StoryCorps Historias: Noe Rueda and Alex Fernandez
Series: StoryCorps
From: StoryCorps
Length: 00:02:30
19-year-old Noe Rueda grew up the eldest of four siblings on Chicago’s West Side.
Here he tells his high school economics teacher, Alex Fernandez, how he started his own business at the age of eight to help his single mother get by.
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Piece Description
19-year-old Noe Rueda grew up the eldest of four siblings on Chicago’s West Side.
Here he tells his high school economics teacher, Alex Fernandez, how he started his own business at the age of eight to help his single mother get by.
Broadcast History
NPR's Morning Edition 4/15/11
Transcript
Noe Rueda (NR): I was eight years old‚I think second grade. I would literally go outside my house, there was like a little bench, I'd put all my products there and sell them. I didn't make much. I made, what, 20 bucks a week? But for an eight-year-old, you're a millionaire with that kind of money.
Alex Fernandez (AF): That's a lot of comic books and stuff, yeah.
NR: But the thing is, I wasn't like other kids. I didn't go buy Pokemon cards. (Laughs) The little money I made, I gave it to my mom. The first time, I remember she was cooking. And, uh, I came up to her and I told her, "Mom, I know you don't have money, so here's 15 bucks I made". She turned off the stove. She turned around, started crying and hugged me. From that point on I just dedicated on [sic] getting money for my family.
AF: How did you make that money?
NR: First of all, the one thing that comes to people's mind in a b...
Read the full transcript
Intro and Outro
INTRO:Time now for StoryCorps ...
And today, a story about growing up poor in Chicago.
19-year-old Noe Rueda [NO-a roo-A-duh] is the oldest of four children.
And his mother raised all of them on her own.
[Duration: 00:08]
[StoryCorps - TEASE
My mother, she would actually make under 8,000 a year. And if she reached the 8,000 she would actually be happy that she made that much.]
As a boy, Noe decided to help.
He recently told his high school economics teacher, Alex Fernandez ...
... that he helped his family make ends meet...
... by selling discarded cleaning supplies from a nearby factory.
OUTRO:Alex Fernandez with former student, Noe Rueda [NO-a roo-A-duh], in Madison, Wisconsin.
Noe [NO-a] is currently studying marketing at Marian University ... with help from a scholarship he won through Alex's class.
Their conversation will be archived at the Library of Congress.
Additional Credits
The Corporation For Public Broadcasting, The Ford Foundation
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