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Fall 2002 Spotlight Issue
October 28, 2002

Gallegos finds reaching goals ‘bittersweet’

By Chad Perry

Bessie Gallegos readies items for silent auction.Bessie Gallegos, administrative assistant for the UNM-Valencia Development Office, set a goal to live in Valencia County and obtain her bachelor’s degree in Spanish by the time she was 50.

She moved to Valencia County a year and a half ago and will graduate in December along side daughter, Elizabeth, from UNM. Only days later, she will turn 51.

“Making my goals has been bittersweet,” she said.

Six years ago, Bessie was living in Albuquerque, working at UNM Main Campus and was married to Jerry Torrez for some 26 years when he died of a heart attack.

“I wanted to just give up when Jerry died,” she said. But her mentors at UNM Women’s Studies and the Las Mujeres Program would have none of that.

“They told me I had more to live for than ever,” she said. Bessie was suddenly a single mother of three and struggling to work full-time and attend classes part-time.

After some soul searching, she set goals, and those who work with her at UNM-Valencia Campus now benefit.

“I thought maybe UNM-Valencia might have a position and that I would fit like a missing piece of the puzzle,” she said.

Bessie assists Cheryl Pulaski, the manager of development and grants, with various activities. The current focus has been on a silent auction to raise funds for the UNM-Valencia endowment fund.

From gift certificates to weekends for 10 in Ruidoso, the auction items end up on Bessie’s desk for numbering and a bid sheet. Of late, her work area has looked like a boutique shop or an overpriced garage sale.

Does she like living in Valencia County and working at a branch campus?

“I love working here,” she said. “It’s great working with Cheryl, and it’s been nice to get to know where I live. This job forces me to get out in the community and get to know people.”

Bessie also is getting to know her community through active involvement in her church, which is the Immaculate Conception Church in Tomé.

At home she enjoys gardening. She keeps vegetable, herb and flower gardens. She said that gardening isn’t just a hobby, but also a way to meditate and focus. Does she have any gardening tips?

“Don’t try to grow something here that should be grown in a moist climate,” she said. “This is the desert.”

Bessie is also active in Las Mujeres, a group of Chicanas whose mission is to raise the consciousness of other Chicanas about education and the opportunities it provides.

“The women at Las Mujeres and at Women Studies have been very supportive and very nurturing to me,” she explained.

Now she finds herself wanting to help others through Las Mujeres, and also ponders what to do with that new bachelor’s degree to benefit the people who come to UNM-Valencia Campus.

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