#HumansOfScottAFB: Airman 1st Class Denise Garcia [Image 1 of 22]

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, IL, UNITED STATES

07.22.2019

Photo by Senior Airman Daniel Garcia 

375th Air Mobility Wing

“When I transferred in third grade, I was the only Latina in the school, which was predominantly white. I was, at that moment in my life, completely outside of my comfort zone. It was definitely a culture shock in every sense: the school itself, the food, the people, the education, the teachers. Spanish is my first language, so having to speak English all the time was very, very difficult. I had a really hard time adjusting, not only to my new environment but to my classes. But I went from getting D’s and C’s to slowly getting more comfortable, hitting the books extra hard, putting in more hours, and eventually getting all A’s and becoming an honors student.

I feel like a lot of my classmates didn’t expect much of me. I didn’t really care about their opinion of me, though. I cared about my family’s, and they thought the complete opposite. Every time I would visit my grandmother in Mexico when I was younger, she would always give me motivational speeches out of nowhere. We could be cooking together, making tortillas, and she would just say, ‘You’re going to do so much in life, and whatever you decide to do, you’re going to be great at it.’ I think about that very often, and I almost feel like everything that she wanted to do in life but couldn’t, she does, in a way, through me. That’s why I feel like she’s so adamant on me doing everything I want to do, not depriving myself of anything, and pushing myself towards everything. She’s one of my best friends, and she’s the reason I am who I am today.

She was the most supportive of me joining the military. I was the first generation in the states and first-generation military. Joining the military was something I’ve always wanted to do. Even though I wasn’t born in this country, I feel like I was given a lot. I feel like joining was one of the few things I could do for a country that had given me so much growing up.”

- Airman 1st Class Denise Garcia, 375th Communications Support Squadron server administrator

#HumansOfScottAFB is an ongoing photo series featuring the stories of people who work, live, and volunteer at Scott Air Force Base.

• Date Taken: 07.22.2019
• Date Posted: 09.16.2019 16:45
• Photo ID: 5754406
• VIRIN: 190722-F-SH665-1015
• Resolution: 7360x4912
• Size: 2.02 MB
• Location: SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, IL, US