Oral History Transrcipt - Joel Martinez - July 1, 2008

Interview with Dr. Joel Martinez

 

Interviewer: Barbara Thibodeaux

Date of Interview: July 1, 2008

Location: McAllen, Texas

_____________________

 

 

Interviewee:   Dr. Joel Martinez – Raised in San Marcos, Dr. Martinez attended Texas State two years before transferring to the University of Texas dental school in Houston where he graduated in 1977.  While at Texas State, he was among the first students to participate in Upward Bound.  Dr. Martinez has had a private practice in McAllen, Texas since 1979.

 

Topic:  Upward Bound program, part of the TRIO programs which were formed as part of the Higher Education Act

 

 

 

BARBARA THIBODEAUX: This recording is part of the LBJ Centennial Celebration Oral History Project sponsored by Texas State University.  Today is July 1, 2008.  My name is Barbara Thibodeaux.  I am interviewing Dr. Joel Martinez by telephone in McAllen, Texas.

 

                        Mr. [Dr.] Martinez, did you grow up in San Marcos?

 

JOEL MARTINEZ: Yes, I grew up in San Marcos and I went all the way through high school starting grade one and graduated from San Marcos High School in 1971.  Then from there I matriculated into Southwest Texas for my freshman and sophomore year where I applied to the University of Texas dental school in Houston.  It was during my sophomore year (high school) that I got involved with the Upward Bound program at the university which turned out to be one of the best experiences in my life at that time because it really helped motivate me to pursue higher education.  There were role models associated with the program that really helped me a lot, since that was like in my home environment.  So I feel very fortunate to have been a part of that program because it really played a major role in my continuing higher education.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: When you were growing up did you have plans to go to college?

 

MARTINEZ:     No, not at all.  We were migrant workers and the consensus was pretty much, you just, you know, go work in the fields and learn a trade – whether it was painting, plumbing, auto mechanics, what have you – and just go to work to make money and exist basically.  Not really any intention of even graduating from high school even if you wanted to, but that didn’t turn out to be the case for me.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: When I spoke to Mrs. Rodriguez, [Soila Rodriguez was the first director of Upward Bound at Southwest Texas] who was director of the program I think when you were involved, she mentioned that your mother had contacted her or she talked to your mother and it was your mother who expressed a desire for you to go to college and was hoping that Mrs. Rodriguez would talk to you.  Do you know that story?

 

MARTINEZ:     You know, just bits and pieces.  I really had not heard that in its entirety, but I know that my mother did support me a lot if I wanted to continue my education.  At that time, she was working for the daughter of the H.E.B. Company, and I think she was encouraging my mother to encourage me to stay in school.  So even though my uncle, who was my father figure, and my grandmother were more inclined to just have me work so that we could all contribute to paying home expenses, my mother was very supportive if I wanted to continue and go on to college.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: So were you exposed to Upward Bound in high school?

 

MARTINEZ:     High school.  That’s where we started.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: Did someone come out from the university to talk to students?

 

MARTINEZ:     Well actually, I don’t remember exactly the event and how it happened.  All I know is that I ended up at the university.  There was a meeting about the information and I was in the program.  Right now I really can’t recall exactly the event that took place to enroll me in the program, but there must have been a selection process and I was fortunate to have been included.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: Do you remember what the program consisted of?

 

MARTINEZ:     During the high school year we went up to the university on Saturday mornings and we had meetings which was a little tough because it was right after Friday night football games, but we managed to survive. (laughs) I tell you a really funny incident that happened, that sticks out in my mind, in that one Saturday morning the staff decided that they were no longer going to be in charge of the program and they were going to turn it over to the students.  So they all got up and got off the stage and walked to the back of the room, and kind of waited.  And after about fifteen minutes or so, one by one, I guess, those of us that were considered leaders started going up to the stage and taking a place.  I happened to get the, facing the stage, the far right chair.  I had this habit of leaning back on chairs.  Well, one of the legs was off the stage.  When I leaned back, I just went tumbling off the stage. (laughs)  [It] made a tremendous sound which caused everyone to run up to the front.  (laughs)  I didn’t get hurt or anything, but it kind of broke the ice and everybody started laughing.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: You made a good impression.

 

MARTINEZ:     And then we went on from here. (laughs)  So it was a good experience.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: So…

 

MARTINEZ:     It took place on Saturday morning and we had speakers, and then the summer session, we would attend the university and attend college classes, have field trips.  The program also provided health examinations for us and that’s how I ended up getting interested in dentistry because I needed a lot of work, and I had, I think, like four or five sessions with the dentist.  By the third session, I started thinking to myself, this was in Dr. Leffingwell’s office there in San Marcos, and I was thinking, I could really get use to doing this.  And that’s how I first got the inclination that maybe this was the career I wanted to pursue – and I did.  But that was, you know, what got me interested in it.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: Was there a scholarship involved with that program?

 

MARTINEZ:     Yes, monies were available to attend and then we got a stipend which made it easier because, you know, by then I was not going up North as a migrant to earn extra income.  I was going to school so I wasn’t working my part-time job to earn the extra income that I needed to help support the family.  By then my mother, and I, and my sister and brother were on our own so money was even a greater need.  The stipend that we got made a big difference, otherwise, I probably would have not been able to attend.  I probably would have just continued working.  Who knows which direction I might have gone in.  I am really grateful for the program because it really played a major role in seeing what it was like to be in the university campus, experiencing going to classes, and a feeling of knowing whether that’s what I wanted to pursue or not.  Once I got a taste of it, there was no doubt that’s what I wanted.  [It] mad a big difference.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: Well good.  You covered my last two questions.  I was going to ask you about the impact and if you would have been able to go to college without the Upward Bound program.  But it sounds like it certainly came in handy.

 

MARTINEZ:     Well I think it I would not have been exposed to that – you know, I was getting a lot of offers from local businessmen to come work in their businesses, and coming from my neighborhood, that was always considered like, you know, very successful way to end up if you end up working for a company there locally.  But it’s not what I wanted, and I think the support I got from the people in Upward Bound, Mrs. Rodriguez and Bill Dibrell were really big influences in my life at that time.  They encouraged me to stay in college and pursue a higher education.  Otherwise, it would have been too east to just accept an offer and end up as a manager of some business and not going to school.  I didn’t have any role models in my neighborhood or at home, so it was very easy to say, well if I get a good job, I guess this is good enough.  Everybody would have been okay with it probably, except me.  So I was glad that I was in that program and had the opportunity to see what college life was.  Staying in the dorms was great and mingling with real college students was great.  It just kind of became second nature to me.  So once I started college, it was really pretty easy.  I had been there already at the university so it was just like being in school – just another day.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: Were you assigned a student mentor?

 

MARTINEZ:     I’m sorry?

 

 

THIBODEAUX: Were you assigned a student mentor?

 

MARTINEZ:     Not that I recall.  Hmm.  I don’t recall that there was anyone in particular that was in charge of me at that time.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: It’s my understanding that you were either the first or maybe just in the first group of students that received the scholarship.  Is that true?

 

MARTINEZ:     We were in the very beginning. Yeah.  We were – there was a lot of, you know, maybe like a trial and error to kind of see what we wanted to do and any suggestions that we had.  And so I think the program grew from there.  But thinking back, I think they did a great job in the selection process because, you know, students who came from different cities around San Marcos and the university, I felt was a good blend.  I think a lot of those went on and became very successful.  So it was in the early stages.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: You mentioned another person in the program, Bill, and I didn’t get his last name.  Would you mind repeating that?

 

MARTINEZ:     Oh, Mr. Bill Dibrell?

 

 

THIBODEAUX: Dibrell?

 

MARTINEZ:     D – I, I think it’s D-I-B-D-R-E-L.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: Okay.  Great.  I’m sorry.  Thanks for spelling it for me.

 

MARTINEZ:     He taught speech at the university and he had a wonderful voice, kind of a booming voice.  I remember when I was graduating from high school and I was going to give the commencement speech.  I really didn’t have anyone to talk to, to give me an idea how to format it, and he helped me a lot.  I remember calling him one time about how nervous I was about it and he just really calmed me down and said, “Oh, I know those are kind of nerve-wracking, but enjoy your weekend and then come see me Monday morning and we’ll just kind of go over some things.”  I did and sure enough he kind of helped me put a speech, at least an outline, you know, I could talk about different things I wanted to address.  It turned out to be much easier after that.  He was excellent.  Always very supportive.  Also a big influence in my life at that time.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: And so when did you attend Southwest Texas?

 

 

MARTINEZ:     Seventy.  Let’s see.  I graduated in May of ’71 and went the summer right after that and then the summer of ’73 is when I went to dental school in Houston.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: And, and…

 

MARTINEZ:     Actually, I had 93 hours when I went to dental school – in two years.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: Oh, that is a lot.

 

MARTINEZ:     It was crazy, I know, taking that heavy load and what not, but I got a Kellogg Foundation Scholarship to go to dental school.  I had a full scholarship at Southwest Texas to attend the university.  Even when I went into my specialty program, I went on grants.  So for the most part, all of my education was from scholarships.  The Kellogg Foundation Scholarship that I got from Battle Creek, Michigan, when I started working as a dentist, I actually paid that scholarship back so that somebody else would be able to go.  That felt good to be able to give back so that somebody else could have a chance.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: Oh, absolutely.

 

MARTINEZ:     The first time, they said, anybody had ever done that.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: (laughs)  It may have been the only one since then too.

 

MARTINEZ:     Yeah.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: That was a wonderful thing to do.  When did you graduate from dental school?

 

MARTINEZ:     In 1977.  I graduated in May, and then by June I was back in, a week later I was back in the specialty program and I finished that in 1979.  It’s a two year program, the specialty work that I – I’ve been practicing in McAllen ever since.  Five locations. (Thibodeaux laughs)  My wife Norma was a big part of it because she was a dental hygienist.  We met when we were sophomores in high school.  She was also in the Upward Bound program.  So we dated thirteen years before we got married.  She went off to dental hygiene school, and then we got married, and came to the Valley.  Now we have four children.  The oldest is in dental school, just finished his second year.  My daughter just got accepted into the dental program, so they are all doing well.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: So you really started something.

 

MARTINEZ:     Yeah. (laughs)  So it would be neat to see them come back and join the practice.  It would be a lot of fun.

 

 

THIBODEAUX: Well Dr. Martinez, it sounds like a wonderful life that you provided for yourself and your family.  Basically that is all the questions I have unless there is something else you want to add.

 

MARTINEZ:     No,  the only thing I would add is that I feel that programs like this are very beneficial, and maybe sometimes, whether it be because of shortage of funds or what have you, there is a decrease or eliminated.  It is unfortunate because there are still a lot of kids out there that aren’t privy to the opportunity to go to higher education even though they make really good grades.  But unfortunately, without the support at home it’s hard sometimes to have confidence to move forward.  Fear keeps a lot of folks from acting on their own dreams and it’s unfortunate.  Hopefully there’ll continue to be programs like this and people that will get involved with it.  So that’s a prayer for the future.   

 

(End of interview)