The Immigration Institute of the Bay Area (IIBA) has launched a new campaign – called I’M IIBA – uplifting what we know to be the true character and positive contributions of immigrants in the Bay Area.
This week we’re featuring Gustavo, a former IIBA citizenship class student and professional chef living in San Jose
I’M GUSTAVO
I was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. I have both happy and sad memories from when I was a kid. My dad would support us by cooking seafood and selling it at mechanic shops and other places. We had to help him, so even at eight years old, I would wake up at five o’clock in the morning to take a bus to go buy shrimp and fish. I went to school until third grade, but then my dad got sick, so I had to start working. I sold tacos and popsicles, and then I helped make leather shoes and banderillas, the spears used in bullfighting. I would work all day, but at night I loved playing soccer with my friends. I also remember watching my mom cook Spanish rice, and I make it the same way today.
I’M AN IMMIGRANT
I moved to San Diego when I was 15. My father had passed away and my mother and older brother were already living in the U.S. Just imagine jumping from third grade to high school in a new country and a different language!
My routine for three years in high school was to go to work at a bakery at eight o’clock at night until five in the morning, then go straight to school, play soccer, sleep a couple hours, and then do the same thing again. I don’t know how I did it. The funny thing is that my soccer coach always used me as an example of never missing a practice.
I’M A CHEF
After high school, I started working in a restaurant as a dishwasher, busboy, and chef assistant, so that’s where I started cooking. I was then hired as a line chef at a hotel, which was a much bigger, different world. My goal was always to become an executive chef, the highest position in the kitchen.
I became an executive chef just three years later, after working my way up in different hotels, moving my family all over, from San Diego to Houston to San Jose to Southern California again and then back to San Jose. I was offered the position of food and beverage manager of an entire hotel, which was even more responsibility. Sometimes we cooked for over a thousand people. I think I got my talent from my dad, because he liked to cook and what he did always came out well. I think that’s what he left me.
I’M A CULINARY SCHOOL GRADUATE
It was always on my mind to go to culinary school, because I knew it would help me get an even better job. I did an intensive course in six months, and after I graduated I got a job with a food service company that wanted people with both school and experience. I’ve been with them for 16 years now. I’m a relief chef for corporate cafeterias, which means I step in when a chef goes on vacation or needs help with special events. My job changes from week to week and I like going to different places because I still learn, and I can teach other people too. I believe in making food the best way you can and trying not to cut corners.
I’M IIBA
I started attending IIBA’s citizenship classes in Redwood City. I didn’t remember any of the information from high school, so the class was really helpful, and I would recommend it to others. I became a citizen in August of 2024.
When I think about what I’ve done with my life, I feel happy. I always say that when I pass away, I’m gonna be tired! I’ve worked hard. America gave me a lot. But I give America a lot too.