Liliana Hernandez

Liliana and her mother (Lila) in 1986

Introduction

For my Mesearch I decided to interview and research my mother, Liliana Hernandez. the reason I chose to research her is that she was a stay-at-home teen mom who never got to achieve her original aspiration of being a judge, and her story of delving into her career at such a late age is inspiring. She would often travel back and forth to continue her education at "Centro Escolar Ducado de Luxemburgo" which helped her enhance her bilingual skills. My mom went to college for one semester at York College, which she paid for that entire semester by herself because she never had stable support systems to help her with her education.

Jamaica, Queens, NY.

Biography

Liliana Hernandez was born on December 31st, 1984 to war-torn Lila Gutierrez and Nelson Hernandez in Jamaica, Queens. Human rights violations such as kidnapping, rape, and mutilation were prevalent on both sides of the Salvadoran Civil War which led to her parents immigrating to the United States. Liliana had found herself traveling back and forth to El Salvador which was in shambles due to gang violence and poverty after the Salvadoran Civil War. It was there that she would continue her education during her summer breaks. Her year long education that helped her enhance her bilingual skills and led her to have much more opportunities open to her. She went to Hillcrest High School and had to work to support her family. Liliana met the father of her children in El Salvador when she traveled there to continue her studies when her summer vacation started. She was a single teen at the age of 18 and never got to finish college because of it. From a young age, she had to take care of three children by herself and when she was forced to take on both parental roles, she had to find a way to get into a career field that she never went to school for. She climbed her way to one of the top positions in the financial institute that she works at. It is now that she uses her bilingual skills to help small businesses thrive no matter the language they speak because she believes that everyone should be financially literate from the beginning of her life. Liliana had been a caretaker for as long as she could remember and through perseverance and determination, she managed to become so much more than what life may have led her to be.

How does your individual family member’s story help you to understand the American Dream?

Her story helps me understand the American dream because my mom did not have the most stable support system at home. She had parents who were still very traumatized from the civil war back in their country and she lived in lower class neighborhoods. What helps me understand is that the American Dream is not achieved through a charming and glamorous upbringing. Half of the American dream is about not having the best upbringing or maybe not even being a part of this country. The American Dream is only displayed through the successes that the person has as a result of achieving the American Dream. Liliana's story could be used against her and she could be displayed as someone foolish and irresponsible. She is an example of how perseverance and determination are an ugly process to achieve a beautiful dream that many generations of immigrants hope to gain.

Excerpt from Family Narrative Essay

"The March wind was cold, but it didn't compete with the chill in the room as Liliana saw the two lines on her pregnancy test. She saw the fruits of her labor rot as someone inside of her grew. Her dreams of being a judge slipped before they even reached her grasp. No amount of diapers changed or bottles filled compared to having your child taken care of. There was a heavy weight on Liliana's chest that wouldn't be able to be lifted. While telling your family that you're expecting should be a happy moment, telling your immigrant mother at eighteen years old that you're expecting results in a test of who you can count on. "