Cynthia and Juan Olvera
"It takes courage to be happy." Juan Olvera and his daughter, Cynthia Olvera, talk at StoryCorps about Juan's difficult childhood, including four years as a teen on the streets, and how it impacts the work the both do today.
- [Juan] I was orphaned as a child. I was abandoned by my mother. I was picked up by a very compassionate couple. I was never legally adopted, but I was handed-down from one family to another within the same family, up to the age of 13. After that, I was living in the streets 'til about 17.
- [Cynthia] So, from the ages of 13 to 17, you were in the--
- On the streets.
- Underpass.
- [Juan] Underpass, barns, abandoned cars, whatever would keep the rain out. That adventure taught me that there's not always someone ready to help you out, that you have to seek those things that are gonna make your life better. I couldn't just hang around the corner waiting for somebody to give me something. I had to go out, forage for food, and do what I had to do to stay alive. I finally got tired of living on the streets. And my first foster family's daughters took me in, and I was there for about a year before I went into the military. I finally wound up in the field where I've been working for the last 25 years, the field of environmental health and safety. It's drawn from my sense of wanting to be good to people because people were good to me. And working at the university has given me another chance to do that as well, protecting the kids at the school, and the faculty and staff, making sure that their environments are safe, is very rewarding for me. So how did hearing my stories affect you?
- [Cynthia] I was always in awe for that self-drive. It could have been very easy for you to become an embittered person. But you never were. You always taught us to share and to care for others, and to serve others. And I think that is something that was embedded deeply in my heart. So when I went to college, and I was able to do service projects and able to help other people, I saw the benefit and the joy to help other people. When I came to A&M and started working in Student Affairs, I realized that that [sic] was another manifestation of serving others. Being a selfless servant is coming to work every day and listening to students who need help with a familial issue, or with an academic issue, or with a leadership issue. I get to help in a small way to become who they're going to be. I believe that is squarely because you taught us to value people's journeys and to value how people need compassion. I can't help but think of this one young man who walked into my office, and he was in tears because his family had disowned him because he'd come out to them. He doesn't know what he's gonna do. He's worried he's gonna have to stop school. And in that moment, all of my upbringing kinda kicks into gear, and you just wanna help in some way. We made sure all of the things you taught us, like food, shelter, were taken care of. I told him all the resources that he could look into. And I'm thankful to say he's still in school, he's mending relationships with family. He's thriving. And I wonder, if that conversation had gone differently or if he had found someone who wasn't as compassionate and had respect for who he is, really who he is, I wonder how that could have worked out for him differently. But I respect him enough to feel that compassion. You taught me how to do that.
- [Juan] Absolutely.
- [Cynthia] I get my compassion from you. That level of selfless service is what is in the fabric of what I do every day.
- [Juan] That's courage.
- [Cynthia] Um hm.
- [Juan] That's courage to come out of yourself and expose yourself as someone who cares. That takes courage. Also takes courage to be happy.
- [Cynthia] That's one of my favorite sayings of yours.
- [Juan] Absolutely.
- [Cynthia] It takes courage to be happy. You can choose, and being happy in situations where it's dark is powerful.
- [Juan] Absolutely.
- [Cynthia] And takes courage.