Luis Zamora was only seven years old when his family moved from Chicago to Rapid City. The move was not something the family saw as part of their journey but found it necessary for Luis. “Luis had a number of health issues; he was having several asthma attacks a week and we were going to the doctors trying to figure out how to treat him. One doctor suggested moving out of the city,” explained Luis’ mother Patricia Recillas. “The air quality and the humidity of the city were making it difficult for Luis, it was getting worse. We had friends that lived here, they told us to look it up and we came to visit. Luis didn’t have any issues when we visited, he didn’t have to use an inhaler. We moved to Rapid City two months later,” she added.

 

A move from Chicago to Rapid City would be a culture shock for any family but it was especially difficult for Luis’ family as his parents didn’t speak English. Luis was born in Chicago and only knew the resources offered in such a diverse city. At the time Rapid City was growing, however, it was not well-equipped for a non-English speaking family. “It was hard trying to find doctors to treat Luis here, explained Patricia. “Thankfully we had doctors who were willing to help find ways to break down the language barrier. We ran into the same issues in the school system...it was hard to communicate with teachers and others in the school, she added. “Finding help for Luis was more difficult here. In Chicago, everywhere we went someone spoke another language. We knew we had to be here for Luis’ health but getting to the resources we needed was more difficult than we expected.”

 

Because of Luis’ medical issues, he was often bullied in school, but he used that negativity to fuel him. He would often go home and cry to his parents about what was going on and Patricia would tell him, “You don’t have to prove anything to anyone else, prove it to yourself.” Luis ran into another hurdle when he was preparing to graduate high school. He had always wanted to give his parents their dream of owning a restaurant but also wanted to fulfill his own dream of becoming an engineer. “Luis tried to get into School of Mines but was unable to get in as he was missing some classes and prerequisites.” One of the admissions people suggested he enroll at Western Dakota Tech to help him prepare for Mines. “The best advice the admissions counselor gave him was to take classes he can use to help him grow while taking classes to get into Mines,” added Patricia. 

While attending WDT Luis decided to help his parents achieve their dreams by opening a restaurant in Downtown Rapid City. Not only was it to help his family but it was also a reminder that all the doubt, bullying, and hard work paid off, at the very young age of 21. “I may have disabilities and health issues but I’m the same as you, anything is possible and now my parents don’t have to work for anyone else,” stated Zamora. While running a restaurant Luis will graduate from WDT with an associate degree in business and technology in the spring and enroll at SD Mines in the fall to pursue his dream of becoming a Civil Engineer. 

Opening a restaurant has not been easy for the family.

Within a few months of being open, an employee at El Nevado was diagnosed with COVID and the family had to shut down. “We had to do what was right, we care about our customers’ health and had to close for two weeks,” Luis recalled. “It was hard to bring people back.”

The restaurant shared not only the concerns of others in the industry but an even greater threat with this disease. Due to his extreme asthma, Luis was incredibly high-risk. If he would have caught the disease it would have been life-threatening.

Luckily the business was able to reopen and El Nevado welcomed back customers. “Our family has overcome a lot to get to this point, we stay together as a family and because of that we know we can do anything, that is part of our culture. We know we have to sacrifice things at times, but it is to better our family,” added Patricia.