LAKE CITY, Minn. — Eight new graduates might not sound like a lot, but when those graduates came to the U.S. in their teens, learned a new language and earned their credits in a few short years, it's cause for celebration.
That's what happened Wednesday night at Lake City Area Arts.
Six graduates, who were members of the Lake City Public Schools' English Language program, told their stories of migration, culture shock, hard work, isolation, making friends and building their lives for a better future.
"One of the hardest things for me was saying goodbye to my grandparents," said Francklin Mateo, who was raised by his grandparents before leaving for the United States with his sister and nephew.
At one point, they all got detained and then separated. Eventually, he found himself in a group home in New York before eventually coming to Lake City.
"I never imagined I'd find people like here in Lake City," said Uriser Baltazar Gonzalez, who grew up in Guatemala. "There's such great people here. The teachers and everyone treat us well."
Gonzalez was 16 when he left Guatemala with a sixth-grade education, having quit school because his family did not have the money for him to continue his education back home.
That was a common theme among the students. Sixth grade is where public school ends in Guatemala, and most young people then need to begin contributing to the incomes of their families.
The six students — all young men, though last year's graduates were all young women — spoke about their journeys to the United States, often finding themselves in detention facilities for weeks or months at a time. They all told similar stories of language barriers and cultural differences that needed to be overcome, all while they earned credits to graduate from high school.
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Gonzalez came alone to the U.S., spending time in an immigration center in Chicago before eventually moving in with his brother, who lives in Lake City and arrived 10 years ago.
By the time Gonzalez made it to Lake City, he started in the ninth grade — having skipped two grades — not knowing the language, not familiar with the culture and unaccustomed to Minnesota winters.
For most of his high school career, he worked to earn money, played sports, studied and learned a new language.
"I was scared. It wasn't my culture. I didn't know people," Gonzalez said.
For three months, he communicated with almost no one at school until he joined the soccer team, where his skills on the pitch helped him make friends.
He sees America as a place where he can enjoy freedom in his life. In Guatemala, his waking hours were filled with work. In America, he said, he can work an eight-hour day then have time to be with friends, pursue his interests and build a life.
He plans to attend Minnesota State College-Southeast in Winona and get his commercial driver's license to become a truck driver. He and the rest of his cohort all have plans for training after high school that will lead to good jobs.
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That's where Hispanic Inclusion of Lake City comes in.
Thomas Boe, a member of the group, has watched the organization evolve.
Boe said the organization came out of a cohort of Lake City leaders who attended a Blandin Institute leadership seminar in 2019. From that, they focused on inclusion within their community.
"When this group started, our mission was to increase the knowledge of the citizens of Lake City about the number of Hispanics in the community," Boe said. "And now it's more service-oriented, helping with food and transportation."
Looking at the growing Hispanic population in Lake City, he said, it was obvious there was a need on both a humanitarian and an economic front, both for the benefit of the immigrants and for the overall community.
His involvement has, in the past, included tutoring ESL students.
"I've worked with five of these young men, and their language skills have improved so much," he said.
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Looking at the big picture, he added that bringing in people who can work hard and add to the country is needed. "We need to have a better immigration policy," Boe said. "There's no rhyme or reason to it, and it's inhumane at times."
Dalila Loyo, a bilingual teacher who has been involved with Lake City's Hispanic community for several years, said — with the exception of one student who was born in the United States to an immigrant mother — all made the sometimes frightening trip from Guatemala, through Mexico and across the U.S. border.
Most of the students have to work, she said, to pay off family back home who helped fund their trip north for a better life. And while they all miss home, Loyo said, these students know a better future awaits them.
Of the six graduates who spoke Wednesday night, four talked about studying at RCTC to become auto mechanics. Two others talked about becoming truck drivers.
Having immigrated from Mexico, then attending Winona State University and earning his teaching degree, Loyo is a prime example for these students of how hard work and goals can change one's life. And while she worked in a different district this year, she'll be teaching in Lake City next year, she said.
With increased border enforcement this year and last, she said, the number of students overall was down a bit this year. But students will continue to find a way toward a better life in the United States.
"They will find new ways," she said.
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