Celia Castillo

Against the Odds: Memoirs of a Migrant Worker Celia Castillo

Against the Odds underscores difficulties and struggles of an uprooted family life from a simple quiet farm life to a migrating existence as a result of the Great Depression. In addition to a low economy, prejudice, racism and bigotry made it much more difficult to survive and succeed in an adaptive way of life. A life which became a two-fold process. One side consisted of constant moving from field to field searching for work. The second phase was trying to keep up with school work and formal education in a limited or short sessions. Both phases offered learning opportunities in that migrating offered vital educational experiences while formal education reinforced a different type of discipline. The different types of experiences complemented each other and allowed paramount importance if handled effectively for eventual success.