I grew up in the Rio Grande Valley which is in deep South Texas. I went to school from first through graduation in the same school district. After graduation from high school, I went to Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas. After one and a half years I moved back to South Texas and finished college at Pan American University in Edinburg, Texas. Upon graduation, I accepted an appointment to the Texas Department of Public Safety and after training, I was stationed in Refugio, Texas as a Texas State trooper. I worked for the DPS for about three years before taking over my father's vending company upon his retirement. I operated the vending business for thirty plus years before retiring and entering the teaching profession in Natalia.