Quintana 
A Second Chance


There’s a thick, brown, leather photo album that lies on a shelf, rarely touched. The album consists of a multitude of photos from ripped polaroids and film to aged newspaper articles. These photos make up the life of my father: growing up in the city of Guatemala and the early years of his life in America. Each photo holding its own story, one particular well-kept photograph catches my eye. The photo consists of my father at age 19, a year after immigrating to America. He stands on a patch of grass at Banning High School, with a smile so wide you can see it from miles away. He approaches an instructor who is dressed for the occasion in a neat, grey suit as his arm reaches out for a certificate. The moment is captured. It’s December 1983 and my father, Carlos Ramon Quintana, has just graduated from Adult School, where he completed his ESL (English Second Language) classes. This would become the first step my father would take in building his new life in America after fleeing his country.
The Guatemalan Civil War lives infamously in Latin American history. Over the course of 36 brutal years, a beautiful and progressive country turned into nothing but a war zone; a country left in ruins. The government’s suspicion of communists or communist sympathizers left Guatemalan citizens fearing their lives just by speaking out. This fear was enough to convince my father that a future in Guatemala was not for him.                
Growing up, my father had one goal: to become an engineer. However, a proper education would soon be hard to come by in Guatemala. As the war continued and the conflict got worse, my dad soon became a target for military abuse. This dilemma left him with one choice: to flee. On November 14th, 1982, my father set his way to Sunny California where he’d start his new life. He left with nothing but a small suitcase and a violin. He was 17 years old.        
        My father soon completed his ESL classes and graduated the following year, in December of 1983. This was the first step he took in creating his new life in America and fulfilling his dream. That January, my father enrolled at Harbour Community College and its honors program. He wasted no time; if he wasn’t at home studying for his classes he was working to support his education. My father would later transfer to Cal State Long Beach in the Spring of 1987; where he’d conclude his studies and secure a job at the Port of Los Angeles as a Civil Engineer. After fulfilling his dream, he bought his first home in a peaceful, welcoming city: Torrance.
Despite the obstacles my father faced, he never gave up. From suffering military oppression to immigrating to an unknown country and learning a new language, my father never renounced his ultimate goal of becoming a Civil Engineer. Like all immigrants, my father has his own unique story as to why he fled his country. He was lucky to find a welcoming home in Torrance but not everyone can. Today, fear has become a powerful and driving emotion in us. We have become propelled by trepidation that we repudiate immigrants; people who only seek better opportunities. We categorize them as different, dangerous, and criminals. As a society, we must eliminate the barriers we have created ourselves. If we seek change, we must start with unity.