Yesenia Fuentes is a mother of two boys and she also adopted her younger brother, Christian’s. She talks about the struggles and challenges in her life as well as how her life was growing up. She also shares what she has learned throughout her life.
TRANSCRIPT:
Christian Fuentes: Can you please tell me your name and tell me something about yourself.
Yesenia Fuentes: My name is Yesenia Fuentes, and I am Christian’s sister, and one thing about myself is that I’m a mom of two boys. One is three, one is one. And I adopted Christian when he was six years old, and I was 18 at the time.
CF: So growing up with something that you’ve learned along the way, like where you didn’t understand it at first, but while growing up, you kind of started to get the gist of it.
YF: Something I learned, something I’ve learned along the way, is to not let people fool you for sure, and that everyone, not everyone, cares about what you have to say or how you feel and kind of what you were talking about.
CF: Um, when it comes to people like that, you had to deal with that like around your life, like in school or in work, or was it just like a thing that just happened one time, or it just happens like a few times, like here and there?
YF: And I dealt with this when I used to work, because there’s co workers who don’t care what you have going on, who don’t care if you have personal needs, emergencies or none of that. No one has ever really been respectful, and especially in the work industry, it’s really hard to have proper communication with people who just see what they want and listen to what they want to hear.
CF: Well, coming back to the work stuff, when you started working. How was it like first, like, what were your first impressions of working a job for the first time?
YF: It was fun, exciting. Like, I was like, oh my god, I can’t wait to go to work. I like, I was, I was always on top of my job. Like, I would show up 30 minutes before, an hour before, sometimes, like, I’ll show up with, like, snacks for other people. And I used to be so excited to go to work until, like, I had the wrong shift, or I was around the wrong people where it was, like, not very enjoyable for me.
CF: What’s something you would tell someone right now? Like, if they’re considering getting a job, like in the fast food industry, like, what would you tell them?
YF: You have to have a strong character. You can’t let what others tell you break you, because there’s they’re just words. Go there with an open mind. Be friendly. When you need to be friendly, make right choices. Show up on time and yeah, you just have to let yourself be taught by people who’ve been working there longer, because if you become the enemy of someone who’s been working there longer they’re gonna make your life miserable at work.
CF: And can you tell me something, someone that’s had an influence in your life?
YF: Someone who’s had a big influence in my life has been my mom. The reason why is because she never let herself hold she always she knew how to manage money, she knew how to manage time, she knew how to do it all like, I don’t think she didn’t know how to solve, how not to solve something, Like, she had answers to everything. Like, if there was no money, oh, there was not a day where she did not have money, like, the next day she’ll, like, come up with something. She was creative, she was very outspoken, she was very she was very outgoing. And that’s someone I look up to a lot, all right, and-
CF: Can you tell me something of the important lessons you that person taught you in life?
YF: An important lesson she taught me was to not rely on others and to have a strong mind and don’t let yourself give up. Try, keep trying, till you get it right.
CF: What makes you the most proud of like, looking back at everything you’ve done in your life so far, like, what’s made been the most proudest time you’ve had?
YF: Um, I think the most proudest time in. Is I’ve had, is for my brother to get awards and have award ceremonies, because that goes to show how much of good guardian I’ve been to him.
CF: And what’s something you would like to remember again?
YF: Something I would like to remember again. What do you mean by that,
CF: like a memory that you’ve seen along like,
YF: I would like to relive? Yes, a memory I would like to relive was celebrating my 12th birthday, because I was able to share with you, and I think it was a Hawaiian birthday party. My mom made Hawaiian food and it was a good time.
CF: And um, for school and academics. How was like, um, time, like, around middle school in my age,
YF: Oh, um, I wasn’t the best kid and but I did have good grades, and I was always trying to do office hours. I was always trying to do extracurricular activities. I was always doing sports, and I was very outgoing, like I never gave up on myself or others.
CF: So going back to middle school or around high school, how is like sports? Like, did you do any type of sports, or were like you hard working when it came to sports like that?
YF: Um, I played soccer for eight years straight, not in school, but outside of school, because at the time, actually, I went to animal and they did have a small team. We won, I think we won champions or something like that. We won an award. I have a medal for it, but I’ve always played outside in club, and that’s what kind of push. Playing sports is what pushed me to move from a charter school to LAUSD, because they have, they’re more big on sports, but I do regret that I moved, but I I played soccer my entire life, and I really like it.
CF: What’s um, like, some, some something you would tell someone, if they’re, like, trying to, um, make it to, like, try to go pro in sports, or, like, just something that will motivate someone.
YF: Never give up on yourself and stay focused on whether it’s a sport, it’s academics, or whatever it is that you’re doing, never give up and keep trying over and over till you get it right.
CF: So growing up, when you’re growing up with something that that’s like stayed to you since like, the beginning, when you were small and you’ve, like, gone through so much stuff, like, what’s something you that stick with you for a long time that you still remember to this day.
YF: Something that stuck with me is my teacher’s telling me that you’re gonna need math later when you grow up, you’re gonna need math later when you Grow up that stuck with me, and I kid you not, any job you get has to do with math, literally, like every, every job I’ve had has to do with math, and that takes me back, and that’s something that’s always gonna stick in my head. You need math. You need math for life. You need math at that like you just need math.
CF: Um, last question, what’s something you would want to tell your younger self?
YF: Um, something that you would tell them, something I tell my younger self is to never let others words get to you and never give up on what you want to do in life.
CF: Thank you.
