How I made it from the Rio Grande Valley to Silicon Valley.

"I GOT IT!!! I GOT IT!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! I FEEL LIKE I'M INSIDE OF A DREAM RIGHT NOW!!" I shouted excitedly as we had just begun pulling out of my grandparent's driveway following our annual Thanksgiving visit. I'll always remember that, the day after Thanksgiving.

I woke up that morning in relatively routine fashion, only knowing that we were going to be driving to my grandma's ranch out near Waco, Texas. At this point of November 2016, I was in full internship search mode. I'd gotten my fair share of rejection emails and had made it to the second-round interview for three large brands I was considering strongly. Everything I'd been through had lead up to that point. I'd known that I had a strong enough resume to get me in the door somewhere and all my sweat and tears came to fruition when I opened that email from Intel in the driveway of my grandparent's house. "Attached please find your official offer letter from Intel Corporation." it read. I knew the work and the sacrifice I'd contributed to get there but I couldn't help be in awe that I'd been chosen. One of the few from the many.

This is my story and how I received my internship position I experienced this summer. The following will cover many of the events that shaped my path and everything I learned along the way.

The Rio Grande Valley is a largely underprivileged area located at the very southern tip of Texas. The region directly borders Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico. 89.75% of the population is Hispanic and the area essentially lives in isolation from the rest of Texas, the closest city is San Antonio (or Corpus Christi if that counts). While rich with a convergence of the Texan and Mexican cultures, it is an area starved of thought diversity, innovation, and financial security. In many ways (except for the weather) it feels like the exact opposite of Silicon Valley. This is the place I was born and where I've spent the large majority of my 22 years.

My first real professional experience in the marketing world came during the fall semester of 2015. It was the first semester I'd ever spent as a member of the American Marketing Association and my first time ever on a case competition team. Our team had its ups and downs but our lead that year was able to keep everyone focused and ensure things were on track with regards to the marketing plan we were creating. The requirements included 20 pages of content and 20 pages of appendices at the very least, so over the 4 months working up to that December deadline we were really under pressure. Finally, once everything was in order and the report was ready, we submitted the case to the AMA. A few months came before, in February 2016, we discovered we'd been selected as one of the top 10 schools in the country to compete in the finals. This meant that we'd have to compress a 40-page marketing plan into a 20-slide deck and present in front of representatives from the Hershey's company at the Sheraton in New Orleans that March.

It was a moment of excitement but also one of realization. I'd been working 40+ hours at Domino's as a delivery driver that fall semester. EVERYTHING I did that semester could have fallen into one of three categories (School, Work, AMA). I knew that we would have to contribute twice the effort to condense the content and craft a presentation that would move the judges. I quit my job as a delivery guy to focus on my professional development and contribution to our AMA chapter. This meant that I had to move out of the apartments I'd been living in at the time, given that I'd forfeited a steady income. I stayed on around 4 different friend's couches that semester, living with my clothes out of a trash bag, more broke than I'd ever been, sometimes having trouble finding something to eat.

We ended up receiving 3rd place nationally that year. This was my first true realization that knowledge specific to my profession, marketing, could take me places.

After final exams that semester were over, I returned home to my parent's house penniless, with nothing but my car and my trash bag of clothes. Luckily, I had plans for the summer. I'd searched for marketing roles on my university's career connection website and found a digital marketing internship position with a company called Vacation Villas of South Padre Island (a condo and vacation home rental service). I headed out for an interview and days later received confirmation that I'd been selected. For those of you who don't know, South Padre Island is the one tourist destination the valley has. Many know SPI as an A1 Spring Break spot and lots of snow birds call "The Island" (as it's affectionately known) home for some part of the year.

Fortunately, this was a paid position. I wasn't open to anything that wasn't at that point. Things were rough. My father agreed to pay for my gas there until I'd earned enough to pay for my own. During my time at Vacation Villas, I learned plenty of skills, things like managing social media campaigns, managing email marketing campaigns, managing a website. I even taught myself Google Analytics (GA) and integrated it with both their website and app as something to leave them with after I'd gone.

I was paying for my own gas and food, everything was great! UNTIL...my car decided to crap out on me one day (halfway through that summer). We had it towed to a friend of my dad's who told us it would be cheaper to buy a new car than repair that one. I ended up selling the car to him for scrap value. Unfortunately, my family wasn't in any position to purchase a car for me either (they'd just bought my brother one). Instead, we devised a plan for my mother to drop me off at the Brownsville (south most city in Texas) airport, on her way to work. I'd wait for the bus to take me to a stop closer to the island and for another bus to take me to the office from there. Ultimately, I spent about 4 hours on buses or waiting for buses each day.

This was all the more difficult because my parents had told me they wouldn't co-sign a lease to the apartments I'd planned to move into for the fall semester unless I'd taken on something else that summer, in addition to my internship. I found out quick that people don't like to hire people who have to leave in less than 3 months to go back to school.

I ended up with a job as a waiter at a restaurant owned by one of my dad's friends. The restaurant was a delicious mom & pop diner with a great client base. Very friendly people, mostly older snowbirds. The problem was the only money I was making came in the form of tips. Even though I wouldn't make close to anything some days, I knew I had to muscle through to appease my parents. I only needed them to sign the lease, I knew they weren't going to be the ones paying for it. This was one of the roughest times. Even though I was living in the comfort of my parent's home, the routine that summer was completely brutal: WAKE UP, BUS STUFF, INTERNSHIP, BUS STUFF, WAITER, SLEEP, OVER AND OVER AND OVER. I'd start the day at 6:30 am and end the day at 12 am, sometimes later, depending on how late people stayed at the restaurant.

FINALLY, the summer was over. I'd finished my first internship, and saved enough to move into another apartment near the school. It was time. My parents signed the lease and I moved in. What I didn't tell them was that after paying the difference between what financial aid provided and what tuition that semester cost, I only had enough $$$ left for one month of rent. I'd been planning though. Since the spring semester, I'd been applying for on-campus jobs that would allow me a steady flow of income once I'd returned.

With only enough for one month of rent in the bank, I landed my first on-campus position. What's more is that I was now a marketing coordinator in the office that had hired me! It was DIGITAL MARKETING! I got to do what I loved! I'd also recently become VP of Consulting for our American Marketing Association chapter and was going to be leading our national case study team that year, sponsored by eBay. Things had taken a turn for the better.

That fall semester of 2016, I was CONSUMED with working on our marketing plan for eBay. I tried desperately to facilitate a collaborative team with the people who'd told me they wanted to contribute but at the end of the day, everyone was busy with their own things and occupied with other stuff. I guess I felt like it was entirely on my shoulders. I used a few ideas they'd suggested and had them help out with some of the market research efforts (focus groups, search results, etc) but in hindsight I know I didn't get them as involved as I should have. I micro-managed SO badly. I spent countless nights and weekends at Ihop or Starbucks on University Drive building the entire marketing plan. I'd also been on edge due to the major internship hunt I'd been conducting at that time (for the big ones, you have to start looking a whole year before). Eventually, I'd completed the marketing plan and we submitted the report to the AMA. Several months later, we were notified that we'd received National Honorable Mention. For me, that meant "nice try, better luck next time".

That entire semester, all those hours grinding it out at Ihop late into the night, taught me two things. 1) No matter how much work one person puts in alone, thought diversity will always win. 2) Lead by delegating and entrusting people, not by controlling every little thing.

For the spring semester of this year, I was privileged with the opportunity to speak at the annual American Marketing Association International Collegiate Conference in New Orleans with regards to our chapter's consulting program. This was something I was very nervous to speak to but also something I knew I was capable of doing. We'd worked on several consulting projects with local businesses before and I was in the process of putting together another marketing plan for Burns Motors, a local dealership who'd given us the opportunity to create one for them. The discussion went much better than I'd anticipated and I rounded out the semester with considerable compensation for our chapter after delivering the marketing plan and touching on the main points in presentation to the dealership.

Finally, I was free for the summer. I hopped on the plane and headed out to Hillsboro (Portland) for my internship with Intel. I worked under Global Insights and Analytics for Global Marketing Communications and discovered a deep love that I have for Marketing Analytics. We flew down to the Santa Clara office in Silicon Valley three times on the Intel shuttle. We ate with the CMO, listened to the CEO speak, and met plenty of incredibly smart people. Over the three months I spent with the company, I learned Tableau, sifted through tons of spreadsheets, tons of different metrics, and apart from the internship, introduced myself to SQL and big data management, something else I'm currently taking courses on Coursera for.

At Intel, I was allowed the opportunity to work on projects and collaborate with people from so many different backgrounds and walks of life. Everyone saw things differently but worked for a common purpose. That purpose was using the best light to show people what the future is going to look like. This is why I'm determined to continue in the tech industry.

I also witnessed (along with a few others who agreed) an interesting dichotomy in the people I was working around. Many, a majority of the people I worked around had come from backgrounds where they'd been handed the tools to success almost immediately after birth. Prestigious educations, and family industry friends that were just amazing. The networks these people had was like something out of a draft pick.

There were these people and then there were others like myself. People who came from the bottom and struggled to get the skill sets employers would want. It bothered me that more people who came from the same kind of areas as myself weren't given the environment they'd need for optimal growth. This observation is something that's caused providing Social Mobility to become an issue very close to me. I want to work somewhere that has the resources, the technology, and the influence to connect the world and bring learning and a culture of learning to those who are deprived of it.

As of today, I'm on the search for openings in the tech industry where I can start in January, following my graduation this December.

It's been a ride. I've learned that no matter what happens and regardless of what's going on in your life, a Laser Focus on one goal or career objective along with an unceasing work ethic will get you through. Be optimistic, things will get better if you will them to. There is something to be learned from everyone and every experience. While others define us by our success, we often define ourselves by the hardships that were necessary along the way.