Honoring our Parent Heroes

On Thursday, I had the pleasure to attend an extremely moving and touching tribute to parents who have gone the extra mile to help their children receive a college education. Telemundo News came up with this fantastic idea where people (mostly sons and daughters) wrote essays about why their parents should be honored as Padres Héroes (Parent Heroes). We gathered at a luncheon celebration at USC to honor the eight regional winners and to announce the Grand Prize Winner, Mr. Gusmaro Reyes. Mr. Reyes endured unthinkable hardships during his childhood in Mexico, only to come to this country and raise children who went on to get degrees from some of the finest universities in the country. His mantra to his children was simple yet effective: "You can work in the fields or you can go to school." After he was announced as the winner, an extremely emotional Mr. Reyes, said above all, he wanted to make sure his children didn't suffer the way he did. I spoke about my own experience as a college student and how the love and support of my parents and their efforts to help me during that time, both large and small, continue to inspire me to this very day. Congratulations to Mr. Gusmaro Reyes and the other Padres Héroes.