Araceli, seen at 16, has planted lettuce,
cauliflower and broccoli in the Santa Maria
Valley. She started working in the fields
when she was 13 years old to help her
immigrant parents pay the bills. She
recalled suffering a nosebleed in the
heat in a field where there was no
shade, as well as working in fields
that reeked of chemicals. She says
the skin peeled off her fingers and
they turned white. She graduated
with a 3.9 grade point average and
earned a scholarship from a
California university.