Dondee Soto didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life when she was in high school. “ I was at a crossroads and still trying to figure out who I was and what I wanted to be,” she said. “It wasn’t until I started my family that I really started to figure out my priorities, and how short life is, and what matters.”
Soto would have graduated from Dublin High School in 2002, but she left high school a year early to begin working full time as a waitress (she earned her GED in 2003).
At the time she didn’t have any set plans, and focused on having a good time with her friends. Soto was at a wedding reception when she first met Fernando, a repair specialist for auto collision from Stephenville. The two exchanged numbers and became friends.“The longer we knew each other the more we had in common,” Soto said. Pretty soon, they started dating, and eventually married.
After a few years working as a waitress, Soto decided she wanted to find a more fulfilling job and decided to go back to school. She went to Ranger College and earned her license to be a Certified Nurses Aide, then worked as a home health aid until 2009, when her son Ivan was born.
Soto stayed home to be a full-time mother to their children until 2016, when she began helping out her husband at his family business. Fernando’s family owns the Soto Body Shop in Stephenville, and he works there as a shop manager. Soto started working there as a receptionist, and now serves as the office manager. She spends her days taking care of the bookkeeping, payroll, and other administrative duties.
The Sotos’ have two children. Juliana, 13, is in eighth grade, and Ivan, 12, is in sixth. Both go to school in Stephenville and enjoy playing sports -- Julianna is involved in soccer and volleyball, and Ivan is in pre-athletics at school.
Between working full time at the auto shop and making sure the kids make it to all their practices and other activities, Soto also runs her a small business as an independent consultant for the fragrance company Scentsy.
In her free time, Soto loves to garden, and spends much of her free time outside working in her yard. “If you come to my house, you’ll see all kinds of plants,” she said. “I even have a banana tree.”
Soto’s gardening started as a hobby, but in the next few years she’s hoping to turn it into more of a way of life. In May 2018, the Sotos bought a ranch outside of Hico. “We didn’t know anything about farm life when we bought it,” she said.
Over the last two years, they’ve acquired cattle, chickens and horses, and are planning to build a house on the land where they can retire. “We are trying to get to where we can sustain ourselves without having to go to the store for meat or bread or vegetables,” she said. “We want to be able to raise our own meat and grow our own food.”
Soto draws strength in life from her faith -- she was raised pentecostal -- and her family. “My kids are definitely my greatest inspiration,” she said.
Her advice to Dublin graduates is to keep an open mind about the paths their lives could take. “If you had a great time in high school, or if you didn’t, there’s still a lot more to life afterwards,” she said. “Only God knows what He has planned for you.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other graduates, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.