We all came to this country thinking about how we are going to achieve a good future for our families. Mr. Santiago Herrera a native of Salcaja, Guatemala lives and works in the Trenton, New Jersey area. He is teaching all of us a valuable lesson in life.

Santiago is the father of a 13-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl and is the owner of a mechanic shop located at 10-06 Salt Olden, Hamilton.

Historic Achievement
Perseverance of being part of the personal growth and development of his children, in a positive environment where sport is the fundamental axis to encourage good habits, make the perseverance of Santiago, a family man, bear fruit; His effort, dedication, love and understanding has resulted in the most recognized and important soccer academies in Spain, Real Madrid and Barcelona, having opened their doors and welcomed their children in their institutions of the highest caliber. in the field of football soccer.

As an immigrant in a country that has given him the possibility of opening his own business; His discipline, courage and character colludes with the historical achievement of having his own automotive mechanic company, thus managing to generate many jobs for other families, this does not stop him, because despite his busy schedule and his little time, he has for many years been aware of the efforts of his children’s soccer, so that they become part of top level sports institutions such as Real Madrid and Barcelona.

How did he do it?
We asked Santiago his story and where he gets the energy to work in his mechanic shop and dedicate time to all the soccer games and practices that his children have, and this is what he told us:

“My name is Santiago Herrera, I was born in Salcajá, Guatemala and I came to this country in 1992 with many dreams, a desire to grow and above all to create a better future for my children, it was like that, on the way to make a new life that I ran into many obstacles with my dreams, however the biggest one so far has been having to close my business for a year, so I had to start from scratch again, on the other hand, winter times are also difficult for me.

Despite all difficulties, the driving force to continue growing is my 10-year-old daughter, Paola Lora, and my 13-year-old son, Santiago Herrera; Paola discovered her passion for soccer from the age of 5, while Santiago at the age of 10. This sport has helped my children to teach them to be good children, better students and to relate to other people.

It has been hard work sharing my work time with my children’s soccer games or training, however, there we divided up with my wife, whose name is Rosa and she is Puerto Rican; when my son has a game or training, she goes with him and when it’s the girl’s turn, I go with her, so on and sometimes we exchange, that exchange allowed us to support them in their sports careers, thus achieving the possibility that they could be part of two great institutions in the field of football such as Barcelona and Real Madrid. When I heard the news I was speechless, it is an experience that sometimes one cannot say or explain, it is like a very strong feeling of happiness.

Now, speaking of the future of my children, with the help of God, I see my children who will be climbing higher, I see them playing in the major leagues of the world, loving what they do, being professionals and above all being kind, humble and generous people; All this effort for my children to fulfill their dreams has caused me physical, mental, and financial wear and tear, but thank God I still have the strength to support them and I will continue to support them in every possible way that I can. In the same way, I must thank my wife because we are a team and she helps me with everything, so together we are overcoming these challenges. Now, my children have become aware of this great effort that we make for them, and they always thank and respect us; speaking of home budget issues, they don’t ask for extravagant things, or anything like that, with a soccer ball they feel happy.

For now my biggest motivation to follow this path is that they want to be someone important in life and that they have a better path of opportunities, this gives me the chance to give a message to parents, you must support your children in their dreams, their strengths, so that they can go to places where there are fields to play, where they find positive attitudes and thus do not go down the wrong path, because our children are the future for this country.”

Meet Santiago
All parents who identify with the desire to see their children progress, we invite you to go and meet Santiago, his incredible story of overcoming many barriers as a Latin American immigrant and, in the same way, you can take advantage of the available time so Santiago can fix your vehicle.