Paloma Magazine Volume 52

Yesenia Marquez, model, athlete,
volunteer, outstanding student,
heavily involved in our community,
participating in several beauty
contests, winning some besides
being already in reality she shows
us at her young age, she's a girl
exemplary beautiful inside and out.
She shares with us the
following: I was born November 28
1998 in Salinas Ca. at
t h e m e m o r i a l
hospital, my parents are
Aristeo and Amalia
Marquez. I have 2
brothers and 1 sister:
Ernest, Kimberly, Erwin Márquez my
childhood, I remember every year in
December we went to Mexico to visit
family, when we arrived after two
days on the road we went to the
Virgin of San Juan de los Lagos,
Jalisco to thank her for giving us the
joy of arriving well, in Mexico my
parents took me to the plaza where
I remember running around the
fountain while eating ice cream
watching the presentations that were
given, people dancing dressed as old
people, or the dance of the bull
where someone dressed like a bull
and acted as they danced, and little
by little I was also learning about my
culture.
When asked where she studied,
she told us, in Elementary I went to
Castroville Elementary School, in high
school I attended North Monterey
County Middle School, and I will soon
finish at North Monterey County High
School.
Yesenia Marquez stands out in
society for her simplicity, kindness
and joy, but what surprised us more
about her is her desire to help others.
She herself explains: I volunteer in
the community, my church and
different events like Relay for Life,
(cancer) Ham Dinner, Retreats for
children, also helping waitress for
dinners or important meetings where
we discuss different community
issues. Today I am still in high school
in NC studying and I am
involved in the football team, link
crew, girls inc, and I am part of the
migrant program (I have been given
the opportunity to go to the University
of Minnesota, and Fresno State to
study during the summer). My next
goal is to graduate from NC and go to
college to study and excel in life and
to help my parents.
She also tells us about her
participation in: Spelling Bee Finals,
M i s s T e e n a g e r 2 0 1 4
(she was the winner by public vote
as Miss Popular) Speech and Debate
(Regional and State),
Authors and Ideas
Festival.
But even
Yesenia Marquez who
managed to excel with
her goals, she like everyone has
faced difficult problems in life and
tells us about them below: My biggest
obstacles have been when I was girl
my doctors diagnosed me with
something in my ears, which I had 4
surgeries for, to hear well, another
painful obstacle was when I had to
see my mother suffering from cancer,
but also because my mother is my
biggest motivation and I admire my
grandparents for everything they did
for their children and for never giving
up, because they overcame all obstacles
when they were my age or younger.
This smart young lady when asked
what advice would you give to our
community she told us: One tip I
would give the community is to never
give up though sometimes people say
you can not do something or are
negative just show them you can
because a lion does not worry about
the opinions of the sheep, be the lion
and show how strong you are. Finally
she affirms, my inspiration has
always been Cesar Chavez because
as he said yes you can!.
Yesenia Marquez has proven to
us that everything can be achieved
with, encouragement, perseverance
and discipline. Despite her very
confusing young age, this is
also a call for everyone as there are
many places where you can spend
time positively as volunteers, this is
a mutual benefit. Let us hope and
move on there are so many
assistance programs and supporting
social services. We should use them
"A lion does not worry
about the opinions of
sheep, be the lion and
show how strong you are"
-Yesenia Marquez
a n d l e a v e o u r c o r n e r .
What Yesenia does is really splendid.
For all the above it is an honor
f o r M a g a z i n e P a l o m a t o
congratulated and thank Yesenia
Marquez for her excellent behavior,
for her example, her achievements
accompanied by her beauty and
charisma, she is truly a role model
for society and is invariably
nominated as Our Orgullo Hispano.
Interview by: Maria Guadalupe
Translation by: Shantal Dena
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