Mas

By: ROSARIO ORTIZ

Description: Aide Avila was 17 when she immigrated to the United States from Mexico, sent by her parents to learn English and a different culture.

  Aide Avila was 17 when she immigrated to the United States from Mexico, sent by her parents to learn English and a different culture.

  Now her U.S.-born daughter, Julia Avila, is 17 and will be leading the family on a very different journey. This trip is to New York to find out whether Julia will be a national winner of the Wendy’s High School Heisman given to two students, one female and one male, who excel in athletics, academics and community service.  She was selected from among thousands of nominees as one of 12 finalists for the prestigious award that will be announced Dec. 9 and featured during ESPN’s national telecast of the college Heisman Memorial Trophy presentation on Dec. 11.
 
  “I’m still the same person I was before,” said Julia, a three-sport athlete and straight-A student at South High School who has been accepted to the University of Notre Dame.  “Except for now, I have more belief in my prospects and I’m more confident.”

  Julia first became involved in sports as a freshman at South High and has participated in volleyball, soccer and track and field. That was a big adjustment for her mother, Aide, who was concerned to see her daughter sometimes leave home at 6 a.m. and not return until the evening.

  “At first, I didn’t understand why she spent so much time in sports, and then got home with bruises,” said Aide Avila, a native of Zacatecas.  “So, I asked her to explain me what she was doing and then followed her everywhere she went and realized she was doing something positive.”
 
  But that’s only part of what Julia does at school and in the community.

  On a typical day, she wakes up at 5 a.m. to prepare to go to school. Once at school, she works out for about an hour. Then, as president of her school’s associated student body, she holds a morning meeting, followed by another hour of working out. Her classes start after that. But between classes, she also makes an extra effort to help disabled students at her school. Once a week, she also home-tutors a  disabled student in algebra. And in the afternoons, she works out some more, before attending forensics practice. Then she heads back home, does her homework and gets ready for another hectic day.

  Her involvement in so many activities and her willingness to help others is no surprise to her family.  Julia’s parents divorced seven years ago, and since then Aide has had to make ends meet as a single mom.  But with the support of family, friends, and stepfather Reynaldo Ibarra, both Julia and her brother have excelled.

  “They do have a lot of initiative,” said Aidé, 49, about Julia and Juan Pablo, a UC Berkeley student majoring in Romance literature.  “But they also had a great example from their biological father who taught them to respect others, work hard and care about education...I’m thankful to God for my two children. I have no complaints about them. I feel like a millionaire because I have them.”

  In addition, Aidé said, the two have been raised to be proud and respectful of their heritage.

  “Since they were little, they both learned to speak Spanish, about their culture and its many traditional dishes,” she added.

  Julia, for example, loves chicken tamales, while Juan Pablo prefers enchiladas.

  Julia, however, has hardly set foot on Mexican soil, while Juan Pablo visits his parents’ land at least twice a year.

  Juan Pablo said Julia is succeeding simply because “she’s always been an overachiever.” And she has big plans for her future.

  At the  University of Notre Dame, Julia plans to study chemical engineering and would like to go into the petroleum industry to conduct research to find new methods of renewable energy to aid Third World countries.  And one day, she hopes to one day establish a scholarship foundation to help minority students like herself. “I’m glad that I’m even a finalist [for the award] because that might inspire other minorities,” she said.

  Right now, the Avila family is counting the days until they head to New York for the Heisman awards ceremony, during which the two winners will receive a trophy and $2,500 for their high schools.  It will be the family’s first trip to the Big Apple, where all the award finalists will enjoy a weekend full of activities. “This will be my second time traveling out of state,” Avila said excitedly.

  She is enjoying the spotlight, but is also anxious about the attention. “It’s overwhelming, there’s so much pressure on me just to succeed. And  I have enough pressure on myself,” Avila added.

  For Ibarra, who thinks of Juan Pablo and Julia as his own children, Julia’s story is an example of what many youngsters can do with their lives.

  “It’s been a pleasure for me to see what these children are making of their lives,” Ibarra said. “I’m especially proud as a Mexican because Julia and Juan Pablo are both role models for many of the first-generation Mexicans living in the United States.”