the yes! effect - can one word change the world? yes!
diga ¡sí!
enviado por los visitantes a nuestro sitio
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acerca de ana maria canseco
Born in Mexico City to a working middle-class family, I was taught early on the value hard work and perseverance. Perhaps my greatest inspiration in that regard was my grandmother, who would wake up at four in the morning to walk me to the soap opera set where I worked as a young girl. Even though I was only a child, she would put all of these ideas in my head to help prepare me for life’s big things.
My family and I moved to America for the first time when I was eight years old. I was placed in the third grade, and I remember how difficult it was to pick up English, especially when nobody spoke it at home. We returned to Mexico City for a while, but at seventeen my family came back to the States and I enrolled in San Antonio College.
To help make ends meet, I worked at a small Mexican restaurant. I started as a cashier, but soon I was a hostess and then a waitress. We had a lot of regulars, and as I brought them their food I would tell them about my dreams of being on TV. I received my first big break through a patron, who offered to introduce me to a program director at a small radio station. After I interviewed, I was offered the position. It was a huge opportunity for me, but at $2 an hour, I had to keep working at the restaurant, all while going to school.
My second big break was when a friend of the family told me about auditions for a news cast being held in Houston, Texas. I flew to Houston and was ultimately offered the position of weather girl. It was a great opportunity, but it was the first time I would have to move to a new city by myself, and I was scared to be so far from my family. Thankfully, my mom gave me some great advice: “Listen, you should go. What do you have to lose? You can always come back.”
Today, I try to inspire others the way I was inspired as child. I have the privilege to be working with Amigos for Kids, an organization that supports South Florida’s less-fortunate children overcome their own obstacles. I love to read their faces; the older children look at me and seem to say “If she can do it, I can do it,” which is such an important message for these kids to understand.
It is my wish that every child can do the very thing that is in his or her heart. It is such a blessing to be doing what I love, and I want every child to have that opportunity. I came here as an immigrant and I worked from the bottom up. It doesn’t come free, but if you are willing to work for it, dreams really do come true.
