| Dr . Vargas |
Coming home DACA recipient returns to South Georgia as a dentist
by Kasmira Smith | photography submitted
ose Daniel Vargas , a 2012 merit graduate from Colquitt County High School , is returning to South Georgia as a Doctor of Dental Medicine .
Vargas ’ s family moved to Moultrie from Mexico in 1996 when he was just 2 years old . Since then , Vargas fell in love with the smalltown feel .
“ It ’ s funny because when I was in high school , I always said that I wanted to get out of Moultrie ,” he said . “ It completely flipped . You miss it so much when you leave . It ’ s a very special place to me .”
That small-town feel is what drew Vargas back after attending school for four years at Midwestern University in Downers Grove , Illinois . He ’ s currently working with a regional dental group and considering a way to begin practicing in Moultrie .
He contributes his success in dental school to his upbringing and his parents .
At 14 years old , Vargas spent his summer breaks working his first job in the fields . He was working 12-hour shifts picking tomatoes , cucumbers and bell peppers six days a week for less than minimum wage .
He said after his first day working , he couldn ’ t get out of the tub or the bed . He even told his father , Marcelo Vargas , that he wasn ’ t going to go back the next day . It was his father ’ s words that pushed him to keep going .
Vargas performs a dental procedure during his third quarter at Midwestern University in Downers Grove , Illinois .
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