Elva Trevino Heart Essay

Elva Trevino Heart is a successful individual and author behind the Barefoot Heart memoir. Elva describes her life growing up from a young, poor, migrant child to a successful business woman along with all the struggles in-between. Elva encountered many individuals during her childhood that contributed to her ability to identify herself both positively and negatively. Society was stacked heavily against the success of the Mexican American; making life difficult for such an individual to see clearly into how one should act. For Elva, in her early years, it looked like she was predestined to a life of hardship, a stereotypical predictable life of a migrant Mexican American worker. However, Elva was determined to make a better life for herself

Elva had a great deal of respect for Apá, who tried his best to provide for his family. From the early years of Elvas life, her father always showed the significance in which education played for his children. He ensured each of his six children where to graduate high school; something in which himself, and very few other Mexican Americans were not able to achieve. He ensured this was possible by conveying a great deal of emphasis on the importance of education. Every year, Apá and the family would return from the farms a month earlier than when the farming season finished. He sacrificed a month’s money so his children would not to miss the first month of school. Once again, another rarity among Mexican American farm workers. This was a significant loss in earnings for his family, yet he sacrificed it regardless. Elva was influenced by such antics as she understood the importance of income to her family. She acknowledges that Apá sacrificed much needed income so that his children could go to school. He reiterated many of times that all his children would graduate from High school. This embedded the significance of education into Elva from an early age which she acted upon and strived for the best in school. She was also extra determined to get higher grades than the Gringos but Amá made this