BIOGRAPHY OF FULANO DE TAL 1

A PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM BIOGRAPHY OF FULANO DE TAL

WITH INTERJECTIONS BY DAVID RICHARDSON

DAVID W. RICHARDSON

GOSHEN COLLEGE
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Fulano was born in 1989 in the small town of Ciudad in Zacatecas, Mexico. His time

there was very short-lived as his parents felt there was greater opportunity to raise their first son

in the United States. His mother had a visa and was able to get into the United States easily but

her son and her husband had no papers. She dressed Fulano as a baby girl and borrowed the

papers of her niece whom was already in California. A similar arrangement for the father did not

materialize and so he successfully crossed the Rio Grande into the United States. His father met

up with his mother and son to make the journey to Salinas, California. Salinas felt a little bit like

home because they moved to an area that housed a lot of Fulano’s extended family.

Salinas has a population of around 145,000 people and is located just 8 aerial miles away

from the Pacific Ocean at an altitude of 54 feet above sea level. Salinas’s main industry is

agriculture and Dole Vegetable is a large employer in the region. Salinas is known as the salad

bowl of the world producing 80% of the lettuce in the United States as reported by the City of

Salinas website.

Naturally with the abundance of agricultural work his mother worked in the broccoli

fields and his dad worked in the lettuce fields as he aged from eleven months to six years old.

His parents spent around $7,000 as they navigated their way through the steps to achieve a legal

status. Fulano was six years old and in his second month of first grade when the family achieved

legal status and could travel freely between United States and the Mexico. His parents were very

eager to return to Ciudad, Mexico to visit with friends and family as the once large number of

extended family members that once resided in Salinas had since departed to return to Ciudad.

His parents also had been working five years in the agricultural industry and they were ready for

a vacation. Fulano’s mom said that they were going to take a one year vacation in Ciudad to

spend time with their relatives.

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They packed up and returned to Ciudad, Mexico. Fulano was enrolled in the public

school named after the founder. The founder was none other than his great-great-grandfather.

The name of the school and the founder was Julio Guerterez. There was no comfort in the heart

of the founder’s great-great-grandson as he started attending this school. The direct descendent

of the founder felt like an outsider.

The other kids in the school had several years of developing social friendships with one

another but Fulano was the new kid and did not know anyone in his class. Fulano looked similar

to his classmates. Fulano had spent the first five years growing up in Salinas, California and

learned to speak English in the one year plus of schooling he had there. He had great difficulty

communicating with his classmates and teacher during that first year. Gradually throughout that

first year his mind was like a sponge that sucked up the Spanish language. After the first year,

speaking Spanish was natural for him.

The year of vacation time was up but what happened next would put great strain on his

parents’ relationship. His parents decided that financially they would be better off if one of them

returned to California to work the agricultural season. The father left his wife and child in

Mexico to work February to November in the lettuce fields for five years. This meant that

Fulano was in some regards a fatherless child while dad was away for those ten months out of

the year. His relationship with his mother intensified as a result and to present day there remains

a strong bond between mother and son.

The schools provided no food for the students. Generally, the mothers of the students

would cook food at home and drop off hot lunches for their kids and Fulano was no exception.

Each day at lunch time, his mother would drop off a nice hot lunch during his hour long lunch

break.
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When Fulano was in third grade, he learned from his mother that his father had left

California for better opportunities in New Castle, IN. Through the grades Fulano is deepening

his relationships with his classmates. The years pass by and Fulano has been working quite hard

through the end of fifth grade.

The students are ranked in fifth grade and the students that are the highest ranking are

nominated to be on the color guard. Color guard is responsible for the raising and the lowering

of the flag at the start and end of each school day. Six students in total are achieved and Fulano

was selected to be the sergeant of the color guard. The sergeant is the one that gives the vocal

commands. Fulano felt like this was one of the happiest days of his life. Summer vacation

started with great anticipation for what was to come the following school year.

He mentions very little of the daily activities of that summer vacation and immediately

discusses the first impressions he had of his new sixth grade teacher. He mentions to me that his

sixth grade teacher was stricter than the fifth grade teacher. His name was Mr. Fangel. Fulano

claims that Mr. Fangel had a positive impact on his life. Inquiring further with Fulano on this

matter, he told me that it was what Mr. Fangel did that impacted him. He was asked by the

group of six sixth graders that made up the color guard to coach them and he agreed to coach

them. Color guard was more than just raising and lowering the flag at school. It was also a

national competition that started off on the local level.

Fulano and his color guard detail had 4 weeks of intensive after school training that took

up 2 to 3 hours of their afternoon. As important as this event was it didn’t out rank the students

homework. This teacher followed a rule. Homework must be finished before the start of

practice. Fulano had all of his homework completed for the day prior to starting practice which

meant that the longer it took for the detail to complete the homework, the longer it was going to

be before their day was finished practicing color guard.

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The day of their local area competitions had finally arrived. Fulano was wondering if all

those school afternoons of practice would pay off. The competition was held in a neighborhood

town. They earned first place to their delights and that equated to three more weeks of practice

to prepare for the the county competition.

Fulano called out all the commands as his detail went through their routine as they were

among many competitors for the top slot. The competition was over and the judges were reading

off the winners starting in third. The judges awarded second place to their biggest competitor

and that is when Fulano and his crew turned and started heading for the door since there was no

way that they did better than them. The judges awarded Fulano’s detail with first place saying

that his group had put on a great demonstration.

Fulano felt like this was one of his happiest days of his life. He remembers his teacher

jumping up and down yelling to the team that they were going to the regional competition. This

would be the gathering of the very best color guards from all across Zacatecas. They placed in

the top 10 at this competition and that was the end of their journey as it was time to pick a new

group of fifth graders to compete the following year.

The color guard was still quite excited because this was the first time a detail from their

school had advanced this far in the competition. The weeks past by and like many intensely

joyful experiences tend to lose their luster as time passes. Fulano’s joy got another big jolt. The

principal requested his presence in the office. He arrived and the principal gave him a

congratulatory hug in which Fulano was in a state of bewilderment. This state of bewilderment

turned to joy when the principal presented him with an award recognizing Fulano to be the best

color guard sergeant of the state. This was also known to him as one of the best days of his life.

Being recognized for outstanding work is most often a pleasant experience.

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The school put on a graduation ceremony as the students graduated from sixth grade. His

father returned and little Fulano which was not so little anymore was delighted that his father had

returned but dreaded the words that came forth from dad’s mouth. His father felt that it would be

in Fulano’s best interest if Fulano’s mother and Fulano would move to New Castle, IN and live

with dad. Fulano was not happy about this as he had spent nearly five years in the Ciudad

school. Ultimately, the choice wasn’t his to make and the move occurred so that Fulano spent

the summer in New Castle.

New Castle has a population of about 17,000 people. It contains the world’s largest high

school basketball arena having a seating capacity of 9,235. It is roughly 30 minutes east of

Indianapolis and a few miles north of the east-west running I-70. The days of summer vacation

dwindled and his father took him to enroll in Manchester Junior High for his seventh grade year.

The Hispanic population at the school had doubled due to his enrollment and the other Hispanic

student was able to speak both Spanish and English and made assurances to Fulano’s parents that

he would help him out.

Fulano soon found out what it felt like to be let down because the other Hispanic student

didn’t follow through on his words. His first day he followed through the steps but when the

teachers spoke the ability to decode wasn’t there. Each new day he became more frustrated over

his situation. His Pre-Algebra class was right after lunch. The teacher asked students to write

out the steps needed to solve the homework problems. Fulano wrote his answers out in Spanish.

The teacher told Fulano that he was in America and that he needed to write in English. Fulano

didn’t feel comfortable with this teacher.

Fulano didn’t feel the same after this experience and his discomfort manifested its self

into painful stomach aches. These mentally induced stomach aches began over the lunch hour

whereupon he would go to the nurse’s office and she would call his parents to come pick him up.
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These stomach aches were his way of coping with the uncomfortable situation brought on by the

attitude and behaviors of his Pre-Algebra teacher.

He resented his parents for ever bringing to this horrible place and wouldn’t speak to

them for hours at a time. The anger was severing the relationship he had with God. He felt that

God had abandoned him and expressed his discontent with his mother. He no longer saw the

point in going into God’s house since God wasn’t helping him. He failed to realize that God had

a plan for him and that it was already unfolding in his life. God puts us through our trials to burn

out the impurities in our lives just like gold is put through fire to separate the impurities from it.

His father found a translator to accompany him with his son to speak with the high school

principal concerning the current situation. He informed the principal that Fulano was not

learning the material and that Fulano was going back to Mexico. The principal was a man of

vision. The principal didn’t quite follow them because he referred back to the goal Fulano had

for being here and offered Fulano the opportunity to be tutored by students from the high school

Spanish IV class free of charge. Fulano was open to this because in return he could also help the

students learn Spanish. He learned from a variety of students with it being very common to have

a different student each day. His teachers were impressed with the progress he made during

those seven months. He was far better off at the start of his eighth grade year.

He had finished his eighth grade year and felt that he had learned English and there was

no more reason for him to stay in the United States and pressured his parents to move back to

Mexico. He went back to his hometown to live with his mother and although he looked similar

to his peers at his the high school he felt like an outsider. He was an outsider in his hometown.

His high school experience came to a stopping point between his sophomore and junior year.

His mother informed him that his U.S. visa was going to expire and that they must return to

Indiana to file the necessary paperwork. His father had moved to Goshen to be closer to
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Fulano’s extended family done so by the request of Fulano. The paper work was still had not

arrived and the start of school was on their door step so Fulano’s father enrolled him at Goshen

High School. Fulano was much more comfortable coming here since there was a much larger

population of Hispanics versus that of the white dominated city of Crown Point. He also had

some cousins that attended the school.

Fulano was concerned of losing even more English since he had so many Spanish

speakers to speak too but the teachers didn’t allow students to speak Spanish in their classes

which led to more English use and his proficiency grew during his junior year. The faculty

awarded Fulano with the outstanding ENL fifth level student award.

Fulano felt good about his English and saw little idea to remain in Goshen. He was intent

on returning to Mexico to complete his high school education. His father persuaded him that

there would be more options available to him if he finished his senior year at Goshen High

School. He followed his father’s advice. His parents wanted more for their son than what they

had in their life. They wanted him to continue on with school so he wouldn’t have to work in the

lettuce and broccoli fields like mom and dad.

During his senior year at Goshen High School he met the faculty member in charge of the

ENL program. Her brush up with Fulano left a good impression with him. He describes her as a

second mother. She was very encouraging of Fulano and took a supportive stance on his future

college education.

Fulano was a high school graduate and once again he felt that Mexico was the place to

go. He could get an undergraduate degree for less money in Mexico and then he could come to

the United States and take a test and pursue his Master’s degree or find a job. Fulano’s plans

don’t always fall in line with the Master’s plans. A financial aid officer from Goshen College
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came to Goshen High School and during his conversation with Fulano informed him of a woman

who left $12,000,000 to Goshen College for Latinos.

Fulano met with the head of financial aid and was encouraged to apply to Goshen

College and once accepted to apply for the scholarship. He was awarded the scholarship to

cover half of his tuition. This was a substantial scholarship that when combined with the other

first year scholarships brought his first year bill to $3,000. He felt much more comfortable with

that number than the full tuition cost of $21,300.

There were strings attached to the Latino scholarship. One issue that arose from this

grant was that it was for only four years. SST would cost full price and Fulano didn’t see a

purpose of spending $21,300 on SST so that he could once again experience cultural shock. The

benefits gained did not match up to the exuberant cost. Instead, he is going to take three classes

designated as an acceptable substitute to SST.

Fulano’s life experiences have been enriching to his character. He has found through self

discovery that he enjoys the activities of photography, pottery, and drawing. He shared stories

about each of these areas that are shared in the following paragraphs.

Fulano discovered that he enjoys photography one day as he was taking pictures of his

uncle holding a baby. His passion has grown so strong that graphic design is his minor at

Goshen College. He is majoring in education to be an ENL teacher. He says that one of his

ideas on bringing his photography passion into the classroom is to give his students disposable

cameras. His students will then use these to take pictures of their lives to keep a written photo

journal. It seems that he has some ideas on bringing an outside passion into the classroom to

help his students.

He is his toughest critic when it comes to his art work. One time in his high school

ceramics class he worked really hard on a detailed pot and he had extra time left after he
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finished. The teacher told him to make another pot. He did it far quicker than his first one and

both of his pieces were allowed to be put on display. The piece that he threw together was very

well liked by the judges and awarded first place. He didn’t even like that pot and he mentioned

to me that even though he might not like his artwork it doesn’t necessarily mean that other

people will feel the same way.

He holds a similar attitude concerning his drawings. He has done realistic artwork but

has found that he doesn’t particularly enjoy that type of drawing. Abstract drawing flows

naturally for him and is his preferred style. Remember the pot that he threw together got first

place was more of an abstract form. This is proof that the abstract artwork is more natural for

him as it spans across the different ways art is expressed.

To believe in something that we cannot tangibly sense with any of our five senses takes a

certain type of mind set in the individual. God has been brought up more than once in this

biography. Once again people seek to build a relationship with God through a wide variety of

different avenues. This is unfortunate indeed since our only source that practicing Christians

have to build that relationship are the letters and books in the Holy Bible. Fulano is a practicing

Catholic. The Catholic religion was a part of his life since he was a young child. It is full of

traditions such as Christmas and the New Year. He describes that baby Jesus is the one that

brings the presents and that it is customary to hang a shoe instead of stockings.

Currently, he is hesitant to become a United States citizen. It will cause him to drift

further from his cultural heritage. He will be like a sail boat caught in an offshore wind getting

sent further and further away from shore. This may be a defeat or a victory with it all depending

on the future choices that are made concerning this matter. His life is full of experiences that

hint even in the defeats he can come out victorious.

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Fulano is a nice young man. I listened to his story and now I have passed it on to you,

the reader of this biography. Just to note some of the names and locations were altered to hide

the true identity of the person I wrote about in the preceding pages. Lastly, Fulano De Tal is

known as John Doe when translated to English.

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References

Welcome to the City of Salinas, California. (2009) Retrieved from http://www.ci.salinas.ca.us

Salinas, California. (15 September 2009) Retrieved from Encyclopedia Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salinas,_California

New Castle, IN. (2009) Retrieved from http://www.cityofnewcastle.net/