We had to grow up too fast.
After being born in the United States, I was raised in Mexico.
We lived a pretty simple life with little resources. Our house was very simple, with a corrugated roof and water only when we could get the tanks filled up. Our restroom was outside, covered by cardboard. I remember sometimes not having food on the table.
When I was sixteen, there was a lot of violence in the news. The TV and newspapers would show very graphic images of what was happening around me and it was very frightening. I wasn’t going to school, just working, and my mom just said, there’s no future for you here, you have to go live in the US.
I didn’t want to go! My whole life was in Mexico; I barely knew my aunt who I was going to stay with, and I didn’t speak English. But I had to obey my mom. So I crossed the border alone with my birth certificate and no photo ID. I was terrified that the officers wouldn't believe me that I am *Maritza Rebollar, born in Laguna Beach CA.*
Thankfully, I made it to my aunt’s house, but it wasn’t easy. I was basically alone, navigating a new country, a new culture, trying to study and working part time at McDonald's. There were days when I felt like no one was there for me. I was so scared and embarrassed to go to high school. When I would try to practice my English, other kids would make fun of me. Everything was new and I had no guide. At seventeen, I had to build a whole life from scratch, on my own.
Now, I feel a lot of solidarity with the middle schoolers and high schoolers I work with in my role of Youth Director at Unidos South OC. I remember their hardships and struggles, because I went through many of them too. I think we all had to grow up too fast.
Many of my students are responsible for caring for their younger siblings while their parents work long hours. They wake up early to get them ready for school, cook and help with homework.
None of my students have parents who went to school in this country. So when it comes to understanding the school system, or how to register each Fall, or understanding the forms they have to complete, or what steps to take to prepare for college, my students are on their own.
My English-speaking students grow up serving as translators for their parents at medical appointments or immigration appointments. They get pushed into the world of adults when they’re very young.
Some of my students are new arrivals, and they’re learning English for the first time while also dealing with the effects of poverty and sometimes with trauma that led to them coming here.
This is all such a heavy burden for the youth. I know I can't prevent a lot of the stuff they’ll deal with, but I can make sure they’re not alone. I want to be for them the person that I didn’t have.
Now with my role at Unidos South OC, I get to be there for students in a few ways:
We open up our space for youth to come study, do their homework, and use our printer and internet. Because half of our families are sharing an apartment with another family, they just don’t have a quiet space to study at home.
We go to summer camps and winter retreats in the mountains because, honestly, these kids need a vacation! Many have never been away from home, away from responsibilities and stress. They get a chance to just be kids.
We provide a lot of relational support. Just being there for them, answering their texts when they’re having a hard day, encouraging them to keep going. Parents let us know when a student needs a little extra tender love and care.
We show our students that even when they feel alone, God is there. We remind them of God’s love for them and his constant grace and favor.
This year, I have one student who bought herself her very own Bible and is starting to read it on her own. I have another student who has really been touched by the Holy Spirit in worship and she’s just passionate about how God’s presence in her life can change things. I have another student who had made an unfortunate mistake and ended up with a criminal record, but because of our reference letters and support, focusing on who he is as a person, aside from this one mistake, he was able to get the job he wanted and put that mistake behind him.
I’ve been taking care of my 3 year old niece lately, and she’s so joyful, so carefree. She is in that time of life when she knows down to her bones that she is cherished as a person - not as someone who produces something or someone who has a lot of responsibilities or someone who contributes something. She’s just a kid. She’s just loved. And I think one of the impacts of growing up too fast is that we rush through that time of life.
So, as someone who grew up too fast, working with youth who are growing up too fast, I want to help slow that down - to provide support so that they’re not alone - so they can be kids and be joyfully preparing for their bright futures, grounded and secure in the fact that they are loved.
-Maritza Rebollar
Youth Director
(Maritza was able to share this testimony at the Red Letter Christians event in Santa Ana, CA)
