Prof takes on world one career at a time
Hector Mendiola: columnist, teacher, doctor and more.
Mendiola was born in Mexico City. From that point he started his life dedicated to others.
“I want to keep a high quality life for everyone,” he said.
Mendiola graduated and went right to his career as a pediatritian.
He became a general practitioner and a family doctor, but stopped after four years to take on another challenge – teaching.
Mendiola became a professor of mother and child care at the Autonoma University of Mexico, school of medicine. He taught there until he retired 23 years later.
His real concern throughout the years in Mexico was to help with the education of teenage mothers. He said because the mothers are still growing themselves, there is concern for the growing baby who is competing with the mother for nutrition.
The baby has a high risk of low birth weight, which can later lead to slow learning.
Mendiola said tht because the mothers were often times disowned or the baby reglected by the family, the childs environment becomes cold and without stimulation.
How Mendiola ended up in Logan, Utah has nothing to do with his career, though.
His daughter, Yolanda Bates, was a swimming champion for Mexico. Because of her swimming ability, she was offered a full scholarship to attend Brigham Young University. She accepted. Bates is now the swim coach at Logan High School.
Mendiola would visit her every summer. One day he decided to stay.
“I thought, ‘I think I can survive here,'” he said.
And he sure did.
He became a member of seven different committees including the Cache Chamber of Commerce, CAPSA and Head Start.
“I didn’t come to work,” he said. “But the community here found me as an educator.” He said that he has been very lucky here in Logan.
His first service here was to help educate adults without an elementary or high school education.
“I did not succeed,” he said explaining that the students were just too tired. He said that most of them had two jobs and could not learn under those conditions of extreme exhaustion.
In 2001, Mendiola was asked to be amember of Utah State University’s Extentions program. The program extends the university to the people of the community.
Mendiola was also very important in starting computer-assisted literacy, computer skills and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs around the state.
“We found that technology helped the students,” he said.
His daughter then offered the program to Logan High School, who agreed it would help the Hispanic students.
Mendiola said the kids respond well to the program.
“They have tutors that don’t care if they are late,” he said.
His said his next step is to start the computor-literacy program in the elementary schools.
Mendiola has also been a columnist for the Herald Journal for four years. He writes for the Family and Community section is Spanish. His articles are published every Monday.
“I thought a Spanish column would help unite both cultures to understand each other,” said Mendiola.
Because of all of his work to both the Spanish and English community, Mendiola recently won the Ohtli Prize, which is given annually to a Mexican citizen living abroad by the Mexican government. The award is given for working to improve the understanding between Mexican immigrants and the community in which they are living.
Mendiola is 72 years old and hasn’t stopped.
“Everyday there are new things,” he said. “Unexpected, but fantastic things.
vramirez@cc.usu.edu