An Education

From the time Ramirez was a child, helping his mom has been his No. 1 motivation.

“My mother is my foundation,” he says. “My mother is what has kept me going, not just in dance,” but in all aspects of life.

During Ramirez’s early years, his alcoholic father was abusive toward Ramirez and his mother. Although Ramirez has some fond memories of his father taking him to the park or Burger King, his dominant childhood memories are those of running and hiding from his father. He even has a permanent knot under his eye from being struck by a belt buckle as a child.

“We would call the police and he would go to jail, and then he would come back and apologize and promise he was going to change,” Ramirez says. “That’s what I remember about him.”

When Ramirez was 5, they left his father and hid from him by moving around and switching schools regularly. His mother supported him and his little brother by sell- ing tamales, but the small family always struggled financially.

“My mother wanted to give us everything,” Ramirez says. “We would go to school and she would work and work and work. And I would notice how tired she would be, so that had a huge impact on me. I want my mom to be healthy.”

When Ramirez was accepted into Spence TAG Academy in fourth grade, the family was able to stop moving around so much. That was where Ramirez first fell in love with dance, and he considered applying for Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, but his dance teacher at Spence encouraged him to look into Woodrow.

During a festival, he saw Woodrow’s dance team perform a flamenco dance routine, which caught his attention.

“I just remember seeing red,” he recalls. “When I think of red, I think of passion and fire and all these things that are strong. There were fans and ballet technique and culture — all these things.”

Aside from the one class he took at Spence, Ramirez had almost no formal dance training when he began training with Woodrow’s dance teacher, Lisa King.

“I was struggling to keep my grades up and I had no discipline. I have to thank Ms. King because she swept me up. She told me that if I didn’t pass my classes then I couldn’t dance. That was terrifying to me.”

He also struggled to find his identity. As a freshman, he hid behind his shoulderlength hair, which he straightened daily. He was especially self-conscious about the knot under his eye left by his dad, even though it’s hardly visible.

“Confidence and a foundation of pride, that’s what I lacked,” Ramirez says. “I came to high school with these people who were proud and confident of dancing. I wanted that.”

He began participating in folkloric and Aztec dances, which taught him about his own Hispanic roots. He became proud of his Mexican culture, “not only knowing and acknowledging my roots, but appreciating my ancestors,” he explains.

As he grew more confident and comfortable with himself, he eventually cut off his long hair. By junior year, Ramirez began taking dance more seriously, and it continued to open doors for him. King began encouraging him to attend college and to audition for the UT-Austin.

Ramirez hadn’t pursued dance with the intent to study it, but “it was beginning to call me, I guess you could say,” he says. The UT dance program is “a very hard program to get into,” according to King, but she believed Ramirez could do it.

“He could barely do anything when he first started the Woodrow dance program,” King says, “but this boy is just turning like a top now.”

Up to that point, Ramirez hadn’t seen college as a part of his future. At home Ramirez’s mother was working both days and nights to make ends meet. Ramirez worked part-time to take some of the load off his mother, squeezing it in between school, dance practice and travel for performances (including a trip to Spain, which was a “very huge deal” for him).

Ramirez initially resisted King’s pressure to apply to college but eventually decided to audition for her sake. He bought a Greyhound bus ticket and found someone in Austin he could stay with. When he arrived at the University of Texas, he couldn’t believe the level of the dancers around him.

“I was intimidated, but I thought to myself, ‘I can do this. I just have to do what I’ve been trained to do,’ ” he remembers. “I felt prepared.”

In February Ramirez received an email saying he’d been accepted into the dance company. He will enroll in UT-Austin this coming fall.

As excited and proud as Ramirez’s mother is to see her oldest son go to college, she’s also sad to see him move so far away.

“Mexican families aren’t used to being separated from the family and living at distances,” he explains, “but she is extremely happy for me and supports me fully.”

King says he’s become the poster child of the dance program at Woodrow.

“The other students look at him and go, ‘OK, maybe I can do it, too,’ ” King says. “He’s really raised the level of the department.”

At Lakewood Women’s Center, we share your high standards. You’ll see this reflected in the quality healthcare we provide and the upscale, yet comfortable, environment we’ve created.

Our skilled physician, Dr. Julie Goodwin, is passionate about helping women of all ages feel their best. Whether you come to us for wellness visits, pregnancy care, or other health concerns, we’ll take the time to get to know you. Then we’ll provide care that’s personal and focused on what matters most to you.

To make an appointment, please visit www.lakewoodwomenshealth.com or call us at 214-613-0833