Work

Be yourself and explore.  Be open to opportunities knocking on your door or drifting into an area to see if you might find it interesting.  Enjoy.  Enjoy the adventure because it is an adventure.

My work has been very rewarding in this job in that I’ve been able to see change happen in a community that I love and be a part of that change which is really exciting for me. I was just talking with a group of students a couple of weeks ago and they asked why I liked my job and I said because I love being able to be a part of something that you can see. And I always say that I don’t know that I would be able to do my job as it is today in Boston. Because I have lived in Boston, but I do not have that type of connection to Boston. I grew up here and being able to improve an area where you grew up, that’s something special. That is one of the highlights of my job.

Courtney Ross Escobar was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1978 and now lives in Worcester, Massachusetts. Courtney lived in south Florida until she attended undergraduate studies at the University of Massachusetts, Boston in 2002. After graduating from the New England School of Law in 2010, Courtney worked with Kids in Need of Defense, before opening her own law firm that concentrates in small business compliance regulations and family law cases. She is a lawyer in Oxford, Massachusetts, and has many ties to the Worcester community. Courtney is on the advisory board for the Worcester County Commission on the Status of Women, and she was just named to the 40 Under 40 list by the Worcester Business Journal. Courtney also balances family life with her career and strong ties to the community. She is married to Christian and they are raising two children. In the interview, Courtney attributes her success to her strong grandmothers on both sides of her family. Courtney is proud of her career achievements so far, but she also discusses her goals for the future, both professionally and for the Worcester community. Finally, Courtney’s advice to everyone is “Whatever it is you think you can’t do because you don’t have time or you don’t have the skills or you don’t- whatever it is just- it sounds like a Nike commercial- just do it.”

I never had the American Dream. I never think to come here to live. But in 2000 my husband lost his job. He is an engineer.  My older son graduated from the high school in Colombia. My brother was living here in Massachusetts.  He say, “Carmenza, maybe your husband and Victor can come here for vacation.” [They] got the tourist visa. When my husband and Victor came here, both got jobs one or two weeks later.  He call me three months later and say, “…we are going to stay here.”  In 2001 I try to get the visa to come here, but that was terrible time for the visa with [because of] September 11.  In 2006 the visa was approved.  When I was ready to leave Colombia, I brought my money, my own money. I saved money. I’m very organized person.  I came here on April 25, 2006. Almost four months later, I bought my house.  I bought my house with the money I brought from Colombia.

I think we are very happy people although we are living in another country.  We are trying to make friends here because in Brazil we used to have many friends there and we miss that a lot.  We like to talk, we like to make bar-b-ques in the weekend, so we are trying to do it here in the America.  I know it’s hard because we don’t have many friends and we don’t have any family here, but we are trying to be more involved with things in America.