Michelle Perez

 I came from a family who had a lot of love but not a lot of money.

When I was 6, my mom struggled when my father unfortunately was deported to Mexico, leaving her to raise my siblings and me on her own. She always worked hard as a single parent to make sure we had what we needed and dinner on the table.

Although growing up had a lot of challenges, both my parents showed me determination and how to always fight for what you want. I admired them deeply for the sacrifices they made for our family. Inspired by them, I started working in the grape fields when I was 12 years old so I could buy things I wanted for myself. Intense labor and long days under the hot sun taught me a lot about myself and the work that I wanted to do when I got older. I worked off and on for the next 6 years but didn’t commit to anything long-term because I still did a lot of traveling to Mexico to see my father.

I’ve known that I wanted to go into the trades since I was 15 when one of my friends shared some information with me about construction, even though he never ended up going into the trades himself. I’ve done a little bit of every kind of work to get by and worked as a warehouse lead for the last 2 years.

Learning about pre-apprenticeship through Randy Davis, I knew this would be my key into the electrical trade. I decided to apply for Oregon Tradeswomen and took the IBEW aptitude test soon after graduating. Unfortunately, with the strenuous requirements, I did not pass on my first try.

That did not stop me. When I want something, I will stop at anything to figure out how to make my dream a reality. I ended up quitting my job to take classes at Mt. Hood Community College and I studied Khan Academy online for a whole year. I passed the aptitude test and got accepted into the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. I feel so proud of myself for having overcome all the barriers to get into a mostly white and male-dominated field.

I bring hard work and pride to the position I do, and to be honest, I thought that I was so lucky to get into this trade. I now realize that it is the IBEW who is the lucky one to have me and all that I bring to the table. I never got to share my success of entering the trades with my mom because she sadly passed away a year ago, but I know that she is shining down on me with pride and love. I have a little brother and sister who think I am a superhero because I work as an electrician. My older brother always told me I should become an electrician and is really happy for me as well. I would love to eventually step up into leadership positions at my union and eventually own my own business one day.  

Thank you for helping me break the curse of all the barriers that held my family back from financial success and security, despite them always investing their whole self in their work. I am standing in place for every one of them who were not able to achieve their American dream of financial success. I am so honored to be leading the way!

If it wasn’t for the assistance, I probably would have just found another average job and not have been able to achieve this opportunity at financial freedom. Thank you LCSA!