Alejandro Espino '20 Recruiting Profile

 I come from a hard working Mexican family, and I’m no exception. Like many immigrant families, we came here looking for a better life. My family owns a small catering company. Our specialty: Tacos and other Mexican dishes. On the weekends we start at eight A.M. (sometimes even earlier), and like the master chef that I am, I cut up vegetables for toppings or sauces, and prepare to cook different meats, all while jamming out to Queen.

When I turned ten I started to attend the taquizas with my father, and helped by flipping tortillas. As the business grew so did our clientele, and my responsibilities . Now I’m in charge of an industrial sized grill, and because my father doesn’t speak the language very well, I took the initiative and started to handle all of the business in English as well. Compared to the long process of creating the food, the easy task comes during the parties, where all I do is reheat the already cooked meat on the grill and serve tacos the guests (anywhere from 50-150 people per party) for three hours. 

But this isn’t the only job I do to help my family financially. During summer breaks, on weekdays, I’m working with my father. My dad’s five to nine job is doing interior construction projects. At first I was only there for clean up, picking up ruble and drops of paint, but I was also used as a translator. As the years rolled by, I started working longer hours, sometimes up to eleven hours a day. I gained the trust of my coworkers by working hard and diligently, and was handed more serious tasks because of it: destroying walls, putting up new ceramic, painting rooms, cutting up new drywall and insulation , helping to put up new cabinets, and much much more. 

While on breaks during school, I work at my aunts daycare. Sometimes I’ll get to the  home-daycare around six in the morning, but since the children don’t get there until around eight A.M. I’ll get some sleep on one of the  miniature beds. Usually I’ll wake to the sound of crying or little footsteps jumping on the wooden floor. After my beauty sleep I’ll make myself useful by preparing meals for the kids, reading to them about the insane stories of “Junie B. Jones”, tiring out my limbs by sending the kids into “outer space”, and yes sometimes even changing diapers. 

I know every child by name, and most of their older siblings and parents, as I was once at the daycare too. But since most of them can’t pronounce my full name yet the kids refer to me as “Ale”.