Friday, May 16, 2003 | 11:51 a.m.
The Chapa family can trace its hope for a better life back several generations.
Now, that hope will finally be realized.
On Saturday, Esmeralda Chapa, 40, will be handed a piece of paper that will mean so much more than the scripted letters on it.
A college degree will put a symbolic distance between Chapa's future life and her work in the California cotton fields that began when she was 13. It means her desire to succeed will have won out over the voices of doubt.
And, she says, it means the sacrifices that generations of Chapas made so their kids could do better have paid off.
"All I feel is that the will was always there," Chapa said. "You can be strong but not know where to channel your strength. But if you don't overcome your fear of the unknown, you just keep working because you have the will to work. I wanted to use that will to work for an education."
Graduating from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with a bachelor's degree in communications represents both the end of a long road and the beginning of a promising one for Chapa. She wants to be a high school teacher and a union organizer.
Chapa has had many life experiences: She's been a wife, a single mother, a union organizer, a student and, before that, a field worker. All of those roles had their limits as well as their lessons, she says.
Chapa was born in Corcoran, Calif., the self-proclaimed cotton capital of the world, in the shadow of the United Farm Workers headquarters -- a force that would have a profound influence on her entire life.
"I remember always thinking something is going on there to help me and my family," she said. "Of course, around grandma's table it was talked about. But I didn't know much more than that."
The Chapas had worked on farms for generations.
"As far back as I can remember ... about five or six generations were farmers," said Esmeralda's mother, Tomasa Chapa, who now lives in Bakersfield, Calif.
When Tomasa was little her father did not want her to work in the fields, she said.
But when Tomasa's mother died of cancer, she had no choice.
Hardship and danger came along with working in the fields. Picking carried on despite sweltering heat or pouring rain, and injuries weren't uncommon.
Esmeralda's grandfather died a horrific death in the fields. He was crushed by a truck and then "scooped up from the dirt," never to be seen again, Tomasa said.
Esmeralda's father, Hank Chapa, injured his back one day while changing irrigation pipes and subsequently found he had a tumor in his spine. The problem prevented him from working for 12 years.
And Esmeralda herself became ill at age 4. She suffered from a rare thyroid disorder that doctors didn't expect her to survive.
"I never thought she would make it all this way," Tomasa Chapa said. "The doctors didn't think she was going to grow up. For me, I look at her now and I have a satisfaction about her."
As Esmeralda grew, so did her mind. She was a good student even though she received little encouragement in academic matters.
She was always expected to do physical work too.
At 13, she worked during the summers hoeing cotton.
"I used to get frustrated with myself because my mom would have to finish my row," Esmeralda Chapa said. "Here I was so young and she had more energy than me. I guess there's no bounds (to what) you can do when you're doing it for your kids."
After she had kids of her own, Esmeralda found herself making more sacrifices. She put off getting a college degree because of a disapproving husband.
"His take was, "What would I want with an educated woman?' " she said.
By age 20, Esmeralda had already gone further with her education than her parents did. Her father, who was from Mexico, had a second-grade education. Her Texas-born mother made it through the third grade, she said.
After finishing high school, Esmeralda worked for the textile union, helping to improve working conditions for employees.
Like her mother and grandparents before her, Esmeralda told her kids to do more with their lives -- then began doing the same herself.
"I never wanted my kids to say, 'Mom, why don't you do it?' " she said.
Without her husband's permission she enrolled at the Community College of Southern Nevada. It wasn't long after that her marriage fell apart, for various reasons, she said.
Long nights studying at the library tested Esmeralda's resolve. She wondered if the time away from her kids was worth it.
"You're torn because your heart wants to be there for your children but you know by getting your education you're doing the right thing," she said.
Because of her cultural background, at times she felt she was a traitor, Esmeralda said. In order to be a good Mexican mother, you must sacrifice for your kids.
"You don't sacrifice your kids to reach your personal goals," she said.
But she also knew that she had to be the break in the chain that stretched for generations. She and her kids needed to make sacrifices so that future generations would have more, Esmeralda believed.
At UNLV she found a mentor who urged her on. Richard Jensen, a communications professor, and she had a mutual interest. They both were interested in Cesar Chavez, the UFW founder who fought for better working conditions for farm workers.
The two compared notes. Jensen had written a book on Chavez and he taught her about him. Esmeralda told him stories about the life of a farm worker.
"I come from the academic arena and she was out in the real world," Jensen said. "I learned a great deal from her about how people can work to get ahead and the desire that some people have to succeed.
"She's been through a hell of a lot and she's come out (well) despite that."
During the conversations with Jensen, Esmeralda said, higher education was demystified for her.
"I remember Dr. Jensen told me once he had so much more to learn," she said. "I thought he was being kind or nice by not admitting how much knowledge he had, but now I understand. I know there is so much more to learn and I'm not afraid of it."
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