utilitarian so I believein making a difference.
When I get to work on something, I believe in results seeing
the impact my work has made inthe real world and tracking
those results and seeing how Ican scale them to do even more
(44:01):
good work.
That's where CSOP was born,that's where my current work in
economic development is born andto an extent it's why I write
every morning.
I hope every story I write,whether it's fiction or
nonfiction, makes an impactevery time someone picks up that
story.
I know it did for me when Ipicked up the Seawolf by Jack
London, age 13.
(44:22):
I grew up without books in thehouse, so when I was forced to
do silent reading in my publicschool in seventh grade and I
didn't have a book on me, I wentto my English class as small
library, picked up a tatteredcopy of the Seawolf because the
cover looked cool.
So I came back to my desk and Istarted reading the Sea
Adventure Story and although Ididn't have the capacity and the
(44:45):
ability at the time, Iunderstood something was
happening underneath the words.
I understood this wasn't simplya sea adventure.
It was also a philosophicalrumination on the nature of man
versus nature and that reallytouched me as a 13-year-old and
it made a significant impact onme.
And whenever I pick up a book ora new author that changes my
(45:05):
way of being or thinking, Ithink back to the power of
storytelling and how we canchange other people's lives
through sharing our stories withthem.
When a near peer mentorconnects to a student, for
example, or we write our ownstories after owning our
identity and our culture, or wemake an impact through people's
lives, whether it's throughhuman capital development or
(45:26):
economic development, and we cansee those people rise out of
poverty and then come back andhelp other people through their
shared experience.
So to me, that is success.
Raul Lopez (45:36):
Nice, very true and well.
Tom, I really appreciate youcoming on this podcast and
telling us your journey.
I think you've dropped somegreat wisdom and helps the
knowledge when it comes to likeC-SLAP.
What are things people could doto help support your
organization?
Thomas Ray Garcia (45:56):
Two different ways.
One is any resources you thinkwould be relevant for young
Latino students, send them ourway.
Our email is info atcslapofficialcom and our website
is cslapofficialcom.
We aim to give as manyresources and opportunities to
(46:18):
our students as possible, andoften that involves popping the
Rio Grande Valley bubble andgetting resources from the
outside in.
Individuals can also donate,and every time people donate to
our nonprofit we make sure thatthat money goes straight to
services for students.
So $25, for example, enables astudent to attend one of our
(46:39):
workshops or classes for free,and that has the potential to
change that student's life.
So cslapofficialcom is ourwebsite, in which we have a list
of our near peer mentors.
We have a list of freeresources and more information
on our programming, as well asoptions to donate.
Raul Lopez (46:55):
Awesome, yeah, and I'll definitely post everything
on our site as well and for thepodcast, so hopefully you get
some additional support and I'mreally glad I got a chance to
meet you.
I'm really glad we got a chanceto connect and I'm really like
you and I.
The idea of leaving an impact,leaving something that's gonna
(47:16):
make a difference, is reallyimportant to us, so I really
wish you and cslap all the bestin your success.
Thomas Ray Garcia (47:24):
Well, thank you for giving me the platformer
.
And today, I think, is alsoexemplifying success, because
this is storytelling, it'sconnecting Latinos from across
the country and hopefully,through the stories I've shared
today, it impacts someone whootherwise I wouldn't have
impacted without you giving methis platform.
So thank you for that.
Raul Lopez (47:42):
Yeah, no, thank you, yari.
I appreciate that, and so, onceagain, thank you very much for
being here and for everyone elselistening.
I appreciate you guys showingup as well and listening to the
podcast, and I hope you'll joinme again next time as we
continue to learn how to saysuccess in Spanish.
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