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July/August 2008 Issue
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to Feature Articles
Rosa Fraga: many gifts
to offer, many blessings to share
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Since
she was a child, Rosa Fraga had sought a close relationship
with God. As the years unfolded, bringing careers, marriage,
motherhood and, sometimes doubts, she came to know that
the second phase of her life would reflect, more than
ever, God's influential presence in her spiritual journey.
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After
retiring from a 33-year career in public education, Fraga
found that what she desired in her youth had led her to focus
more keenly on her spirituality and how best to use her gifts
as she transitioned into retirement. It
was during this time of contemplation that she was presented
with a new possibility - to share her gifts with a community
that turns to Jesus every single day. That was over a year
ago, and Fraga will soon celebrate her first anniversary as
principal of Holy Name of Jesus School in Wyoming. For Fraga,
the opportunity to return to education came miraculously.
She realized that every experience in her life had been directing
her to that moment. Finding Christ The 59-year-old proudly
calls herself a "Michicana," a term she uses to reference
her background as a first-generation Mexican American born
in Alma, the town known as the soul of Michigan. Her parents,
Juan and Maria, were migrant farm workers who eventually settled
in Muskegon.
"We were Sunday Catholics," Fraga added, "and
we did everything that we were supposed to do." But the family's
faith would take a turn on the night her father came back
from his first Cursillo in the early 1960s. "It was about
two or three in the morning and he woke every single one of
us up," Fraga said. Her father, so ecstatic about "finding"
Christ, shared his experience with his sleepy family and talked
through what remained of the night. And while Fraga doesn't
remember everything he said, she remembers his excitement.
It would be a life-changing moment for the whole family. From
then on, her parents became involved in all aspects of the
parish community and parish ministry at St. Thomas the Apostle.
"My faith development was with my parents as leaders," she
said.
The combination of her parents' faith and
her catechism studies challenged Fraga to think about the
meaning of her faith. Her catechism teachers inspired her,
brought richness to her Catholic upbringing and influenced
her faith development outside of the Latino tradition. "I
remember as a teenager wanting to be such a perfect follower
of Jesus," she said. But, as the years passed, other matters
drew her attention. It was not until Fraga turned 50 that
she knew her life would change and her faith in God would
be strengthened as never before. "It would no longer be about
acquiring things and getting things or learning things," she
said, "it would really be about coming to appreciate life,
and how can you appreciate life if you don't appreciate God?"
Her fresh perspective necessitated a greater
dedication to her spiritual path. "In the end," Fraga said,
"that desire to be close to Jesus Christ, to be close to God,
is paramount and it's an aching in my heart." That longing
was the attraction that brought her to Holy Name. Receiving,
giving the gift of knowledge Fraga was the first person in
her family to attend college and feels blessed to have received
a college education during a time in which few Latinos were
able to attend school. President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty
legislation opened doors for many, including Fraga, allowing
them access to college grants. "I think my first 50 years
were all part of the training for this job," Fraga said of
her position at Holy Name. "It was getting me ready to be
an instrument. That's how I perceive myself." In 1966, she
began attending Grand Valley State University, earning her
teaching degree and eventually completing her master's degree.
Fraga became a teacher and a counselor in the Grand Rapids
Public School (GRPS) system and went on to direct and restructure
GRPS's bilingual education department.
In 1986, she became the director of the Hispanic
Institute Community Education Program, which served as an
educational gateway for Latino immigrants. Later, Fraga worked
as the principal of Adelante High School in Grand Rapids,
which helped Latino students who were having difficulty graduating
from traditional high schools. "My entire career has taken
me through the educational system so that I can develop and
use the gifts of working with parents and community and children
and schools," Fraga said. Fraga's No. 1 supporter is her husband,
Dung Nhu Nguyen. He is her closest friend and confidant. Next
year, they will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary.
Fraga knows she and her husband broke cultural barriers when
they married. "I think my husband and I have been able to
successfully blend our three cultures," Fraga said, "because
he's very much involved in his Vietnamese community as I am
in my Hispanic community, but yet we are very much a part
of our American society as well. We participate in all three."
Over the years, the couple has shared everything
together - their doubts, ideas and thoughts. They have raised
a family together - including step-children and foster children
from Vietnam. They are on the same page, with the greatest
lessons learned being those of acceptance and faith. As Fraga
contemplates all the blessings she has had throughout her
life, she recognizes that the challenges have also been blessings,
and each is an intricate part of the other. Fraga has dedicated
her life to working with the disenfranchised, primarily those
in the Latino community with whom she shares a similar culture
and background. Just when it appeared retirement would mark
the end of her working life, Fraga was offered an unexpected
gift - the opportunity to return to education in a position
for which God seemingly had been preparing her all her life.
She has come full circle and is enjoying, with a new perspective,
every twist and turn life inevitably delivers. "I have some
big, big challenges, but I don't carry them in the same way,"
she says. "Now I carry them in my heart as, 'Here's my gift
to you, let's do it together.'"
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