Column | Special or not, a look what shaped this Distinguished Mexican recipient’s life

It’s not every day that the Mexican government gives me an award, but it happened earlier this year when the Institute of Mexicans Abroad – through the Mexican Consulate in Fresno – bestowed the Distinguished Mexican award.

At the Dec. 8 ceremony, where Yammilette Rodríguez received the Ohtli Award, I joined the likes of previous Distinguished Mexican recipients like Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval and Radio Bilingüe founder Hugo Morales.

For a boy who used to help his grandfather pull water from a well in his Valle de Juárez ranch in Chihuahua, then haul that water in a horse-drawn wagon, this is a big honor. The award is given to Mexicans who reside abroad and “have an outstanding career in any area of human endeavor.”

This is humbling for a journalist who first picked up a reporter’s notebook and pen while a sophomore at Delano High School and has gone on to write more than 3,000 stories, the majority of them about the people who continue to build the San Joaquín Valley. I have also taken many photos to help illustrate those stories.

The stories are many: A 16-year-old divorced teen mom of three who went on to become a successful businesswoman; a dental hygienist who became a broadcast multimillionaire; an elite marathoner running away from an abusive father; and, a federal judge who slept on a sleeping bag until getting her own bed at age 15.

They are the offspring of immigrants and longtime residents who are the face of the Valley.

México, ¡muchas gracias!

This is my only opportunity to tell you a little bit more about myself.

– In a third-grade essay about what I wanted to do in my life, I wanted to graduate from the University of Texas at El Paso, sneak into China to start a civil war, become a priest, and buy a car to give people free rides. None ever happened!

– I am the product of a mother and father who married and divorced each other twice! My mom also married, divorced, then married my stepfather as well.

– I have been kicked out of a bar.

– Last fulltime job before starting college was making sutures at a Johnson & Johnson factory in Texas.

– Have judged a couple of beauty pageants.

– Participated in a bachelor’s auction. (A woman dropped out of the bidding so that she could invest in a bicycle, then picked me up at the Stockton airport after completing my bachelor date. Yes, she became a girlfriend!)

– Placed second in a lip sync contest.

– Typed 78 words per minute on a manual typewriter in high school.

– Announced sports results on Saturday mornings at a Delano radio station.

– Punished for showing up to school too early in the first grade … after my sister and I accepted a car ride instead of walking 1½ miles.

– Ran my first marathon (San Francisco, 1983) with a hangover. It turned out to be the fastest marathon (3:08) out of 14.

– Was an altar boy.

– Hosted a Tupperware party, and declined to host a second one.

– Ran a 10-kilometer race in an Easter Bunny costume.

– Made a Tiffany lamp as a wedding gift 40 years ago.

– Yelled “Stop the presses!” once in my career.

– Got two speeding tickets within four hours once.

– Received an F in a copy editing class at Fresno State, then an A+ in the same class the following semester.

– Saw Fleetwood Mac, the Police and Santana at the 1982 US Festival, the first-ever concert I covered.

OK, time to start writing stories about other folks.

Juan Esparza Loera is editor of Vida en el Valle.

This story was originally published December 22, 2023 at 6:00 AM.