Despite the obstacles Jorge Mendez Barcelo faced as an immigrant from Mexico, who arrived in the United States in 2007 at the age of 15, he was able to earn his master’s degree in business administration and establish his own business.
After a family crisis forced him to leave behind his hometown of Villa Juarez, Mendez and a sister traveled to Panorama City, California in order to pursue life in the United States.
“It was a culture shock,” said Mendez. “I’m from a very small town, less than 500 people lived there, so coming here was a shock for me. The culture, the people, the way everybody acted was all very different. Also, with my parents being in Mexico, being lonely was part of it for a little bit, for a couple months.”
With no knowledge of English upon his arrival, Mendez was able to learn in just six months by taking ESL classes, attending Saturday classes and adult school.
Since Mendez was an undocumented immigrant at the time of his arrival, he did not qualify for financial aid. Thus, he started running cross country and track in high school in order to try to earn a scholarship from a university.
After graduation, Mendez attended a local community college for three years.
“I had good grades and was actually good at running, but because I couldn’t apply for financial aid, a lot of coaches didn’t offer me anything because it would be expensive for them to actually acquire me,” said Mendez.
