I’m 47 and I want to be a Doctor

27Aug
by Alma V. Marquez

This last year of loss and heartbreak has reminded me that I have one life to live. I get to live my dreams. I get to be a Brown magic girl. I get to be whoever the hell I want to be. I am the granddaughter of amazing abuelos and abuelas who live through me. Generations of them are alive in me. I thank them for their DNA and heart of gold. I honor them by walking a good path and trying my best- even when I falter. 

My successes and failures happily live in me. And that peace and joy can’t nobody take away. 

I’ve always wanted to finish school to prove that kids from the hood can. I want to be a proof point that kids who sleep on sofas or the floor can. 

I’ve always wanted to finish schools to change education systems that immasculate boys of color and dull their shine. 

I’ve always wanted to finish school to uplift girls who look like me and my beloveds from Marbrisa, Huntington Park, Watts, South LA, Eastside, the Southeast, and all the communities that poured into me. 

So, my Puka is moving out and I’m going back to school. I found an amazing program led by Dr. Enrique G. Murillo Jr. which is designed for working people like me at California State University, San Bernardino. It’s going to be my journey of going through every school system in our amazing state- Los Angeles Unified School District, East Los Angeles College, Occidental College and Stanford Graduate School of Business, and UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. 

I’m doing this with the full support of my Day 1’s- Miquitzli Herrera, Cindy Borbon, and Mariah Alexius D. Borbon. MariaElena Yepes, I know I’ll be able to do it because of my mindset- it’s just another project I get to work on. It’s not heavy bc I’m not making it heavy. 

I’m grateful for our team at Del Sol Group, Inc. We’re in a place where I can add this on to my project list and take it off of my bucket list.

About 20 years ago, I wrote my name on a piece of paper with “Dr.” in front of it. In 3 years, I will have made it true. 

Here’s to never giving up. #NMRK 

Hola from future Dr. Alma V. Márquez-Madrid

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Alma V. Marquez

Alma V. Marquez is the founder of LaComadre.org and is the founder and CEO of Del Sol Group, a communications and public affairs firm focusing on Strategy, Outreach and Leadership in Education, Voter and Civic Engagement. She specializes in parent education, politics and community organizing. She is a proud product of California public schools. She is a graduate of Huntington Park High School in Southeast LA. She also completed her all of credit recovery classes at Maxine Waters Occupational Center in Watts in order to graduate from high school. She attended East LA College and transferred to Occidental College where she earned a Bachelor's degree in English and Comparative Literary Students and Politics. She earned a Master of Arts Degree in Urban Planning at UCLA. Her daughter is a junior in a charter school, chartered by LAUSD. She decided to start the LA Comadre blog because she wanted to create a platform for Latinas and education.

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