Photo by Jon Anderson
Emely Diaz is a hostess at Sol Azteca Mexican Restaurant in Vestavia Hills.
Emely Diaz is a hostess at Sol Azteca Mexican Restaurant in Vestavia Hills.
Q: How long have you been doing this?
A: Since I was like 15, a freshman in high school, and I am now a senior in college.
Q: Where do you go to college?
A: UAB. This fall will be my last semester, and then I graduate.
Q: What do you hope to do after you graduate?
A: I would like to get a well-paying job. I worked with the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama for a little bit, and I’m thinking about maybe reapplying, just to maybe get started. I really like the work that they do there. They help a lot of Hispanics, a lot of people in my community. I would like to go back there maybe to start my career. My degree is in international studies with a minor in political science and Spanish.
Q: Do you have any life ambitions?
A: Nobody really dreams of work. I think my life ambition would probably be to travel a lot. My dad has been privileged enough to work here for a while that throughout my childhood, we always visited Mexico. We always traveled. Every summer we did something. We went to Disney World, we went wherever, and it was really nice. It was really a privilege to see it growing up. A lot of my friends — their parents don’t have a status here in America, and my parents do, so I’m very lucky that they do. They’re able to travel back and forth, so it’s really awesome.
Q: Where was your favorite place to visit?
A: We took a trip to Italy one year. It was really fun.
Q: Any other life ambitions?
A: Just to travel a lot. My career would be like second. … But I’d really like to work with the U.S. government. … I’d go in there and try to help with citizen immigration, to work in that political side of it. [At HICA}, I met with a lot of folks who needed help with adjustments. I especially worked with Dreamers. I helped them renew their DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] so they could have their work permit to be able to stay here. It was really interesting to see how many people who have grown up here literally their whole lives and they still have to do a work permit because they’re not citizens, but they speak both English and Spanish as well as I do.
Q: What’s something most people might not know about you?
A: When I was 3, I broke my leg. That was really weird. I think I’m very invested in my culture. Growing up, I always wanted to be somebody different, and then once I started getting older and started realizing my background, my heritage, I was like, ‘Oh, this is really cool. I like being Mexican.’ It was like a wakeup call.”
