Ilda Rocha was born on June 28, 1972 in Watsonville, California at Watsonville Hospital. Her parents, Leonor Fernandez and Jorge Fernandez were born in Gomez Farias, Michoacán, Mexico. She grew up in a “loving and supportive family,” a catholic family who went to church every Sunday and made it a tradition to go out to lunch and to the movies as a family. She stated, “I was raised catholic, one of my dad’s rules was to never miss Church. In Mexico, our house was attached the towns church, so we had no excuse to not go. In California, we would wake up and have breakfast Sunday morning and head over to the only Catholic Church in town.” Ilda grew up with two siblings, her older brother George Fernandez and older sister Maria Guadalupe Rocha Fernandez, with her being the baby in the family. Her brother George was born in Gomez, Farias, Michoacán, as well as her sister Maria. Ilda is the first and only child to be born in the United States, therefore making her the first Mexican-American in the family. Ilda being a first-generation U.S. born Mexican of immigrant parents, her lifestyle was surprisingly stable. She grew up in a very respectful household, a household where family was about being together and always providing one another with love, support and understanding. Her parents, especially her father was a very patient man, a man who never mistreated them and didn’t believe in violence. Ilda emphasized, “I had a lot of respect for my parents growing up and that’s why I believe they never hit us. We never gave them a reason to, since we always behaved.” Her father worked in agriculture, a field worker in Mexico and in California, when they traveled between the two places. Her mother was a tailor in Mexico, but when they traveled to California, she began to work in the fields with her husband picking strawberries. Although her parents encouraged Ilda and her siblings to get an education, her parents only completed their education up until the 3rd grade. As a child, Ilda was the youngest in the family and remembers being taken to a baby sitter, while her parents and siblings worked in the fields. Ilda mentioned, “I hated going to the baby sitter, I would always cry when my parents left me there and would be afraid that they weren’t going to come back for me.” As she grew older, she would spend most of her time with her own friends, but remembers riding bikes with her siblings and playing in the tree house her father built in the backyard. When she wasn’t spending time with her friends or siblings, she would spend most of her time with her grandparents from both sides of the family. She indicated, I loved spending anytime I could with my grandparents. We would hang out and I would listen to them tell me stories from when they were young, stories that their parents told them and their grandparents.” One of my earliest recollections involved me helping my grandfather with his horse. After making sure the stalls were clean and the horse was combed and fed, my grandfather would take me out horseback riding. I fell in love with horseback riding and I couldn’t wait to visit my grandfather.” Ilda spent most of
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Ilda indicated that this was not the case in her family. Ilda comes from a collectivistic culture where responsibilities were shared and accountability was shared. Everyone co-operated in their family, she states, “There was no machismo in our family, as couples my parents took care of each other and their children. My father was the youngest and had to take on the responsibility of looking after his family. It’s our responsibility to take care of our parents and make important decisions, if they’re not able to.” She recalls her grandmother being a hard work, always doing hard labor. She doesn’t recall her being discriminated against, neither her mother nor herself. Her father’s side of the family consisted of both men and women being hard workers. They both had a lot of jobs and performed a lot of the same job duties. Ilda recalls, “They both took care of us, especially my father, he brushed my hair and took us to
Ilda indicated that this was not the case in her family. Ilda comes from a collectivistic culture where responsibilities were shared and accountability was shared. Everyone co-operated in their family, she states, “There was no machismo in our family, as couples my parents took care of each other and their children. My father was the youngest and had to take on the responsibility of looking after his family. It’s our responsibility to take care of our parents and make important decisions, if they’re not able to.” She recalls her grandmother being a hard work, always doing hard labor. She doesn’t recall her being discriminated against, neither her mother nor herself. Her father’s side of the family consisted of both men and women being hard workers. They both had a lot of jobs and performed a lot of the same job duties. Ilda recalls, “They both took care of us, especially my father, he brushed my hair and took us to