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\n Severely burned in house fire, 4th grader returns to school to hero’s welcome
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“I was a farmworker since I was 8 years old. Our dad would take us out a month early from school,” Noe Mendoza Sr. said. “We had an outhouse in our house until I was 17 years old.”<\/p>\n
So when Mendoza Jr., an avid and promising fighter from Weslaco, TX, told his father he wanted to become a professional boxer, Mendoza Sr. gave his young son a choice: pursue boxing and live at home in Weslaco and pay rent or go to college and get to live at home rent-free.<\/p>\n
“I really thought I was going to pursue a professional career in boxing,” Mendoza Jr. said. “That was an eye opener at that age and my father helped me come to that realization.”<\/p>\n
A realization that led to a two-year degree in the Rio Grande Valley, a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Hispanic Studies at Texas A&M in College Station, a Master’s Degree and then in Dallas this week, his juris doctor degree from the UNT Dallas College of Law. The kid who wanted to be a pro boxer will instead become the first lawyer in his family.<\/p>\n
“God is good. God is good,” Noe Mendoza Sr. said. “We have broken the chain of poverty that has haunted our family for generations.”<\/p>\n
“I think about that every day,” Noe Mendoza Jr. said of representing the generations that have come before him. “And I don’t take that lightly. I know my family has sacrificed a lot to be where we are today.”<\/p>\n
But that’s not the complete story.<\/p>\n
Mendoza Sr.’s dreams for his son were partly fueled in prison. He spent time for marijuana possession but also spent that time learning law and helping other inmates with their legal paperwork. That led to a post-incarceration career as a paralegal, a job he maintains to this day. And on take-your-kid-to-work days at the law office, young Noe Jr. watched quietly. A seed other than boxing was being planted.<\/p>\n
But as Mendoza Jr. raced through his college studies, he also found time to put the gloves back on. He started boxing clubs at each campus he went to. And, along with multiple education degrees, he is also a three-time collegiate boxing champion. Most recently he is the first law student to take home a collegiate championship belt. He won the 140 lbs. division at the United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association Championships in 2024.<\/p>\n
“I just think you don’t have to come from power to be powerful. And that power comes from within,” Mendoza Jr. said of the lessons of discipline and sacrifice that boxing and his dad as his trainer have taught him.<\/p>\n
“We are very blessed to be in this position,” Mendoza Sr. said. “This road that we’ve been traveling to be here, and actually be here and honoring my son for the great achievement he’s accomplished. God is good.”<\/p>\n
The Mendozas also run a boxing club back home in Weslaco. School kids get lessons for free just by presenting their school report cards as payment. Good grades means free boxing and life instruction.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Noe Mendoza Jr. hopes his journey offers an example for those students what can come from determination, hard work, and three generations of dreams.<\/p>\n
“And that if you internalize those sacrifices and you live on them, you reflect on them on a daily basis, then they live with you. And those that have come before you will never fade away, nor will their memories,” Mendoza Jr. said.<\/p>\n
Saturday at commencement, his six siblings and an extended family from across the United States will converge in Dallas to celebrate a boxing lawyer entering a new ring for a very promising next round of life.<\/p>\n
Next he will prepare for the bar exam in July and set his sights on his long-term goal of becoming a sports and entertainment lawyer and agent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“I know my family has sacrificed a lot to be where we are today,” Noe Mendoza Jr. said.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":799763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-799762","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-texas","11":"tag-tx","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-united-states-of-america","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116582351027040433","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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