Sylvia found it difficult to make friends, feeling sad and fearful, afraid she would be moved back in class if she gave the wrong answer. Initially she was placed in the remedial grade two class, which stunned Sylvia even though she quickly moved out of the class. This move meant attending a new school, Alameda Elementary School where Sylvia found it difficult to fit in. Sylvia's family moved again, this time across town to a house on Kay Lane in a neighborhood where everyone spoke English and there were few Mexicans. However, Sylvia flourished in the program, learning to read books, and becoming a confident speaker to her classmates. Her mother also decided that they needed to move away from their poor neighborhood where the streets weren't paved, the houses close together with feral dogs wandering around.īefore attending Grade One at Bradley Elementary School in the fall, Sylvia was enrolled in the Head Start program, despite many neighbors being wary of the government program.
#A path towards the stars how to#
Her father stopped going to church, her mother decided to learn how to drive, reasoning that if she had been able to, they might have gotten Laura medical treatment sooner. Although she would mostly recover, Laura's illness changed Sylvia's family in many ways. Initially her vision had been affected by the meningitis, and she was unresponsive, unable to walk or talk. She had been a boisterous, happy child who chattered but now she was quiet, withdrawn into her own world. Laura survived the illness and eventually returned home, but much changed. She contracted meningitis and was hospitalized for months. Sadly, tragedy struck when Sylvia's younger sister Laura was only nineteen months old. Sylvia learned the Pledge of Allegiance, and learned to read in English but not Spanish. Sylvia's Mami wanted them to be able to understand the language before they began attending Bradley Elementary School. When Mario was six-years-old and Sylvia was four-years-old, they began taking lessons from Hermana Amelia Diaz who taught them English. In Las Cruces, Sylvia's Mami loved the close knit community and knew many of the families. The family moved again, this time to Griggs Street. He found a new job at the White Sands Missile Range as an analytical chemist, a job he took much more seriously. Shortly after Laura's birth, Sylvia's father was fired from his job because he did not take his work seriously and often made mistakes. Soon, Sylvia's younger sister, Laura was born. Her aunt, her mother's younger sister, Tia Angelica came to stay with them because her mother was expecting a baby. Eventually Sylvia's family moved to another house on Solano Street. Sylvia's mother who had a sixth grade education, stayed at home to look after the children but also worked cleaning homes in El Paso, Texas. Sylvia's father found work at New Mexico State University as a chemist in the physical science labs. The home was crowded but filled with children to play with. When Sylvia's father was discharged from the army, her family moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico.There they moved in with her father's older sister, Tia Alma and her family. For Sylvia's Mami, life with two small children in a strange country was lonely and very different. Her mother grew up in Parral, Mexico, in the the state of Chihuahua and could not speak English.
Her father's family was from Mexico but he had grown up in Texas and spoke fluent English. Sylvia was born in South Dakota while her father was stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base.
She is also an accomplished engineer and businesswoman.Sylvia tells her own story about growing up in New Mexico during the social changes of the 1960's and how she found her own path to the stars. Sylvia Acevedo is the current Chief Executive Officer of the Girl Scouts of the USA.
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