Back in 1975, when I started at Caprock High School, we had a vocational education teacher. Man I just, what I did is I, I, I got in there and I thought, I'm not going to work in the fields anymore. And I typed and I typed. I was like Forrest Gump. How he ran, I would type. The keys on the typewriter didn't have any letters on them. I could type 110 words a minute. No mistakes. I could do ten key. My grammar was good, my spelling was good.

So then came the time that it was time for me to get placed for a job. And I was so proud of myself for, for pushing, you know? In between, you know, in between, Saturdays I would clean houses and iron and just everything. Everything that a typical mexicano family does. And it was my turn. And I'll never forget the words that that teacher told me. He said. And he leaned back in his chair almost arrogantly, and he, he said, Irma, if I were you, I'd marry me a good Mexican man that worked in construction, and I would go and get a job at the cleaners and have a few kids. And I said, I've been working on getting a job in an office somewhere. He said, well, there's just not much opportunities for people like you.

So that was in September. I put my best Kmart clothes on, jumped the bus, and I went to the other side of town, which was, you know, a big deal to go from Caprock in the barrio to 45th and Tecla. That was a big deal. I didn't know anything about busses cause I never rode a bus. But I was watching, and I made it to Tecla Street. And there was an office there called Stewart Title Company. It's still in business. I filled out an application and they asked me to wait.

And out comes this huge, tall Irishman with a cigar hanging out his mouth, red headed, cross-eyed, green eyed with glasses. And he said, he, he had a gruff voice. The smoker voice. He said, come into my office. And he sat back. He said, you haven't had any office? And I said, no, sir. I said, I'm, I’m 15. I'm, I’m learning, though. I'm a fast learner. And if you'll teach me, I'll, I'll make you a good employee. And he looked at me. He said, well, how soon can you start? And I said, I'll start right now.

I had no plan. I had no idea how I was going to get home. All I know is that I was determined to get a job before I went back to school on Tuesday. Because when I went to school on Tuesday and I announced to my vocational education teacher that I had a job in an office, he couldn't believe it.