TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
station counter as young as four or five.” Sanson has seen her parents be incredibly grateful every time someone was patient and willing to spend the extra two minutes to make eye contact while communicating and slowing down their lips. It greatly impacted her empathy and ability to be patient and understand differences. Her parents’ resilience and intelligence deeply influenced Sanson. Her father, who lost his hearing at five because of meningitis, and her mother, who became deaf after a fall at two, faced daily obstacles. “My father was a highly intelligent man who wanted to be a dentist, but because of the lack of access to higher education for special needs children, he wasn’t able to. He became a skilled carpenter, committed to creating beautiful, high-quality pieces of furniture,” Sanson says with pride. Despite being deaf, he believed in the importance of education. She recalls fondly, “One night he spent an entire afternoon after he got off work until it was time to go to sleep helping me understand math concepts. He was patient and committed despite the fact that the next day he had to go in and work long hours.” Her mother instilled in her a strong work ethic and the ability to prioritize. In 2010, Sanson’s life took a new direction. While working as a journalist in Romania, she was offered a scholarship to study in the United States. Initially hesitant, she eventually accepted and began her studies in public relations and communication at Texas A&M University- Texarkana. “I landed in the United States on June 10, 2010, and three weeks later, I started my first summer graduate course in statistics,” she recalls. She planned to get her education and return to Bucharest, Romania. In the fall, she had her first two psychology classes, where she encountered Dr. Peter Racheotes, whose classes sparked her interest in human behavior and led her to pursue a master’s in counseling. “Dr. Racheotes played an instrumental role in my life as he was one of the few people who saw value in me, which in turn made me believe in myself.” Becoming an American citizen was a profound moment for Sanson, bringing a sense of liberation and stability. She quickly adapted to the cultural differences in the US. “The biggest cultural difference was
Maria Sanson with her husband, William, and sons, David and Luca
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COMMUNITY & CULTURE
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