 Alesia & Cesar Gonzalez ::  My name is Lesa Niblack Gonzalez.
 Alesia & Cesar Gonzalez ::  My name is Cesar Gonzalez.
 Alesia & Cesar Gonzalez ::  We currently live in Austin, Texas. I’m a member of the Grinnell College class of 1994.
 Alesia & Cesar Gonzalez ::  And I'm class of '95.
 Alesia Niblack Gonzalez::  I’m originally from Kansas, and so I came to Grinnell. People had heard of it in Kansas, and a friend of mine was applying so I applied as well. And when I came, Grinnell was like my second choice. I really wanted to go to Georgetown. I thought "That’s where I really want - needed to be." And I was accepted to Grinnell and I came to Prospective Student Days, or whatever, with my parents, and I really liked the campus. I didn’t know what to expect from a college campus. I kinda was really nervous but it seemed really laid back and low key and it seemed like a comfortable place to be, so it made it easy for me to make my decision to come to Grinnell, and it was not far from home.
 Alesia Niblack Gonzalez::  I was a Spanish major and with a concentration in Latin American Studies and I was impressed with the faculty and the opportunities. How broad Span- Because I was convinced I was not going to become a Spanish teacher, so I wanted to make sure that I could use my major with something else, to do something else. So I was impressed with the broadness of the economics, the political, all of the aspects of Latin American history and culture that I was able to study as well. And I became a teacher after all. Anyway, it was a- I had a richer experience for all of the different... variety.
 Alesia Niblack Gonzalez::  I met my husband here because I heard him speaking Spanish at a party, and so I saw him in the loggia, and I said, "Hey, you speak Spanish. Let’s speak Spanish together." And... We both lived in Younker, and he says I stalked him after that. And then we stayed together.
 Cesar Gonzalez::  Fifteen years of speaking Spanish in love.
 Alesia Niblack Gonzalez::  There you go. I think- This is our first reunion to come back, although we have come back to Grinnell once before, about 5 years ago. The town of Grinnell has grown a lot. I wish that there had been all the Mexican food restaurants back when I was here that there are now. The campus has grown as far as all the new facilities and the new buildings, which are really impressive. But I don't feel... I feel the same feeling of the campus when I was here. Seems like the same kind of a place. I wish I could come back and do it again I think. I'd know what to do better.
 Cesar Gonzalez::  Well, I was a first generation college student so I didn’t know exactly what to expect of college, and the one thing that really convinced me to come here to Grinnell was the very supportive staff, the supportive people. I actually came also to play football, and the coaches, and the way they approach you was very, very impressive. It was more like family, and to sit and have a call from the coach, and talking about how it is to live here, and also from the recruiters was amazing. So it really made my experience a great one, in terms of-
 Cesar Gonzalez:: -a very supportive one in terms of coming out to Grinnell from Texas. I left a desert area to come to a very snowy area, and cold area. Although very different, it was just amazingly supportive, so I did not have a problem, or felt like I was out here alone. It really felt like you were around family and they all taught me about long johns, and taught me about how to survive the cold and it was very, very, very- The only reason- I actually transferred out and went to Rice University for an engineering degree. You know, overall, it was a good choice, but one that I'll always regret in terms of- It would have been really neat
Cesar Gonzalez:: to finish off here in Grinnell. And then Grinnell has always held that part of my heart, and I've always loved coming out here, love the area, love what it has become. Again, I reiterate what my wife said it seems very much the same as it was then, just with a lot more resources. The town has grown. You know, back then, there was very limited- There were things we couldn't do. We had to drive all the way to Newton to get anything close, and now they have everything here. It just seems like an awesome place to come back, and send our kids here at one point. And Grinnell has always been a big part of our family, even though I only came here that one year
 Cesar Gonzalez:: and met my wife. So there was definitely a reason for coming all the way up to Iowa.
 Alesia & Cesar Gonzalez::  That’s your best memory, right?
 Alesia & Cesar Gonzalez::  That is my best memory. And just the ability to speak your mind, having an environment where it fosters free thinkin, it fosters independent thinking, people can be themselves, and allows you to view what other people are: it doesn’t exist in many places. Even today in, you know, our work environments and everything like that you have to be very careful. And here gives you that opportunity to really branch out and meet other- and see different things. I think it definitely embodies a bigger learning environment than just academic.
 Cesar Gonzalez::  And so Grinnell is a very distinct place. It's always... We really hold our- it close to our hearts in our family.
 Interviewer::  Wonderful. Closing remarks? Anything..?
 Alesia & Cesar Gonzalez::  If the winters were better here, I'd probably think about living out here. But, yeah, we have two sons, and we're, you know, trying to convince them to brave the winter.
 Alesia & Cesar Gonzalez::  And the way they branched out as alums has been very impressive. I mean, they've kept up with us. They know that we met here.
 Alesia & Cesar Gonzalez::  They sent us a Valentine's Day postcard.
 Alesia & Cesar Gonzalez::  They sent our kids- When they were born, they sent some little 'Future Grinnellian' certificate, which is really neat.
 Alesia & Cesar Gonzalez::  They do a good job.
 Alesia & Cesar Gonzalez::  They do. I think Grinnell really cares about their alums and they really go out- go the extra mile to let us know that they're there.
 Alesia Niblack Gonzalez::  I think it's a real community. It felt like it when I was here, and that’s why.. I guess that's what I was talking about when I came as a prospective student. There’s a real community feel to it and it continues. Whether you- Wherever you are, if you find somebody who, like if you wear a Grinnell t-shirt or something like that, you can almost always find somebody who had a family member, or they knew somebody who went to Grinnell, and it’s a community, which is a really nice...
 Cesar Gonzalez::  You experience it here when you go, you know, have dinner with your professors, and they really branch out live with the student body, and you feel it when you became an alum and they branch out to you wherever you are. I think they do a great job.Very good job. And Younker still looks the same, so... and smells the same, which is unfortunate, but it's made a lot of memories.
 Interviewer::  Great. Thank you very much.
Cesar Gonzalez::  Thanks.
