Growing up as a farm worker in a poor family of fifteen, the odds were against Ramón Resa to break out of his bleak reality. Abandoned by his single mother, who had five kids before she was 20, he grew up in an environment of severe poverty, neglect, and a disregard for education. At the age of three, he was picking cotton in the fields of central California.
It was Ramón’s elementary-school teachers who opened his eyes to the idea of education and awakened in him the dream of going to college and
becoming a doctor. One teacher in particular told Ramón that he should go to college. “I don’t know why she said that but she put that spark in my mind, and helped me see my potential,” says Ramón.Encouragement from teachers was important, but Ramón still had to deal with low self-esteem, a speech impediment, prejudice, and even opposition from his grandparents, who wanted him to get a factory job and pay them back for taking him in when no one else wanted him. In Ramón’s family, work was always more important than school.
But Ramón persisted by doing whatever he had to do to support himself, finish high school and get to college. “That was my whole goal – to make it through school and get out of there,” he says.
Though Ramón had no support from his family, he was fortunate to begin his college days at UC Santa Cruz with several friends who had the same outlook for their future. His small group included friends from other farm families. The shared mentality of Ramón’s ‘support’ group points to a universal law of success that says a person will likely be as successful as the people he or she chooses as friends.
When asked about his source of desire and belief to dream of a better life and pursue it, Ramón speaks of the dirty house he lived in with no running water, not having enough food and working hard in the fields in very hot or cold weather. “I did not want this for myself,” he says. Nor did he want it for his kids when he became a father. “If I could get out of that environment, I would give my kids a chance to make something of themselves,” he states.
Eventually Ramón fulfilled his dream by graduating from college and then medical school. For the last twenty years, he’s had his own medical practice in the same California farm region where he grew up. “I see myself in my young patients who come from farm-worker families as I did,” he says.
Ramón’s personal mission, though, has gone beyond being a doctor who cares for children.
“My mission is to be a role model who cares for their minds and spirits as well as their bodies.”
Though Ramón never knew his father, it’s clear that he’s now playing an important father-type role with every young person he cares for as a doctor or meets in the community. His honest, no excuses approach with young patients and their parents demonstrates his deep caring for people, and for the truth.
Growing up, Ramón had no choice but to deal with hard truths, with no room for excuses. His story proves that with a small amount of encouragement from other people, and a great amount of personal strength from within, people can rise above hardship rather than surrender. As impossible as it must have seemed, Ramón chose not to focus on the hardships and challenges, but on his dream.
Extending his dream beyond his medical work, Ramón has authored a book and is in demand as a public speaker. His presentations inspire and educate people who hope for a better life -- and show them how to achieve it and inspire others as well.
Giving his children a better chance was a big part of Ramón’s dream when he was working the fields. Ramón’s son has just enrolled in medical school after graduating from Stanford. He is likely very aware of how his father’s strength and persistence have made his road to success far easier to walk.