An "International" Student

"International" might be a better word to describe Florentino Guizar '79 than foreign.

A Mexican citizen from Gilroy, California, where his parents are agricultural worders, Guizar came to Harvard after spending a year in Switzerland. He was born in central Mexico, and moved to Gilroy at eight because his parents were supporting an older brother in medical school and could not make enough money from their "two or three acre" farm to buy textbooks.

"They sacrificed everything for us," Guizar said. "I know it's an old cliche, But it's true." He explained that his father never made him work in the fields before or after school, but insisted he take time to study.

"That's the whole concept of immigrant labor, that the whole family works," Guizar said. He added that his father could have "followed the fruit," and worked year round, but instead stayed in Gilroy, working 12 hour days nine months of the year, so his children could attend school. Guizar's father never went to school, and his mother had only a fifth-grade education. "For us to gain the education they never had, that was very important to them," Guizar says.

By the time Guizar was a senior at Gilroy High School, his brother had graduated from medical school in Mexico, and one day asked him if he would like to finish school in Europe. And so Guizar ended up in Switzerland for his senior year, polishing his French and Italian at the Ecole de Commerce de Neuchatel.

"My brother was trying to say thank you, to say you gave me something and now I will try to do something for you," Guizar said. He shook his head. "I just think it's fantastic."

Guizar is very active in Chicano student organizations. He is a member of La Raza, and plays Mexican folk music on WHRB every other week. Guizar said, "I think Harvard has the effect of opening people up, of making them more aware. For instance, people use the word Chicano more often here." But, he adds, while Harvard made it possible for him to escape what he calls the confines of his environment, it also sometimes makes it hard for him to retain his "cultural identity."

Guizar also plays a prominent role on the UFW Support Committee, though his parents are not members, only, he hastens to add, because Gilroy has not been organized yet. He laughs when people ask him what he thinks of Chavez.

"What can I say? For me, and my family, it's not just a social problem--it's reality, it's life. I see the shacks, I see the labor camps, and then I see Chavez trying to do something about it. I think it's terrific," Guizar says.

"I went to visit my grandparents in Mexico, and before we went to sleep they told us to pull the covers up over our faces, because sometimes rats fall from the ceilings," he says, "I know that's sensationalistic, but it's true."

In November Guizar went on a two-week minority recruiting trip for the University. He termed it "a success," but added that "Chicano recruitment should not mean just going to the suburban high schools and talking to upper class Chicanos. I'd like to see them get out to Roosevelt High in Fresno, where people are who never thought of going to Harvard."

Guizar is indefinite about what he would like to do in the future, but he doesn't think he will go back to California. "The prejudice is very subtle there, especially after you acquire some education," Guizar said. He added, "It takes the form of 'I understand the problems of the Mexican-American community'--and you realize it's all bullshit."

For now, Guizar says, he would like to do advanced work in International Studies and someday "though I know it's really far-fetched, I think I'd like to work as something like Undersecretary for Latin America in the State Department." How would he change American foreign policy? "Stop supporting all the fascist dictatorships," Guizar says.

"Naw," says a friend passing through the room. "You'll be a pig for some big multi-national, Flor." Guizar laughs. "Yes, but I'll be a compassionate pig," he says.

Guizar is now waiting impatiently on his citizenship. He has taken the test, signed the naturalizations papers, and expects to take the oath before the end of April. But though Guizar will soon be an American citizen he refuses to attribute his success to some kind of "American Dream."

"I like to think it's more personal than that," he said. "And besides, once you attribute success to something like an 'American Dream,' it's too easy to say, 'I did it, why can't he?' I don't ever want to be that way."