The beauty in being different
Just ask her about the obstacles she has had to overcome.
With a strong voice traced with a faint Spanish accent, MariaSandra Deras will openly answer questions about her past.
The cosmetologist with subtle streaks of red woven into her shiny black hair helps customers chose from a variety of lipstick and eyeliner from behind her counter at Macy's telling customers that if she can be beautiful, so can they. Her energy is obvious, even from a distance.
MariaSandra — or Sandy, for short — was born 22 years ago in Durango, Mexico. Her family trekked illegally across the Texas-Mexico border in hopes of finding a better life when she was an infant.
Her father, Jesus, had lived in the U.S. since he was 15, working in orchards to support the family and save enough money to hire a Coyote — a paid immigrant smuggler — to guide the rest of his family across the border. The fee he paid, which now is around $3,000 to $5,000 per person, cost Jesus $500 per person plus $500 extra for a van ride to Florida where he lived.
Deras' mother, Vidalia, was eight months pregnant. Jesus could only visit once or twice a year. Vidalia wanted their third-born to be a U.S. citizen. So the family crosssed the border before the baby was born.
In the early morning of Aug. 25, 1985, they packed clothes, food, water and a few other personal belongings and left for the United States. Jesus carried baby Sandy in one arm and guided Vidalia with the other. With Sandy's older brother and the Coyote, they eluded federal agents, running, hiding and crossing bodies of water to reach the border.
At one point Jesus picked Sandy off the ground and accidentally bumped her head on a wooden structure the family was hiding under while border patrol searched nearby. If Sandy had so much as whimpered, the family would have been caught. It was a "little miracle" she didn't make a sound, Deras says.
"I was too young to remember, but it was crazy," says Deras her eyes reflecting the excitement of recalling her parents' stories. "They (my parents) totally remember that. They said that it was like I just knew not to cry. They couldn't believe I didn't cry with as hard as I hit my head."
But their capture was inevitable. Several hours into the journey, Vidalia began having labor pains that became too much for her to bear. The family was forced to surrender before reaching the border.
Jesus and Vidalia pleaded with the border patrol to let the family go so they could take Vidalia to seek medical attention at a clinic.
Back on the other side of the border, the young family didn't go to the clinic. They rested up, ate lunch and turned back around that same day and tried again. This time Vidalia withstood her pains and they made it across the border to the rendezvous point where their van ride awaited.
Early the next morning, the Deras family arrived at Avon Park, Fla. Vidalia gave birth to Jesus Jr. the following day, Aug. 27.
From there, the family moved to Delaware and in 1989 to Medford where Vidalia's brother lived. From Medford they moved to Talent and finally settled in White City.
Like many immigrants, the Deras family did not speak English. Sandy didn't either when she started elementary school.
"I think I was always a really smart girl, but I was afraid to say anything because I was different," she says. "I knew what (my classmates) were saying. I understood, but I couldn't say anything back."
In the early 1990s, the schools Sandy attended didn't have programs to translate her teacher's lessons into Spanish. When everyone in the class was separated into groups or workshops, Sandy often sat by herself and worked alone.
"Everyone thought I was dumb or something," says Sandy. "I hated that. I just went to school, ate lunch and looked at coloring books. Why couldn't I sit with them? Just because I don't know (what they're saying) doesn't mean I can't participate. I knew I had talents."
But those talents where hidden behind a language barrier, an obstacle that only her third-grade teacher at White City Elementary Bonnie Abramsson had the resolve and enthusiasm to help Sandy overcome.
Throughout Sandy's third-grade school year, into that summer and on, Abramsson tutored Sandy almost every day, teaching her the alphabet, grammar, cursive writing and how to speak English.
"When I first met Sandy, she was not real fluent," says Abramsson, a 17-year teacher at White City Elementary. "I was amazed she made it to third-grade. But I sensed this longing in her to be able to communicate and learn."
Sandy, too, was amazed she had made it to the third-grade. In her first three years of school she had shuffled between schools, making it difficult to warm up to her peers and make friends.
"I always thought, 'Why do I have to be illegal?'" she says. "I got a lot of comments from people telling me, 'You should go back to Mexico.'"
Just when she would begin to make new friends she had to move somewhere else and start over again. But Sandy felt she could always fall back on Mrs. Abramsson.
"I didn't even want to go to fourth-grade," said Sandy. "She was one of the best teachers I've ever had. I don't know where I'd be without her."
"She seemed more open around me," said Abramsson. "She's just one of those really driven people that wants to get the most out of life. I always thought maybe I could just help her get over that little hump."
Abramsson was more than just a teacher to Sandy. She gave Sandy some of her daughter's old clothes and continued to tutor Sandy and her cousin Manuel until the two reached high school.
Sandy made the cheerleading squad at Eagle Point High and often earned straight A's — all while working part-time at Naumes Orchards and Bear Creek, and volunteering at Providence Hospital and the Domiciliary in White City.
"I enjoyed (volunteering) because it made me feel good to help someone," says Sandy. "It's not that I wanted to be known, I wanted to do something to help."
But she still had her household duties which included cleaning, and making lunch and dinner for her family and father when he returned home from work late at night.
"I never remember being a little girl," she says. "Because my parents had two jobs, I was the mom at home. My life sucked. I always had to stay inside."
All through high school, Sandy slept on average about four hours a night, but never let the lack of sleep become an obstacle that kept her from fulfilling her aspirations.
"I did anything I could to make my parents proud," Sandy says. "But then I realized I needed to do it for myself."
She was 17 when she received her green card in the mail. Her parents had applied for it when they came into the United States and because Sandy was under 18 years of age, she became a citizen under their citizenship.
She is proud to be a U.S. citizen, but ironically obtaining permission to legally cross the border wasn't as essential to her since she had become an expert at crossing it illegally.
"I remember crossing for the first time (by myself)," says Sandy. "My parents asked me if I was sure I could do it. I said I could."
She was just a fifth-grader. She was coming back into the United States at the San Diego-Mexico border after visiting family in Mexico. With her parents' consent, she cajoled her way across the border dressed in trendy Nike shoes and a jacket, and equipped with only a school I.D.
She told the border patrol agent she was coming back from a store in Mexico and that her aunt lived right up the road and had Sandy's papers. Although her aunt did live in San Diego, Sandy had no legal documentation.
"I was just a kid; you just played it stupid," says Sandy. "I just thought if I get caught, I get caught. After that though, I wasn't afraid to cross anymore."
After graduating in 2002, Sandy worked at Meier & Frank where she says she found her true calling in customer service.
"Makeup always makes a girl feel prettier," she says with a smile. "Everyone is pretty. I love making people feel good. It makes a difference. You're actually touching that person."
Sandy recently graduated from Phagen's Medford Beauty School and works at MAC, the new cosmetics department at Macy's in the Rogue Valley Mall. Now the girl who once thought she wasn't pretty because she was different strives to make beauty radiate from everyone she touches.
It turns out the support and encouragement that Mrs. Abramsson provided was the boost an underprivileged third-grader needed to blossom into the overachiever she is today.
"There are always those (students) who stand out and she was one of them," says Abramsson. "I can't say enough about how much I love her."
