Navy Chief Petty Officer Ana Marrerosuarez grew up in poverty in communist Cuba. But after arriving to freedom in the U.S. at 19, she joined the U.S. Navy and is now a Chief Petty Officer. Her success has been so inspiring, the U.S. Department of Defense is featuring her story on their website. Ana Marrerosuarez is just one of the countless inspiring Cuban exile success stories that illustrate how freedom gives everyone an opportunity to achieve incredible things.
Via Periodico Cubano (my translation):
From poverty in Cuba to a Naval Chief Petty Officer in the U.S.: The inspiring story of Ana Marrerosuarez
After 15 years of residency in the United States, Cuban native Ana Marrerosuarez holds the rank of Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy. Her story was shared on the Department of Defense website to highlight her leadership and the effort made to achieve this position.
According to Marrerosuarez, her success is rooted in hard work and discipline, values instilled in her while growing up amidst the poverty conditions she faced on the island until she emigrated in 2008 to reunite with the rest of her family in Miami at the age of 19.
“I grew up in a very poor country, I didn’t have food many days a month, nor did I have clothes,” Marrerosuarez commented in the article written by Third Class Petty Officer Aaron Arroyo from the Navy.
The young woman also mentioned she sees her mother as her greatest hero for the education she provided when they faced difficult times in Cuba. “She used to tell me that I can achieve anything I want, that there are no impossibilities and that the only barriers are in my mind. As long as you have a positive attitude, you can go wherever you want and everyone will do it,” she added.
Two years after arriving in Miami, she joined the Navy without being able to speak English, but with the goal of learning the language. “I knew that if I stayed in Miami, I wouldn’t be able to learn the language as I wanted because everyone spoke Spanish,” she recounted.
The Petty Officer recounted that in her early days of basic training, she spent time observing what the other recruits were doing to understand the tasks given in English.
Seven years after basic training, she assumed the position of Divisional Recruit Division Commander, and as she fluently spoke Spanish, she acted as a “lifesaver” for young individuals who still couldn’t speak the language.
Marrerosuarez continued with an upward trajectory in the U.S. Navy until she reached the USS Gerald R. Ford, where she has served for two years as part of the crew and was chosen to join the ranks of senior enlisted leadership as a Chief Petty Officer.
“Sometimes I look back and think it’s crazy how 15 years ago I lived in a country where I couldn’t express my ideas, where I didn’t have food or clothes. Now I’m a leader in the United States Navy. I’m very proud of that and how far I’ve come, from nothing to a leader, being able to inspire and help other people with similar backgrounds,” she remarked.
Furthermore, she added that she teaches her subordinates to give 100% at work and when they’re at home, always demonstrate emotional and physical support for their loved ones because they are the greatest support system.
Wait, she’s too white. Who is this impostor? Someone alert the racial purity police, quick.
Asombra,
Our dear, dear latrine brothers and sisters, would disagree. There are no white Latinos. She is a white passing person of color. That’s what she is. Chicanos insist that we are all colonized indigenous people. Those of us who look white do so because only because our ancestors were raped by European colonizers.
What “Latinos” think or claim is their affair, but since I’m not even “Latin,” it does not concern me.