[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2021\/04\/JoseValtierraRangel.png” title_text=”JoseValtierraRangel” _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n
Jose \u201cJunior\u201d Valtierra-Rangel\u2019s parents immigrated from Mexico to St. Charles, Minnesota in hopes of one day giving their children the opportunity to live a better life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They succeeded.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Valtierra-Rangel, who was born and raised in St. Charles, had a childhood of being surrounded by hard-working family members who did not have the chance of receiving a college education.<\/span><\/p>\n Valtierra-Rangel didn\u2019t see himself going to college either.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, during his junior year, Valtierra-Rangel\u2019s interest was sparked when a friend invited him on a college tour. And right there began his journey to Winona State University and to becoming the first member of his family to graduate from college — an honor he\u2019ll embrace next week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI saw how excited (my friend) was for it and that right there sparked my interest,\u201d Valtierra-Rangel said. \u201cThis is what I want to do\u2026I just want to go to school.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t easy though.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n Valtierra-Rangel had to teach himself everything from how to apply and submit applications, to figuring out financial aid and signing up for room and board.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After attending a semester at a college in South Dakota, Valtierra-Rangel soon transferred to be closer to home at WSU in a community where he felt comfortable. Growing up, Valtierra-Rangel took field trips through his school to WSU. He saw diversity and the acceptance of different cultures, which made him feel safe and welcomed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_testimonial author=”Jose Valtierra-Rangel” job_title=”2021 Spring Graduate” _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cI want to leave a legacy behind. I want to be that person my kids\u2019 kids talk about that put the foot forward and changed the way my family was going.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.8.1″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n When deciding what major to pursue, Valtierra-Rangel let his personal experience lead the way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He decided on Social Work as a way to work with teenage youth who are faced with similar challenges and trauma as him. Valtierra-Rangel himself has experienced numerous traumatic events in his life, including losing his father and sister at a young age and his journey with mental health, to name a few.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He knows what it is like to not have someone who understands his experience. He wants to be the person that can relate to youth by becoming a school counselor or school social worker.<\/span><\/p>\n So far he\u2019s gotten a good start on his dream. Through his practicum in Rochester, Valtierra-Rangel has gotten to work at a group home for teenage youth who have experienced trauma.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Valtierra-Rangel has accomplished all that he has, while also working on a dairy farm with his family from 3 a.m. until the afternoon every weekend. Balancing classes and work has definitely cut into his social life and at times affected his studies from being mentally drained. Through it all his family has inspired him to keep going by watching his mother\u2019s determination to provide for the family and by knowing that he\u2019s a role model for his two sisters and cousins.<\/span><\/p>\n With graduation right around the corner, Valtierra-Rangel knows in his heart he is taking steps in the right direction. He has been accepted into WSU\u2019s Master of Social Work program and is excited for what his future holds.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cI want to leave a legacy behind,\u201d Valiterra-Rangel said. \u201cI want to be that person my kids\u2019 kids talk about that put the foot forward and changed the way my family was going.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jose \u201cJunior\u201d Valtierra-Rangel\u2019s parents immigrated from Mexico to St. Charles, Minnesota in hopes of one day giving their children the opportunity to live a better life.\u00a0 They succeeded.\u00a0 Valtierra-Rangel, who was born and raised in St. Charles, had a childhood of being surrounded by hard-working family members who did not have the chance of receiving […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":245,"featured_media":1617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24,259,305,359,35,335],"tags":[142,282,368],"class_list":["post-1614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","category-admissions-blog","category-commencement","category-community","category-social-work","category-twitter","tag-brag","tag-commencement","tag-social-work"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2021\/04\/JoseValtierraRangel.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb2ffS-q2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/245"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1614"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1631,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614\/revisions\/1631"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}