
Natividad Vázquez, “Nati”, was born in La Santa Espina (Castromonte, Valladolid) in 1960. She has just retired after decades of being the first face and voice that visitors and members of the educational community encountered when entering or calling the Saint Augustine High School in Valladolid.
How and when did you start working at the Saint Augustine High School?
It was 46 years ago. When I was nine years old, my family moved to the provincial capital, and when I had just turned 18 in January, next March was the trial month and in April we signed the contract.
The manager of the school was the Augustinian Recollect friar José María Abadía (1941-2001). Another Recollect, Miguel Ángel Tejada, who is still here in Valladolid, was the psychologist at the Centre and he gave me the pre-tests for the human resources area and told me that I was suitable to work in reception.
At that time we were boarders, 16 young women. Mary, who is still here today, was also part of that first group who had our private area on the ground floor of the residential building in the complex.
The days were hard: we got up at 7:00 and sometimes finished at 23:00, with breaks in between tasks. At first I spent a little time at reception, but not for long because I also dedicated myself to cleaning various areas.
For so many years I kept that room until the last day as a private area, so the day I left, a few tears fell in that place.
What work have you done during all this time?
The first years were mainly cleaning tasks because the service had not yet been outsourced to a company, as it is now, but everything was done by staff hired directly by the centre.
We cleaned the whole school and helped the seminarians, who at that time also occupied an area of the building as boarders, with the cleaning of their dining rooms, bedrooms and areas of the seminary.
We also helped out in the kitchen and took care of the dining rooms. I have been a dining room monitor for all these years, an endearing activity, giving and teaching the little ones to eat on their own.
I have been in reception for 35 years and, as I love children, it has been one of the places where I have felt most comfortable and happy; although I will say that with the children, not so much with the parents.
The truth is that they were very nice times, I was very comfortable and everything seemed great to me.
You must have witnessed many changes in these four decades.
The biggest change came when the seminary closed, because the management was also completely modified, outsourcing services through contracts with companies. We also began to manage our time differently, from forty hours a week, and we focused more on reception work.
We went from being with the young people all day to seeing them only during school hours. Logically, there were also important changes in the management system of the educational center, the management and teaching teams, etc.
Regarding the students, I think that before there was more respect, more education; if for any reason you had to ask for something or point out inappropriate behavior, they would say “I’m sorry, excuse me”; now it is not uncommon to receive bad looks or even a bad answer.
By the way, as an anecdote, I think that before the students were more elegant, dressed with a certain distinction and fashion, as I say. Now they dress much more normally, like on the street.
How has your relationship with the Recollect community been?
Everyone judges according to their own experiences, and I must say that I have always felt at home. Not only because I lived physically at Saint Augustine High School, but I felt that it was my own home because we were all a family.
For example, when there was a party we would all eat together; we would spend Christmas with the religious community in a family atmosphere. At that time there were up to 35 friars. Always, all the friars and in all these years I think they have treated me like this, and I have felt like family with them. The School has been my family and my home. My family has been the Augustinian Recollects and my life has been Saint Augustine High School School.
A few years ago, the Parents’ Association awarded Mary and me the “Person of the Year” award, more for the career and work of so many years than for any specific values. By the way: we didn’t go up to collect that award because, one way or another, they didn’t tell us to go!
What memorable moment do you remember and remember in your heart?
I remember it as if it were now and I will never forget it. The Augustinian Recollect Miguel Ángel Peralta was the director in Primary Section. With the seminarians we played at imitating a very famous television program that existed at that time, the contest “One, two, three… answer again”.
They had no better idea than to dress me up as Mr. Cicuta, one of the characters in the contest at the beginning of the 70s, who, in addition, was in charge of showing himself as opposed to the contestants, with an archaic, prudish, pedantic, austere appearance to the point of being grotesque.
They put a habit on me, a mask and, disguised, nobody recognized me. The boys had a great time and were intrigued to know who Mr. Cicuta was. I couldn’t speak and make myself known, and that’s difficult for me because I talk a lot, but it was so much fun that I didn’t say a word.
It was a great season, we had a great time.
So many years in front of the public at a school, I’m sure many people recognize you on the streets.
People do recognize me a lot. I’m a disaster with names, but I usually remember faces. Now, since they said goodbye to me a few days ago at school, that brand new idea that made me very excited, every time I walk down the street they tell me:
— Nati, you’re retiring!
I think I’ve never been as famous in my life as I have been lately.
Are you going to continue to be linked to the School?
It’s been so many years that I still don’t know what I’m going to do in this new time. What I do know is that I will remain connected because it is my school and I will always remember it with great affection. I will always make visits and, of course, if they need me on some occasion, I will always be here.
A message for the students?
To take care of the school, to be good students today and good workers tomorrow, and, above all, to make the school their home, to take care of it because it is wonderful to belong to this family.
To all, to the good and the less good, I say:
— Thank you, thank you and thank you!