For a moment there, Hector Santellanes seemed
like just any other student-athlete attending the University
of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC).
It was UMC’s homecoming game earlier this fall, and
lots of parents were there with cameras, taking pictures
of their student-athlete sons. But when Hector saw so many
of his teammates moaning and groaning to their parents about
having to pose for pictures, he knew he was different. If
his parents had been there (they were at home in Mexico),
he would have been mugging for the camera, not to mention
showering them with hugs and kisses.
"I just wanted to tell my teammates, ‘Come on,
appreciate this," Santellanes said. "This is a
precious moment, and you’re all complaining about
a couple of pictures."
Only two days before he recounted that scene at the homecoming
game, Hector’s father was involved in a serious car
accident on a rural Mexican road. Amazingly, despite not
wearing a seat belt and rolling his pickup numerous times
down an embankment, he escaped with only broken bones and
numerous cuts, scrapes and bruises. When his father told
him on the phone the next day to not worry about him or
his injuries and instead concentrate on school, Hector told
him he would, but knew that he couldn’t.
"He’s my best friend, the only father I’m
ever going to have," Hector said. "I wish I could
get other young people to realize that when they take their
parents for granted."
After transferring from Itasca Community College in Grand
Rapids, MN this fall, Santellanes, 34, is studying agricultural
business at UMC. When he gets his degree he will go into
business with his brother, who is a food and vegetable buyer
for the largest supermarket chain in Mexico. They plan to
open a distribution center somewhere in the upper Midwest
and distribute foods from Mexico across America. His brother,
along with help from their father, will coordinate things
on the Mexico end, while Hector handles matters in America.
Industry contacts are already being made on both ends.
"We might try starting with a single product to carve
out a niche, but then expand to mangos, papayas, avocados,
watermelon and other foods that aren’t readily available
year round in many parts of the United States because they
can’t be grown here," Hector explained.
Santellenas grew up in Ensenada, Baja, Mexico, located
about an hour south of San Diego, CA. He returned to San
Diego when he was 16 with aspirations of furthering his
education. When that didn’t work out, he fell in love,
got married at age 20 and became a father to Ivan, now 13.
He is also a father to Luis, 5, and Daniel, 2.
"Having my own family changed everything, and thoughts
of going to school had to disappear," Hector recalled.
"I had to provide for my family."
A car lover, he did find time to take some autobody classes,
and soon opened an autobody shop in San Diego. He had the
shop for almost a decade when he was offered a job as a
production supervisor at a synthetic granite manufacturer
in Grand Rapids. Santellanes had some contacts in the granite
industry because he was familiar with the machinery used
to make it.
"They wanted someone who knew how to use it because
it was made in Italy and was still relatively new in the
United States," he explained. "I told them I had
my own business, but they offered me good pay and benefits,
so I sold everything but my tools, packed up my family and
said farewell to California."
There were no shortage of friends and relatives second-guessing
Hector’s decision to head to the "great white
north."
"They thought I was crazy," he said. "When
they thought of Minnesota, they thought of the movie ‘Fargo.’
They thought about freezing temperatures all year."
But all Hector could think about was getting his life back.
As a business owner, he worked seven days a week, and a
Monday-through-Friday day job had tremendous appeal. "The
move changed my life," he said. "It improved my
marriage and my relationship with my kids. We became united
as a family because we were all we had."
But nine months later, investor haggling resulted in the
granite business closing its doors. Santellanes was told
repeatedly to be patient and it might reopen, but he needed
more assurance than that. He’d gone through all of
his savings, and needed a paycheck.
So, when he interviewed at a Mexican restaurant, the owner
assumed he’d be a valuable asset and hired Hector
as a waiter. "I looked the part, I guess," he
joked. He did know a thing or two about authentic Mexican
cooking, and it wasn’t long before Hector was giving
out his recipe secrets for salsa and other dishes. One of
his favorite customers owned a fiberglass company and was
looking for someone with autobody experience. Soon, Hector
found himself working with fiberglass in the morning and
at the restaurant in the afternoon and evening. When he
was offered more money at the fiberglass company, he went
there full time.
Five years passed before Hector began thinking again about
his long-held dream to go to college. "I wasn’t
thinking so much about a degree," he recalled. "I
wanted to speak better English and learn how to use a computer."
So he enrolled at Itasca. There, Hector said it was an
English teacher who motivated him to set his sights higher.
"I don’t know if she saw something in me or what,
but she told me if I had higher goals it would be an injustice
if I didn’t pursue them," he said.
So he pursued an associates degree in business management
in the morning, while his boss let him work flexible hours
at the fiberglass plant. "I would have never been able
to do it if my boss hadn’t been so understanding,"
Hector said. "He essentially gave me the keys and told
me to come to work when I could."
Hector earned his associates degree and how finds himself
in Crookston studying at UMC, being a husband and father
at home, and planning for his post-UMC business venture
with his brother and father. He said he owes any future
successes he might enjoy to his upbringing and Mexican heritage,
where people work hard for very little pay and yet manage
to go to work every day wearing a smile.
"Imagine going through what they went through with
the devaluation of the peso, waking up one day and learning
that your money has no value," he said. "They
have suffered but their hearts are strong and they are happy
and grateful just to be alive and to be with their families."
He’d like to pass that take on life onto other UMC
students.
"Young people need goals and they need to work to
make them reality, and that means being successful in school
and finishing," Hector said. "When they complain
about how hard it is to get out of bed and get to class,
I tell them to try doing it when they’re a husband
and father, when going to school is the easy part of the
day."
As for his football aspirations, Hector is a back-up kicker
for the Golden Eagles. He’s only had one opportunity
to kick in a game, but getting on the field isn’t
what matters most to him. "I’m a member of the
team and that’s all that matters to me," he said.
"I may not be contributing much with my leg, but I’m
there for my teammates."
While he admits to be worried early on, Hector’s
family has adjusted nicely to life in northwest Minnesota.
"There’s a lot of help and support here,"
he said. "Being a minority I feared we’d be left
behind, but it’s almost as if we’re a priority."
written by Mike Christopherson
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